Thomas Kas Thomas

Non-disclosure is a non-starter

4-Feb-2010

Tags: Digital and Media Asset Management, Web Content Management

We've mentioned this a time or two before, but in recent dealings with a well-known WCM and DAM vendor there seemed to be some confusion about it, so perhaps it bears discussing one more time.

We have a policy at CMS Watch of not signing NDAs with the vendors we evaluate. Nondisclosure agreements are antithetical to what we do; fundamentally, we're in the disclosure business. We perform research and then reveal what we've learned. We're not in the business of keeping vendors' secrets.

We do, on the other hand, honor news embargoes. Commonly, a vendor will have a new-product announcement that carries a specific go-live date. The go-live date might be a week in the future, but the press release is written and the vendor wants to show it to us. As long as the embargo period is reasonable, that's fine. We'll agree (verbally) to look at the press release and not write about it for publication ahead of the embargo date. We do that sort of thing all the time.

NDAs are a different beast. An NDA is a legal contract. NDAs typically carry all kinds of fine print that inhibit disclosure in various ways even after the information in question has entered the public domain. Vendors sometimes choose the NDA mechanism to share with analysts when the information in question involves business strategy or an acquisition. Public corporations in particular have to be very careful about how they disclose certain kinds of information. We don't want to be a party to those kinds of disclosures. We want to be free to explain to you the customer whatever we need to say, based on the research findings we dig up.

So if you're a vendor, please don't ask us to sign an NDA. We understand the need for secrecy on certain matters, but in that case, please keep it to yourself, and don't brief us on what you don't want made known. From a buyer's perspective, a real demo is worth a thousand words anyway...

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