Our world is getting more and more interesting

If, like me, you are a semi-technical software professional with formal software training and real-world experience, there is a phenomenon going on as we speak that we should really be getting excited about: - platforms for creating composite collaborative applications (mash-ups). For example:

• Salesforce.com Force.com
• WebEx Connect
• Facebook Platform

These platforms are popping up as if from nowhere and they offer:

To the end-user:- the promise of a single-point of access to every single application that he may use to perform his day-to-day functions.

To the SaaS vendor:- A way to tap into the vast user community accessible by the larger vendors (Salesforce, WebEx, Facebook) and accelerate the adoption of your application service.

The catch is... the companies behind these platforms need to recruit partners that have the capacity and staying power to deliver the components to these mash-ups and then they need to contribute in a real way to the success of those companies.

Working for an up-and-coming software company in the collaboration space, these plaforms offer a significant amount of promise along with several challenges, some that I'm sure I'm not even aware of yet. Establishing a paper-based partnership with above-mentioned companies is a little more than a mere formality, but articulating a sound joint value proposition, delivering a solution, and converting curious eyeballs into revenue-generating users is a different ball of wax.

But challenges are good and I'm thrilled to be part of this revolution.