4 Things You Should Know About Enterprise Blockchain

Last week, Oracle officially released its cloud-based enterprise blockchain solution, the latest in a growing collection of offerings for large, often global companies and organizations.

The Oracle Blockchain Cloud Service joins similar products offered by other large enterprise players including IBM, Microsoft and SAP as well as blockchain developers such as ConsenSys. Though each company is taking a different approach to cracking the enterprise market, some commonalities are beginning to emerge.

It’s also clear the technology may be ready for prime time in large businesses and industries. Forty-three percent of global companies consider blockchain a critical strategic priority, according to a Deloitte study released earlier this year. Equally important, more appear to be acting on that priority with the help of enterprise solutions.

The internet of things may become the compelling use case that drives enterprise adoption of the blockchain.

“Blockchain projects are quickly moving from pilot to production as enterprises and governments begin to see the inherent value of distributed ledgers and smart contracts,” Robert Parker, IDC’s group vice president of manufacturing and retail insights, said as part of Oracle’s announcement. “As spending accelerates, buyers will need an enterprise class platform beyond open source that includes data security and integrity, scalability, manageability and interoperability.”

Here are four common themes emerging from the enterprise market:

1. Businesses are finding use cases, or at least one overarching use case.

Oracle brands its blockchain solution as a “distributed ledger service,” and that’s exactly how the companies who have worked with the early adopter version of its solution ahead of last week’s launch put it to use.

As part of its launch announcement, Oracle provided examples of how its technology has been used to facilitate bank electronic fund transfers, shipping-industry logistics, supply chain tracking for an olive oil producer, software documentation, a consumer loyalty program, and a nonprofit food safety solution, among other use cases. All draw on the ability to provide “a single source of truth with immutable records,” as Solar Site Design CEO Jason Loyet put it in the Oracle release.

That’s true among other large providers. IBM promotes its own enterprise blockchain solution with a photo of a container ship plying the ocean, and its website focuses on “a new generation of transactional applications that establish trust, accountability and transparency.”