ERIC LUNDQUIST
Mashups must mesh
Acquisition mashes, as with application combos, can go astray
Mashups are faster than EMC in the iSCSI company needed tight, rather
one of 2008’s networked storage area and than partner-based, applica-
hot technology needed an experienced chan- tion integration. (See related
trends. The basic nel company to help Dell fig- story, Page 39.)
idea behind ure out how to balance direct Microsoft and Yahoo. This
the mashed-up and channel sales. Dell’s sim- column is being written as the
application is that it is wiser plicity and manufacturing Yahoo board is busy rejecting
and a better use of corporate expertise, tied to EqualLogic’s Microsoft’s $44.6 billion bid.
time and revenues to build SAN smarts, can move Dell’s I’m expecting that Microsoft
new applications from existing revitalization strategy ahead. will come back with a few
pieces (which could be inside IBM and Cognos. This more bucks and Yahoo will
or outside the company) than mash might work. IBM succumb. Of all the mashups,
create new apps from scratch. has been busy filling out its I think this is the riskiest. The
The creation of the mashup middleware strategy; what amount of money—even for
sounds simple: Take a finan-
cial package from one area,
an inventory control system
from another and geographic What is often lost is
positioning information from a the reason behind the
third. Mix those three sources
well, and, voilà, you have an mashup in the first place.
application that lets you know
not only the cost but also the
location of the inventory you was missing was the answer Microsoft—is substantial,
now carry. The devil, of course, to the question of what new and mashing up a company
is in the details, and what is business insight can a com- (Microsoft) that has an unde-
often lost is the reason behind pany gain from creating a fined Internet strategy with an
the mashup in the first place. big IBM middleware stack. early Internet pioneer that seri-
Not only applications but Cognos’ business intelligence ously lost its way (Yahoo) does
also entire companies are software should answer that not a powerhouse make. Mash-
being mashed up. And what question in a tight integration ing up apps written in different
often gets lost in application with the stack. The goals of programming languages with
development can get lost in performance management, different interfaces is a diffi-
acquisition mashups as well. corporate search and a dash- cult undertaking. Mashing up
Here’s my take on three board view of a company’s two companies with different
recent mashes. operations hinge on BI appli- cultures in a hostile takeover is
Dell and EqualLogic. This cations that are easy to create one combination that would be
combination should be one and available to nontech man- better off left alone. ´
of the top mashes of 2008. agers. IBM made some previ-
Dell needed to find a stor- ous BI partners grumpy with Editorial Director Eric Lundquist
age partner that could move the Cognos purchase, but the is at elundquist@eweek.com.
