The Business Case for Mashups

Most of this growth comes in three areas - acquiring new customers, more intimately servicing existing customers, and increasing innovation through developing new products and services. And cost savings mirror these same areas - mashups can dramatically lower customer acquisition, support and product development costs.

Read JackBe's Seven Mashups Every Company Needs or keep reading for more resources on the business value of Web 2.0 technologies like enterprise mashups.

Want to learn more about Enterprise Web 2.0 from the experts?

According to a survey of 2,847 executives worldwide conducted in January 2007 by McKinsey, over 80% of enterprises plan to use Web 2.0 technologies for better interactions with customers, partners and employees.

It's likely that your organization is already using Enterprise Web 2.0 technologies in some way. But to make sure you are getting the most from Web 2.0, we've put together a starter-kit of surveys that can help you plan your Enterprise Web 2.0 strategy:

• It’s estimated that about 20% of companies use mashups in one form or another and, over time, mashups will become so intuitive non-technology users will be building them. Read how the Wall Street Journal describes ‘mashups’ and how government agencies and commercials business are applying the technology needed for mashups. To read the article, click here.
• In ‘How businesses are using Web 2.0’, McKinsey summarizes an executive-level survey on Enterprise Web 2.0 and how organizations are using it today or planning to use it in the future. To get the report, click here.
• The Economist describes in ‘Serious business: Web 2.0 goes corporate’ how organizations are taking advantage of Web 2.0 technologies like mashups, wikis and blogs. To get the report, click here.
• As ‘The Hidden Costs of Information Work’ from IDC states, ‘information tasks are central to today’s organization’ and organizations that give information workers adaptive, enabling technology can gain great competitive advantage.  To get the report, click here.
• BusinessWeek describes in ‘When Companies Do the Mash’ how corporations are jumping onboard the trend of mixing and matching information from different sources. This article is a great 'who's who' of examples and use cases. To read the article, click here.

Want to learn more from the Enterprise Web 2.0 community itself?

Many businesspeople tell us that 'Enterprise Web 2.0' is a very broad collection of technologies including things like 'Ajax', 'Wiki', 'Blog', 'Rich Internet Application', and 'Mashup'. You don't have to understand them all to begin your Enterprise Web 2.0 planning but you can certainly start learning about it all here. These are just a few snippets 'from the trenches'.

• ‘Making Web 2.0 Meaningful and Achievable’.  A podcast that defines Web 2.0, highlights the values of Web 2.0 in the enterprise, and outlines some of the practical and actionable steps to adopting Enterprise Web 2.0.  Tag along on a Web 2.0 ‘parachute jump’ from 50,000 feet to ground-level in less than 45 minutes!  Click here to get the cast and here to get the complimenting presentation in PDF format.
•  ‘Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us’.  Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University, has produced an exhilarating 5-minute video on the power and possibilities of Web 2.0   To watch the video, click here.
• ‘Differences of 2.0s’.  One of JackBe’s own posted a useful blog that discusses the sometimes subtle differences between the phrases Enterprise 2.0, Web 2.0, and Enterprise Web 2.0.  Read it and post a comment!  By collaborating together on these new hot topics, we can create better answers that will allow all of us to take better advantage of these technologies.  To read the blog, click here.
• ‘Business Value of Ajax’.  Ajax is a pillar of Enterprise Web 2.0 and the enabling technology behind popular sites like Google Maps.  This white paper gives a businessperson’s perspective on Ajax: what is Ajax, why should you care, and what kinds of real business benefits can it provide for you and your organization?  To download the whitepaper, click here.

And don’t forget the practical side of Enterprise Web 2.0.  JackBe’s Enterprise Mashup platform, Presto, is a great way to kick start any Enterprise Web 2.0 project.  You can learn more about Presto here and there are many links to experts and pundits in our blogs and newsletters.

Want to see Enterprise Web 2.0 in action?

It's always useful to learn by example. A number of JackBe customers have successfully implemented Enterprise Web 2.0 projects:

• Defense Intelligence Agency.  Read about it in Computerworld or read the case study here.
• Tupperware.  Read the case study here.
• Inttra.  Read about it in Computerworld.
• Nutrisystem.  Read the case study here.

We have many more success stories in many other industries on our Success Stories page.  And if you want to try Enterprise Web 2.0 out yourself, we have a number of cool webcasts and videos.