mashssl

Mashups is a technology taking over for portals, allowing content to be aggregated from different sources and melted in a presentation that shows relevance and connections. Where portals merely presents data from different sources, mashups present it, mix it and work with it to create information relevance from many different data sources.

The type of information does not matter – you can connect your CRM system with Google maps to create live data streams of your sales based on geographic location, or you can use them to build a reputation monitoring dashboard. And anything else. If an (web) application has an API, you can connect to it, extract the data and mash it up with other sources, and create a new presentation layer that makes more sense.

The principle of mashups is fairly new, and it has sever security issues that is keeping it from becoming the preferred method of creating intranets, extranets, dashboards and information services for business use. The fact that the technology is young in it self is one factor. The lack of authentication between the applications, however, is a major reason companies stay away at this point.

At least until yesterday, that was a valid reason. Enters SafeMashups, the new company of Ravi Ganesan – you may remember him from TriCipher? SafeMashups created MashSSL Web Toolkit, which enables the applications to authenticate directly.

Roll back a while. I’ll let Ravi explain:

“With web applications, it is traditionally the user who is authenticated. The same applies in traditional mashups. The user launches her web browser, and while loading the mashup she is authenticated towards each application. This is fine as long as the applications do not interact – but part of the thrill with mashups is to have them communicate directly. That automatically means they need to trust each others. And that trust should be controllable.”

In my mind, I draw a picture of me opening a mashup, and it connects to my apps – like my online bank and the stock market analytic site. Today, I need to log on separately to each of the sites, and they are not communicating directly. I dream of a way to have them talk to each other, and update each other directly.

Ravi continues “How can your bank know that your stock broker site is trustworthy? What we did is the same as SSL back in the 1990 – we provide the security that is required in order for these systems to trust each other. With SafeMashups MashSSL, the applications will be authenticated behind the scenes, based upon certificates and CAs. They no longer need you to do the authentication, and that removes the risk of the man-in-the-middle – someone using your computer to gain access to your applications”.

Ravi rambles on, while I get caught in my own imaginations. I remember how SSL changed the e-business back in the 90s. I remember how it made moneymaking possible, how people started to flash their Visa cards and started what can only be described as a Klondike for the Internet. How people started to trust that the Internet could be a safe place no matter how odd it seemed at the time.

I see the great value MashSSL offers to the B2B market space. I would love to see a mashup combining all the products and prices of all suppliers – all in one place, no need to look up prices and quotes from many different sources. Not to mention the prospects of my aforementioned interest in bank vs. stock updates…

“…and then the SafeMashups Community service comes into play” I hear Ravi saying; “the service acts as a CA for mashups, so you no longer need to set up your own services. You can think of it as a social network for business – where you just choose the partners you like to deal with and the service takes care of the rest for you.”

I am too excited to keep listening. This sounds like a tool that is right on the spot – timing is right, technology is right, the need is here. And there is no doubt in my mind that if someone can make this happen, it must be Ravi!

Thumbs up to MashSSL and SafeMashups. If you are into mashups, MashSSL is a must-have!