Just days after Larry Dignan at ZDnet Blogs identified serious disclosure problems for InfoWorld, a new controversy is about to snare three more online publications. Apparently Information Week, Tech Target and Network Computing have been publishing posts by storage analyst George Crump with little or no disclosure about his paid affiliation with vendors. The most serious charge is against Network Computing where “sponsored” posts for EMC Data Domain appeared on Crump’s personal site while he blogged about EMC Data Domain on Network Computing the same day. None of the publications in question list specific vendor disclosure information for Crump.
On a December 16, 2009 blog post, Crump posted a positive review of Data Domain titled “Deduplicating Replication – Data Domain” on Network Computing.
The very same day, Crump posted an article “sponsored” by Data Domain on his own site, storage-switzerland.com.
Just today, Crump has posted another article, “What is Deduplication,” which is also sponsored by Data Domain on his site.
The clear problem here is disclosure. Nowhere on the Network Computing blog post is there a disclosure that Crump has been (and still is) being paid by Data Domain. In fact, none of his posts for Information Week, Tech Target (Search Storage) and Network Computing cite a disclosure identifying specific vendors who might be compensating Crump. In his posts for Information Week, there is a link back to Crump’s own site with an extremely vague disclosure:
While technology assessments of Storage Switzerland, LLC are neutral, we do receive compensation from IT solutions vendors, integrators, and users of those solutions. However, we accept no compensation from any company until we have properly vetted a technology.
In an exchange on Twitter this afternoon between Tim Masters of StorageMonkeys.com and Mike Fratto, editor of Network Computing, Fratto claims that his “bloggers disclose as needed per blog”.
UPDATE: Now posted under Crump’s Network Computing blog post, “Deduplicating Replication – Data Domain”
–Editors note–
2/23/2010 It has come to our attention that at the time this story was posted, George Crump was doing business with EMC. As he was doing a series of interviews with all the storage deduplication vendors I didn’t feel this was a conflict nor upon review of this article and discussions with Crump, do I think this article is biased. In the spirit of full disclosure, I have added this note. In addition, George Crump in his role at Storage Switzerland has on going business relationships with various vendors in the storage and deduplication marketplace. Any failure to disclose is my mistake, not Crumps.
