The Web 2.0 world may seem at times like a glamorous, hip place. Services get wild attention. The names are something out of the space age. The companies work out of coffee shops and lofts. But the money has a way of running out before the entrepreneur can find a way to make a profit. No wonder the enterprise world can look so enticing to a Web 2.0 company. So, we thought it might provide some perspective by looking at companies that are showing signs of reaching into the business market or have made the big switch. Sponsor Posterous is a stylish miroblogging service that has gained attention for its ease of use, especially the simplicity in it as a publishing tool. We corresponded with the company today and were told that it will launch a "Posterous for Business," service. The news follows an update to Posterous that allows multiple users to create group blogs that allow users to post to a group page on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. A company logo may be placed in the Posterous blog with a description. That's a big deal. Facebook group pages are becoming important for business users. It can be a bit clumsy trying to update to group pages from outside Facebook. This is an important development for the microbogging service, pointing to its entrance into the business market. Box.net started as a consumer service for people to store online files. In 2007, the company turned to the enterprise and has not looked back. In February, the company launched a new interface. Today, their client roster includes companies such as Nike, Oracle and Marriott. Its direction is pretty clear. The enterprise is where box.net sees its future. Xobni launched in January of 2008. The company billed itself as a social network for your inbox. Cool service. Today, Xobni places a good bit of its attention on the enterprise market . Xobni offers a service that allows administrators to provide Xobni for employees. It can be customized and has features to make it regulatory compliant. Control features are built into the service. In November, the company announced its integration with Salesforce.com. Xobni's future looks more and more like an enterprise play. No Going Back There is no looking back once Web 2.0 companies switch to a business focus. The business market is so entirely different than the consumer world. Free services can remain intact but once the move happens, it's rare to find a small company that can manage to dive deep into the enterprise while maintaining its focus on the Web 2.0 world. Some have been able to do it. WordPress is an example of a company that has had success with both consumers and the enterprise. Perhaps that will be the case with Posterous, too. Discuss

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Forget the Web 2.0 Glamour - the Money's in the Enterprise

Open-source users will be a bit less inclined to use MySQL following Oracle's acquisition of Sun Microsystems. The news comes from a report by the 451 Group , which surveyed people in the open-source community about the issues surrounding the acquisition. Sponsor The 451 Group surveyed 347 people. Of those, 82.1% now use MYSQL. By 2011, 78.7% of respondents expect to use MySQL. The total will decline to 72.3% by 2014. The Oracle acquisition has a part to play in that decline. 15% of open-source users and 14.4 % of current MySQL users said they would be less likely to use MySQL if it is acquired by Oracle. The news is not all that dire. The majority - 57.9% of all users and 63.9% of MySQL users - indicated that they would continue to use MySQL where appropriate. On the flip side, Oracle Database usage is expected to rise from 19.3% today to 19.6% in 2011 and 21.6% in 2014. About 32% of respondents said they would prefer that MySQL be turned over to a foundation. But only 4 percent said that they would want Oracle to sell MySQL to another software company. But there may be more trouble ahead. European authorities have particular concern about the future of MySQL under Oracle ownership and have it under review. More about the report is available on the 451 Group's web site. Discuss

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MySQL Usage Expected To Drop Following Oracle Acquisition

Sharepoint is the big giant in the enterprise collaboration space. Salesforce.com is now in the market with Salesforce Chatter , a service that embraces Facebook, Twitter and the applications within Force.com. MindTouch has the potential to compete with the large market players. Today they are announcing MindTouch Cloud , an open-source, SaaS service that integrates business data from any number of sources, including Oracle, Sugar CRM and Salesforce.com. Sponsor MindTouch Cloud is meant for a business community to create their own dashboards. It allows users to collaborate with a familiar wiki environment with the capabilities of an enterprise platform. It's also another example of how enterprise technologies are increasingly designed so the average business user may perform tasks that have traditionally been the domain of the IT department. What differentiates MindTouch from Sharepoint and other services is its emphasis on the data. Users may collaborate across multiple enterprise systems and web applications. MindTouch Cloud is an enterprise mashup service. Business critical information can be exported from enterprise systems and mashed up to create reports and build applications. It has the requirements for the enterprise, including authentication using LDAP, single-sign on security. Role management is built into the service with the capability to create new users, roles and groups. Compare that to Salesforce Chatter and you see some similarities in how applications can be integrated to create an intelligent dashboard environment that fits into an enterprise environment. MindTouch does need some work on its user interface. But it has all the features that can make it a valuable service for a business looking to build dashboards that can mashup enterprise data and external applications. This is MindTouch's first cloud computing effort. Pricing starts at $7 per user per month. Discuss

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MindTouch Cloud: The Open Source Alternative to Sharepoint and Salesforce.com?