Computing Cloud

In a pragmatic new article for Wall Street and Technology entitled Mashups Slowly Gain Traction on Wall Street, Melanie Rodier provides an overview of how a growing number of financial firms have started turning to mashups to save money and improve operations. The article highlights a new report by the Aite Group that projects that financial firms will spend $35 million on mashup technology in 2009 and includes several insights from Adam Honore, author of the report.

The article includes several examples of several enterprise mashup success stories as well as some some food for thought from various players active in the enterprise mashup space, including IBM, Connotate, Serena Software, and Pyxis Mobile.

The article also highlights the fact that enterprise mashups may not be receiving sufficient consideration as viable tools by financial firms, and, in our opinion, provides a call to action for the mashup community to increase the visibility of enterprise mashups as viable tools for Wall Street.

As Rodier points out, the time for action is now:

But if firms consider the significant challenges the industry faces and examine mashups in the context of how they can help address these challenges and add value to the business, the time spent exploring the technology can reap significant returns, Honore continued.

Despite some financial firms’ reluctance, Larry Bowden, VP, portals and mashups, at IBM, asserts that it is precisely now, in today’s volatile environment, that the upside of mashups is greatest. “You can quickly assemble them and self-manage and determine where to share the information, and that puts a lot more power with the people who are face-to-face with the customer,” he says.

So it seems that the time is at hand to promote the benefits of enterprise mashups to the Wall Street crowd, especially at at time when benefits such as improved operational efficiency, cost savings, and streamlined integration are more important than ever to financial firms.

Be sure to check out our previous coverage on enterprise mashups, including our Q&A with Michael Ogrinz, author of Mashup Patterns, our post on Enterprise Mashup Challenges, and Michael’s post on Mashup Patterns: Clipping Mashups.