I’ve always felt mashups represent the greatest opportunity to deliver game-changing benefits to organizations experimenting with Enterprise 2.0. Although, a lot of what I’ve seen in the mashup community I coin “mapups” because they’re based on the Google Maps open API plus another interesting data set. Serious mashups are not for beginners and still require a developer’s skill, but many vendors are making inroads here – such as IBM and Serena Software.
A contest that crossed my desk this morning is one sponsored by BroadSoft, Inc. and IBM. Broadsoft, a leading provider of VOIP applications, has announced its second annual XContestv2 developer challenge. Broadsoft has over 1,600 developers in its network who are eligible to compete in the contest. With the increased Enterprise interest in lowering costs and improving productivity with VOIP alternatives, there should be a strong response to this year’s contest.
Broadsoft claims that the winning mashups will have exposure to over 500 million subscribers via its Xtended Marketplace. Winners will be awarded cash prizes worth over $30,000, in addition to the market exposure. Contestants who incorporate IBM WebSphere Presence Server and WebSphere XML Document Management Server (XDMS) tools will be eligible for a cash bonus as well. The winning first place mashup last year was a simple, yet useful disaster dispatching application won by “Mr. Mashup” Thomas Howe, now CEO of Jaduka. This year’s winners will be showcased at the Broadsoft’s user conference.
Registration starts today and continues through April 27. Idea submissions will be accepted through May 18 and developers have until July 31 to submit their working applications and prototypes. Winners will be announced September 9.
