Do The Monster MasheryDo The Monster Mashery

I'm sure just about everything can happen in the cloud these days -- maybe even things I don't want to know about. But when we're starting to help companies perform API management in the cloud, which is what Mashery is doing, it's probably a pretty good sign.You can watch our video on Mashery here.

Mashery, a two-year-old startup, has jumped into the rapidly growing segment of helping companies expose content and services in a complex (and sometimes scary) business environment. Organizations do this mostly in order to distribute that content or stoke new business relationships, but that also means losing some control.

I spent some time with Mashery's VP for sales and marketing, Laura Merling, who told me that Mashery's on-demand service is necessary because the relationships that content owners are forming, while beneficial, also come with a price.

The first is finding a way to interact with the community, including understanding its needs, educating them on the suggested uses, and addressing problems that arise. But it also includes sharing what others are doing. One of the services Mashery creates, then, is a portal for doing all of this.

The other big piece is just managing the use of an API -- being able to issue keys, track usage, and set limits based on business volume and appropriateness of content.

(Don't forget, this week we are hosting our Cloud Connect event in Mountain View.)