InformationWeek
Defining The Business Value Of Technology
November 17, 1997
The Crusader: Dale Kutnick, Meta Group
By Claire Tristram
His insistence on doing the right thing dates back at least to 1985. Kutnick, then a research director at the Yankee Group, led a Spartacus-like insurrection to get his analysts bonus pay, simply because he thought they deserved it. For his trouble, Kutnick got himself fired.
Next he joined Gartner Group. There, he says, he quickly decided that the Gartner business model, however profitable, was just plain wrong. "I do admire Gideon [Gartner]'s business acumen," says Kutnick, 47. "But he's a high-leverage man. His model is: If clients don't complain, and if analysts aren't dropping dead from overwork, then you should take on even more clients per analyst and achieve eve
n higher profits. I was sort of disgruntled by it."
So Kutnick quit and took a year off to decide what to do next. In 1989, he had his answer: start his own research firm. Kutnick cites his desire to give customers the attention they need and to treat his staff well-rather than any
particular entrepreneurial ambition-as his motivation.
Fred Joy, a senior Meta analyst, volunteers a story about working for Kutnick that illustrates this spirit: "I'd just written something somewhat detrimental to a major software company, and they threatened to sue over it. It was late at night. I left Dale a voice mail. He called me back immediately and told me, `You've done the research; you know what's right. So let them sue us!' With Dale, it always comes back to what's right. It's a matter of integrity."
"It's not that vendor-bashing is a sport here," adds Kurt Johnson, a Meta analyst for about a year. "But Dale does tell us that, as long as we're right, if we're not getting one or two lawsuits a month, then we'
re not doing our job."
Kutnick's commitment to doing the right thing continues to earn him steady growth and strong customer loyalty. In 1996, Meta's first year as a public company, it enjoyed revenue of nearly $37 million, up 46% from the previous year (although net income was flat at $3.6 million). Today, Kutnick is Meta's president, CEO, and research director.
Kutnick's approach has endeared him to customers and colleagues. Even Howard Anderson, president and founder of the Yankee Group, who confirms he fired Kutnick, hastens to add, "I have always had a tremendous respect for Dale. He's got one of the first-rate minds in the industry."
Adds Ezra Wohlgemuth, CIO at International Flavor and Fragrance Inc. in New York, "I've used Gartner before, and Forrester, and a few others. But if I have an important question, I call Dale. He always makes time for me."
n the IT research business, nice guys still prosper. Every story you hear about Meta Group founder Dale Kutnick-from customers, colleagues, and competitors alike-seems to come back to this one simple message: Here is a man who wants to do the right thing.
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