Meet the Influencers: Dan Kusnetzky, Kusnetzky Group and ZDNet’s “Virtually Speaking” Blog

This installment of our Influencer Q&A series features an interview with Dan Kusnetzky, principal analyst and president of the Kusnetzky Group and the lead blogger for ZDNet’s “Virtually Speaking” blog. He also writes a monthly column for Virtual Strategy's online magazine. Dan shares with us his perspective on blogging as an analyst; his approach to technology trends and news and how PR/AR professionals can best interact with him.

-John Terrill

Since you background is as a technology analyst, how did you get involved with blogging? What makes you prefer blogging to writing a column for a technology trade publication?
I'm still an industry analyst and continue to provide research, analysis and advice (both requested and clearly unwanted) to suppliers and end-user organizations in the areas of system software, open source software and virtualization technology. I continue to write papers, present at seminars and advise executives of Kusnetzky Group clients.

It appeared to me that it would be a mutually beneficial arrangement if I supplied some of that research, analysis and advice to the readers of ZDnet. The management of ZDnet agreed and offered to host a blog allowing me to comment on the market for virtualization technology. I've found that well over 120 suppliers in the areas that I follow have made it a point to seek me out and then inform me of their plans, product announcements and the like in the hopes that I would post something about them on ZDnet.

Blogging allows me to quickly evaluate and then offer my opinion on industry announcements, acquisitions, partnerships, customer service and many other things without also requiring me to deal with an involved editing and production process. Unfortunately the lack of outside controls sometimes means I publish posts having misspelled words (which I blame on my spelling checker, of course) and grammatical errors (which I blame on the influence of my cats hoping on my lap during a writing session).

I'd like to point out that I also write a monthly column for Virtual Strategy Magazine and have written articles that have been published in ComputerWorld, BBC Online and several other media outlets.

As both a blogger and an analyst, how do you approach news stories differently than, say, a “traditional” journalist?
I'm in no hurry to comment on something immediately. As an analyst, I'm expected to take a bit of time, think about an industry event, product launch or a merger/acquisition/partnership and then try to present the story behind the story. There are times, of course, that my analysis turns out to be totally wrong. I then have the opportunity (and the duty) to post something else with the fact that my earlier analysis was wrong and then try to piece together why the earlier view turned out to be incorrect.

What current trends in technology interest you? Conversely, what emerging technology trends do not interest you?
I'm tracking and very interested in how the world of system software has and is changing due to the influence of open source and virtualization technology on applications, application delivery, where computing is done and, in the end, the commoditization of system software. I'm seeing virtual access allowing executives to travel with a handheld device rather than a laptop and still be able to access the applications and data they need. I'm seeing products packaged and sold by the use rather than as a perpetual software license. This and several other factors are clearly changing the dynamics of the IT industry.

How can public relations professionals work most effectively with you?
First of all, I would prefer to work with people who are going to play it straight with me. That is they say what they mean and mean what they say. I'm often amazed by how far a few PR professionals will stretch a company's messages in the attempt to arrange a meeting. On more than one occasion, company representatives and I mutually agreed that the meeting was a waste of both of our time and the meeting was terminated after 10 minutes. After a couple of experiences such as that, I no longer am willing to respond to messages from that PR professional. If several professionals from the same organization use that tactic, I no longer will speak to anyone from that organization.

For the most part, however, I view PR professionals as a partner in the Kusnetzky Group's quest to gather data on market dynamics, analyze that data and turn it into some level of insight that will help both Kusnetzky Group clients and the PR company's clients.

As an aside, I absolutely hate "mystery messages" that some send. If a PR professional wants to tell me something, he/she should tell me. Messages that tell me that company X is going to announce something interesting next week and then invite me to attend a meeting usually end up in the trash. Since I have to prioritize the use of my time to make sure that my clients get the best possible service, unless that person tells me more about what's the topic, the market, etc. I'm not going to waste my time. I'm going to stay focused on serving my clients' needs.