Fear for Sale

6:15 PM -- Fear sells.

Politicians and parents know it. And so do storage vendors.

This week, we report that NeoScale Systems Inc. is trumpeting the management of encryption keys across multiple data centers. The vendor is also releasing its API in hopes storage partners will pick up on it and make this a data center must-have. (See All Keyed Up With NeoScale.)

But use of encryption is still remarkably limited. Do IT managers really need multivendor key management of storage gear at this particular time?

I am not saying key management isn't important. Indeed, according to this month's Byte and Switch Insider research report, it poses a major threat to storage network security. (See New Threats Drive Encryption and Insider: Encryption Means Planning.)For now, though, getting multiple vendors involved in writing code for certain appliances just bothers me. It may help storage vendors on the marketing front. But I foresee a proliferation of partnership "solutions" that do little more than advance suppliers' revenues. The larger agenda is to remove one more objection to deploying encryption, or to wider encryption deployment that embraces more applications, locations, data types, and, yes, devices.

Nice try.

I'll put a lid on my indignation (for now). But I'd love to hear from those of you who've had it up to here with vendor games like these. The light of day is the best way to dispel most fears.

Terry Sweeney, Editor in Chief, Byte and Switch