No business operates in isolation. Irrespective of whichever the industry, any business is part of a large, diverse network of individuals and organisations. This encompasses parts suppliers, distribution partners, customers and financial services firms.
Blockchain can help when reconciling traditional independent ledgers is slow, prone to errors, costly and vulnerable to hackers. Blockchain helps because it facilitates secure transactions online among network participants. It saves time, minimises risks and lowers cost.
Essential Attributes of Enterprise-Ready Blockchain Platforms
#1 Open Governance
The way blockchain platforms handle change should be considered. If there is a problem that needs a resolution, the code base selected should enable the easy establishment of transparent and open processes for updates, changes, and enhancements.
#2 Confidentiality
For protecting confidential information, ways to control who participates within the network should be found. Permissioned memberships ensure blockchains knows who is part of the network because participation is approved. Additionally, the solution keeps contracts and transactions private. These are visible only to parties that are participating. Parties that do not participate should not be able to see information such as expedited shipping and special pricing.
#3 Developer Tools
Tools are needed to serve as catalysts and accelerate the process of modelling the network. The modelling process is inclusive of participants, assets, access controls and transactions. Additionally, there are ways to integrate non-blockchain apps sans a massive development initiative. Tools are needed to create custom app user interfaces from the data model in minutes, not weeks or days.
#4 Modularity
As the business networks expand, or new ones are created, the platform needed can accommodate regional regulations, technical needs, and industry standards. For each network, a single party needs to set rules for the whole network. For another, a more consensus based, the democratic approach may be adopted. Adopting solutions for modularity attain flexibility.
#5 Security
A baseline enterprise blockchain requirement is the protection of sensitive data. It cannot be transacted and exchanged when it comes to assets without adequate security at enterprise level. Additionally, apart from permission for joining the blockchain or maintaining transaction confidentiality, enterprise-ready blockchain platforms must perform data encryption, maintain an audit trail pedigree for different transactions and protect the environment from ransomware, spyware or malware.
Concluding Thoughts
So whether it’s enterprise integration, supportability plus management, security as well as confidentiality, operational resilience and performance at scale, enterprise-ready blockchain platforms are here to stay.
Those enterprises which are experimenting with blockchain use cases need to meet these challenges. Many systems handle business transactions at thousands per second. Enterprises need to consider the large blockchain networks with thousands of members, handling increasing transaction values in this context. Going beyond the limitations needs an architectural approach that separates concerns, uses parallelisation, runs on optimised execution environments and leverage asynchronous flows.
Whether it’s mainframe or midrange systems, Ethereum or Hyperledger, blockchain has a bright future. From the perspective of technology component pieces used to build the blockchain, any surprises would be unwelcome. Well known technology brands extend into blockchain.
Concepts need to be embraced outside usual fields and while the ethos and mindset of blockchain technologies is to think big, security and planning for resilience are essential. Making sure that blockchain technologies are secure is one of the most pressing concerns for ensuring an enterprise-class blockchain platform. In a world where new opportunities arise from age old problems and challenges, blockchain technology could well be the solution to pressing business concerns.
