Title:  President
Employer:  Leaden Associates Inc.
Featured In:
Waiting Game: Nortel Auction Countdown, 8/12/09
Nickname/Alias:  Steve, Steve-O, Stix (professional drummer in high school, college)

What I'm Best Known For (in the Telecom World):

Supporting enterprise users as an extension of staff in telecom VoIP and UC technologies, ROI, and specialist in telecom expense management, auditing and optimization.

Other Primary Areas of Expertise:

Trainer and principal in Telecom+UC Training. Guest speak at national conferences (VoiceCon East and West, CCMI Total Telecom Auditing), writer for NoJitter.com, Telecom Reseller and other publications. Perform Webinars NoJitter.com and CCMI, podcasts for TelecomJunkies.com.

Summary of Professional Background:

Stephen Leaden is president of Leaden Associates Inc., an independent telecommunications and IT consulting firm in business 18 years, providing specialized support in telecommunications technologies and ROI strategies. Enterprises in the health care, education, manufacturing, financial services, publishing and government market segments have relied on Leaden for voice over IP/unified communications consulting and telecommunications expense management, telecom auditing and optimization. Leaden’s TEM/telecom audit practice has created significant cost reductions and ongoing savings to clients.

Steve is a frequent speaker for Voice Report and VoiceCon East and West, and is a writer for NoJitter. Steve has been quoted in national publications such as Network World and The Washington Post. He is past president and member of the Society of Telecommunications Consultants, a national telecommunications association that requires objectivity and professionalism as a prerequisite for membership. Steve is a principal with Telecom+UC Training, a successor to BCR Training which provides independent telecom training – he teaches courses on optimizing enterprise networks and best practices for cost control of wired and wireless networks. 

Steve’s background prior to starting Leaden Associates was as a telecom analyst for Merrill Lynch, Nabisco Brands, Ticketron and consultant for STI Communications, a New Jersey-based independent consultancy. He holds a BS in Business Management from Marist College, in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and an Associates in Data Processing/IT.

Prediction on the Future of Telecom & Telecom Managers:

Telecommunications will flourish as a function of information technology going forward. The greatest changes in IT are taking place in telecom over the next 36 to 48 months – this is an exciting time for telecom. Telecom networks and their resiliency will facilitate more robust data network design for at least the next four to five years, in my estimation. 

I originally predicted (five years ago) that telecom managers would win out over IT techies – I was wrong. VoIP is a very technical data technology (voice is now another application on the data network, but critical). Those who do NOT embrace data technologies and cross-train their telecom skill sets with data networking will NOT survive in the long run. Telecom managers still have the customer-centric skill sets, which is being learned by the data technicians and data support staff, however, understanding data technology wins over customer service (at least for now).

My warning (and opportunity) to telecom managers is therefore this: Learn EVERYTHING you can about data technologies: layer 2 switching, layer 3 routing, IP addressing schemes, QoS, MOS scores, network management, SIP, SIP trunking, switch and router configurations, security, data traffic engineering, etc. Telecom managers and staff who DO embrace data communications and networking will become indispensable specializing in both disciplines. 

So the choice is (a) be left behind or (b) become indispensable – there is no in-between.  To quote the famous Jedi Master Yoda from Star Wars: “Ready are you? What know you of ready? A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind.” Are you ready to become a telecom Jedi?

Weirdest Thing People Usually Don't Know about Me:

Having a professional musician background, I practice as a musician constantly – in my head, on the desk, in the air – drumming and guitar playing – it actually keeps me sane throughout the day.

When I'm not talking or doing something in relation to telecom, I'm usually...

being a husband, father, golfer, drummer, guitar player, contemporary Christian worship leader, Web Master, etc. 

Book and author I'm currently reading:

The Lost City of Z, by David Grann, and Flawless Execution: Use the Techniques and Systems of America’s Fighter Pilots to Perform at Your Peak and Win the Battles of the Business World, by James D. Murphy.

CD currently or most recently in my car stereo:

Grand Funk Railroad Bosnia (live) and Doobie Brothers Rockin’ Down The Highway (live) (yea – I’m a ’70s kind of musician).

Blogs I follow regularly:

Eric Krapf, Allan Sulkin, Mike Finneran, Gary Audin, Marty Parker, Fred Knight

The stupidest thing I've ever seen anyone do or say in relation to a phone:

“This ‘telephone’ has too many short-comings to be seriously considered as a means of communication.” –  Western Union internal memo, 1876.