A strong argument could be made that any new type of software can't make it to the enterprise without a link to Excel, the lifeblood of many businesses.
Makers of mashup tools are making their move this week to expand their potential customer base by unveiling such links and other features at the O'Reilly Web 2.0 Expo set to get underway in San Francisco Tuesday.
Several enterprise mashup vendors are set to detail new technologies aimed at helping enterprise users go beyond the common use of their tools today -- adding geographical information to corporate data by pulling Google Maps into a common process. Now, mashup vendors say, the updated tools can be used as a quick and easy way to integrate data from disparate systems for use in a wide variety of processes like monitoring competitor pricing and automating manual processes that include Web services or content.
