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Check out this story on Google extending search behind the firewall:

Google plans to announce in the near future "an innovative strategy" that will allow users of its enterprise search service to access real-time business information.

Oracle's Charles Phillips has an interesting comment in a recent speech. It went something like this (not a direct quote!): I have people asking me, "I can go to Google and search for anything and get it <a href="http://www.redmonk.com/sogrady/archives/001324.html"">in seconds. But, in my own enterprise, I can't even search for PO's from the last 7 days. Why not?"

Addressing that question, and the broader question of "why doesn't my enterprise IT work with my business?" is a huge part of Oracle's future strategy to carve out (and keep carving out) a business applications ecosystem.

As in systems management, business application vendors are realizing that once you get the IT-centric problems solved, you have to start asking the business side of the shop "how can we get all this software to help make the company more money?" The implication being, "instead of just preventing it from costing more money and base-lining our IT with everyone else."

This isn't to say that software out there is crap. Not at all. What I'm saying is that after solidifying the infrastructure, you get the chance to move on to even more exciting and profitable things: the business.

So far the approaches have been very structured. While wikis, blogs, and even search behind-the-firewall are big for the geeks, my gut feel is that things like SharePoint are more the norm for the rest of the world (again, just my gut feel). So, I'm very keen on seeing what a Google's approach. For an analogy: think semantic web vs. unstructured search. As something in the area (perhaps neighborhood instead of ball-park ;>), I outlined some out of left field type thinking about how search could become the CMDB for business late last year. James compared it to IBM's MDM.

Indeed, the prospect of the front-end to the business being a sparse text entry field -- just like at Google.com -- is intriguing. We'll see what they come up with. Even more interesting will be the reaction that the corporate world gives.

Disclaimer: IBM and Microsoft are clients. Google is not, while Oracle is a client by virtue of Sleepycat being a client.