For those of you who may not be up on the jargon: A mashup is a Web Application that combines data from more than one source into a single integrated tool (Wikipedia). A good example is the integration of Google maps into a Real-estate Website. Two distinct applications mashedup to create an enhanced solution to your property hunting needs.

The paradigm shift of the players like Google, Amazon and the likes of Salesforce.com are to create platforms with which you can Mashup. The game being that the more applications that incorporate these larger players' technologies the more imbedded the player and the more reliant we are on them going forward. The best example of this kind of reliance of course is the Microsoft operating system with which so many computers are shipped each day. Companies in this space must create this reliance in order to survive the long term.

The smaller technology companies are given a chance to make the most of these platforms for development by being allowed to bolt their own applications and data into the platform to create a new product as such. I'll give another example just to make it a little clearer. In a local tourism website you could have an imbedded map which when clicked on reveals Flickr photo's of sites to go and see, where you click your mouse. This will of course help you plan a trip more effectively and let you have more fun planning it.

The incessant risk which is faced of course is that once you have chosen a platform on which you develop so then do you rely on the platform not to restrict you further down the line or simply that they remain in business. My example above is rather tame but what if your entire business relied on the code which tied your technology into theirs not changing or at least you being notified in time to make any changes you needed to so as not to lose traction in your market.

It takes a lot of lateral thought to be the first to market with a killer mashup and I am sure we are just seeing the surface being scratched at the moment as we drive through a technological stage of proliferation. Once more standards are formulated so too will there be a higher confidence in throwing ourselves at a project with less risk associated with its potential failure. The mashups which are coming out right now are being delivered by pioneers who are testing the platforms to see how stable they are and who will be the most reliable.