Storage Vendors, Ditch the Pitch

As a technology reporter, one gets pretty jaded about dealing with supplier briefings. These are the all-too-necessary conference calls, usually initiated by suppliers, during which we get an early peek at upcoming products and services.

The call is typically led by marketing folk gathered round a speaker phone from someone's office, while the reporter views a PowerPoint in real time and shouts intermittently down the line for clarification. A bit surreal, but one gets used to it.

It's tougher to get used to the patent absurdity that emerges on some of these calls. During a briefing this week, for instance, a startup supplier (can't say who) was holding forth on a particular product (can't say what) when I asked a question a run-of-the-mill question about the power requirements for a particular thingamajig.

"Sorry, I can't tell you that," chirped the supplier.

"But you're claiming that power is a key differentiator," I prodded."I'm sorry, we've decided not to give those numbers to the press. If you were a customer, I could divulge the information, but for press and analysts, we have a script, and we don't deviate from it."

A script! And I thought I'd heard it all. Sure, I'm aware that the vendor reps who deliver these briefings really call them pitches. And I know it's up to me to pierce the veil as often as I can. But this was the first time anyone had admitted ― shamelessly ― to selectively delivering information in order to manipulate public perception.

I decided to pounce. "So you're speaking with a forked tongue?"

"Yes. Sorry!" The supplier was unrepentant. The matter was closed ― until much later that afternoon, when the supplier actually came round to understanding the weirdness of the disclosure and decided to come clean with the requested figure in email.

I know this story won't shock anyone who's on the receiving end of vendor spiels. If you're a customer, analyst, or fellow journalist, you are all too familiar with this market's shenanigans. What surprised me here was the vendor's cavalier attitude not only about clarity and accuracy but about the function of the trade press -- which after all, is still the press, and supposedly still free. Why, after all, had this vendor called me in the first place? Apparently, to deliver an impression, not to impart information. If I didn't like it, tough nuts.I find that utterly disturbing.