Top Ten Storage Turkey Awards 2007

It's Thanksgiving in the U.S., and once again we offer up our annual Turkey Awards, highlighting the biggest gaffs in storage networking this past year.

Check out the following list as you nibble your turkey sandwich or pumpkin pie. It is ranked in no particular order, but features our own holiday-friendly scoring system. If you find that you disagree, agree, or have your own howlers to offer, tell us about it on the message board below the article.

No. 1: Disaster Recovery Turkey

What happens when a growing data center facilities provider suffers a massive outage one year after going national? We found out on July 24, when utility power went on the blink at 365 Main's key San Francisco facility.

Here's what went down: Generators for the facility's firm failed to kick in. That may have been excusable, but it took 365 Main four days to ascertain the root cause -- faulty coding of diesel controllers for its generators. By that time, angry suppliers of sites such as Craiglist, Six Apart, Technorati, and Yelp had taken to their blogs, ridiculing and deriding the firm as "365.98 Main" and attacking employees personally. Many reportedly had queued up outside 365's SF headquarters, looking for answers.Thankfully, 365 Main had a solid track record, and management explained, refunded, and apologized profusely. By September 13, the company had moved on, opening its second Bay Area data center, in Oakland, which is linked to the one in San Francisco.

Turkey Points:

No. 2: Her Majesty's Turkey

The U.K. Government makes it onto our top turkeys list after losing two disks containing details of almost half the country's population.

The disks, which contain welfare information on 25 million people, most of whom are children, went missing last month when Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) sent the disks to the National Audit Office (NAO).Such is the scale of this snafu that the HMRC's gaffe has become a major political issue in Britain, with some observers questioning the competency of fledgling Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government.

Embattled Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling, already under fire for his handling of the recent credit crisis at U.K. mortgage lender Northern Rock, is now under immense pressure to provide answers about the missing disks.

With a massive police investigation now underway, his cabinet colleagues will be hoping that he can come up with these answers sooner rather than later.

Turkey Points:

No. 3: Jailhouse TurkeyMany IT observers think former Brocade CEO Greg Reyes deserves leniency in his upcoming sentencing for fraud and other charges upheld in court this year related to backdating stock options for Brocade execs.

Shunned by the company he once ran boldly and sometimes controversially, Reyes became a poster boy for an accounting practice that went largely unnoticed in corporate America until his case helped bring it out. He also made headlines by claiming big consulting fees once the board jettisoned him.

Turkey Points:

No. 4: Unsolved IT Mysteries Turkey

The U.S. Department of Veterans' Affairs hit the headlines last year when a laptop containing masses of sensitive information was stolen from the Maryland home of an employee, bringing into question the VA's entire data security strategy.Although the laptop was eventually found and the department launched a major overhaul of its security procedures, question marks hang over the department's ability to protect its data.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO), for example, recently warned that the VA could be at risk of another data breach.

Testifying before the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs in September, Valerie Melvin, the GAO's director of human capital and management information issues, warned that there are still gaping holes in the Department's security strategy.

The official went on to describe how GAO auditors identified a total of 123 "missing IT equipment" items at four VA locations, including 53 computers that could have stored sensitive information.

Turkey Points: No. 5: Teflon Turkey

Losing data on thousands of Louisiana college students this fall was only the latest of many tape disappearances laid at Iron Mountain's doorstep. Despite some evidence that folks think the vendor should address the data loss issue publicly, Iron Mountain has nothing much to say about it. You pay your money and take your chances. After all, Iron Mountain also offers digital service options, right?

Turkey Points:

No. 6: Trade Show Turkey

Just about the most interesting happening at this year's spring SNW event in Grapevine, Texas, was a major flap between the show's promoters and various PR folk representing multiple non-exhibiting vendors. Apparently, the events team adopted a last-minute "pay to play" policy involving the press room facilities. Most attendees could have cared less, though some may have wondered why so many people were gravitating -- some with beet-red angry faces -- to the big empty spaces on the Gaylord Hotel's first floor.Turkey Points:

No. 7: Bookkeeping Turkey

What's up with Bakbone Software? On one hand, it acts like any other successful startup, enhancing its data protection wares, supporting partners, getting certified, and adding CDP.

On the other hand, Bakbone can't do its own math, despite years of trying. Will somebody out there please give this company the name of a good accountant?

Turkey Points: No. 8: Hide-and-Seek Turkey

When things aren't going well, some firms, like some people, pull down the shades and hope it goes away. That seemed to happen to now-defunct data classification and search supplier Scentric, which went belly up this fall. Rumors had circulated for months that Scentric was on the outs, unable to raise fresh funding, and SVP of marketing Larry Cormier confirmed the board was hoping for a buyer.

There could be little doubt about the firm's demise when Cormier showed up as VP of marketing for Lefthand Networks earlier this month, in a move that also went unannounced.

It's still not official, but after 18 months out of stealth and $17 million, it's safe to say Scentric has folded up shop.

Turkey Points: No. 9: Forked-Tongue Turkey

The enigmatic NAS startup Agami reshuffled execs earlier this year, then sent out a string of mixed messages about who was leaving and joining the firm.

Just a week after CFO Dean Seniff parted company with Agami, Chief Technologist David Stiles was promoted to CEO, despite the company's statement a day earlier that there would be no other major personnel changes at the firm.

The vendor also changed its official line on the reason for Seniff's departure. Initially, Agami said that Seniff had left of his own accord, although Stiles later confirmed that he had asked the CFO to leave.

With rumors about the health of the startup circulating earlier this year, the bizarre game of boardroom musical chairs was perhaps not the most sensible way to tackle a NAS market dominated by the likes of NetApp and EMC.Turkey Points:

No. 10: IPO Turkey

You knew this one was was coming. As much as we hate to say it, the last few months haven't been good ones for NAS specialist Isilon, which went public in a blaze of publicity late last year, then failed to keep its momentum going.

Despite its promise to break even sometime this year, the plan hasn't panned out. After a rocky first quarter, Isilon was hit by losses in the second quarter, which it attributed to deal slippage and the need to ramp up its sales training.

Last month, the vendor was forced to lower its preliminary third-quarter results, citing weaknesses in its European business and tight wallets at key customer Kodak. Earlier this month, Isilon also delayed the filing of its form 10-Q for the third quarter, pending a review of certain sales to resellers and customers by the firm's audit committee.The vendor, which faces stiff competition from EMC and NetApp, recently swapped its CEO and changed its CFO in an attempt to steady its corporate ship and resolve its execution issues. With founder Sujal Patel now back at the Isilon helm, and the recent launch of new high-end hardware, the vendor claims to have pushed the envelope for clustered file systems. It remains to be seen whether this will help renew the vendor's fortunes.

Turkey Points:

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