IDC analyst heading to Open-Xchange

Dan Kusnetzky, for years a fixture in the open-source software realm as an IDC software analyst, has joined collaboration software company Open-Xchange as executive vice president of marketing strategy.

Open-Xchange, based in Tarrytown, N.Y., sells open-source server software that competes with Microsoft Exchange, Novell GroupWise and Hula, IBM's Lotus Notes and other programs for handling e-mail, calendars, contacts and document sharing.

As vice president of system software at IDC, Kusnetzky tracked the rise of Linux from its earliest days of commercial success. He also monitored virtualization software as well as other operating systems.

Kusnetzky said in an e-mail he's starting the new job Feb. 1 after nearly 12 years at IDC. He also spotlighted three converging trends that relate to his decision: "Organizations are (looking for) ways to reduce their overall costs of IT (information technology); organizations are trying to make their IT investments produce real, measurable value; (and) organizations have taken up a more dynamic working model where employees collaborate with one another from just about anywhere, using mobile phones, handheld computers, kiosks, laptops and, on occasion, desktop computers."