Blockchain challenges in adoption

Abstract

Purpose: Blockchain technology can be used to record virtually anything of value – your identity, a will, a deed or almost any type of secure transfer of information. But in many respects, blockchain is lacking some critical capabilities to make it ready for widescale adoption by business. This paper on IBM blockchain attempts to uncover the promise of blockchain for enterprise, which goes beyond its role as an industry disruptor. It also has tremendous potential to improve existing business processes, as well as to improve efficiencies in existing transaction systems, leading to exponential cost saving for the enterprise and the end consumer. Disintermediation and disruption is the investment magnet for blockchain-related ideas, riding on the success of the business and underpinned by peer-to-peer and crowdsourcing models. Blockchain technology promises a similar explosion in trade, ownership and trust, as the tenets of both technologies rely on principles of distributed governance and rules established for a time-tested protocol. Design/methodology/approach: The idea behind defining the path to blockchain enterprise adoption is to ensure that we have a microscopic focus on a singular use case and that we distill the existing business into a blockchain paradigm. This implies both business and technology models. We take a singular use case that has an industry and enterprise impact and apply business and technology acumen to the problem domain. Findings: The result is a well-thought-out business architecture and technology blueprint, along with requirements for compliance, audit and enterprise integration. The point of this exercise is to expend time and energy with the right business domain expertise and blockchain technology expertise to derive an adoption model that enlists and surfaces hurdles, challenges and factors in the costs and economic viability of the blockchain solution. Originality/value: The resulting artifacts/collateral of the blockchain client led engagement are envisioned to be instrumental in socialization and in providing a blueprint for a business seeking executive sponsorship and the necessary funding for first project.