Mashups are new and exciting aspects of Web 2.0. As is often the case with new technologies or approaches the industry often gets caught up in promoting the value proposition of what’s emerging. The hype often muddies the water between the value of what can be created with the new technology and the value of what exists today. With mashups, it’s often unclear to IT professionals how their existing Web applications might be different from the proposed innovative approach to mashing-up data with a browser.

One of the first questions that customers often ask is “What’s the difference between a mashup and the Web applications that we currently use in our enterprise today?” The difference has little to do with technology or the integration of systems. Instead, it reflects the ease with which the application can be created by users, how the application is intended to be used, and the lack of nonfunctional requirements (for example, reliability, availability, and performance) that need to be addressed after the mashup or Web application is deployed.

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