Enterprise vs. Consumer

For most companies the distinction is practically irrelevant from a technology perspective: in 2013 to build a successful consumer product you need the security, scalability, and reliability that is typically associated with enterprise software. Likewise to build successful enterprise software you need the design, user experience, and ease-of-use traditionally reserved for consumer products. Direct-to-consumer is a good way to achieve growth, enterprise is a great way to monetize. The best products straddle both: die-hard consumer products are paid for by their enterprise users (cf. Evernote, Dropbox), while some of the most dramatic examples of enterprise success stories experienced growth through achieving buy-in from the bottom-up (cf. Yammer, Google Apps).