requirements of Blockchain . Public clouds allow you to allocate as many instances as you like from a public cloud provider , and this elastic approach to scaling and de-scaling to support a secure translation is ideal for a Blockchain transaction .
• The pervasiveness of public cloud computing means that the node of a Blockchain system can be supported outside of the enterprise by a neutral third party , the public cloud provider . Moreover , this means that access is just as easy from a small business as a large one , because you ’ re only paying for the infrastructure by usage . This makes the costs of moving to Blockchain affordable , and thus removes budgetary barriers to entry .
• Access to Blockchain enabled applications and data are largely identity- and role-based . The use of public cloud has become the proving ground for identity- and access-based management approaches , such as those provided by Microsoft , Google and AWS . These services are already native on these cloud providers ; you don ’ t have to integrate them yourself .
• The use of intensive transaction logging , with both distributed and I / O-intensive impacts , is perfect for cloud computing . Logging operations can be spun off on new machine instances and storage instances without impacting the core application . These are launched , used to support the Blockchain processes and then de-provisioned .
So , Now What ?
Your interest in Blockchain really depends upon the vertical market you ’ re in . Operations that drive many financial transactions , trading something that costs money , will find huge promise in this technology .
However , even organizations that are not big money shops like banks , can find value in Blockchain . Consider the applications available to purchase and track materials and inventory , as well as applications for retail organizations that can sell merchandise via Blockchain . Healthcare payers and providers can find applications for Blockchain , to reduce the cost of dealing with large transactions , and for the secure storage and dissemination of patient data .
Moreover , IoT technology providers could find that , as with the Weather . com applications we mentioned above , they can use Blockchain as a way to push data from device sensors to the database . For instance , when tracking a tanker and all its systems across the ocean , in the event of an incident ( e . g ., a storm ), you can understand what went right and wrong , with a clear understanding that neither the company nor the crew have the ability to change that data once it ’ s brought into the Blockchain network edge .
So , what do you do , specifically , to take advantage of Blockchain ? There are a few steps we suggest :
1 ) Look at the core systems and systems requirements that may benefit from Blockchain within your organization or company . What are the core business benefits that you ’ re seeking ? What would be the required ROI from the implementation of Blockchain ?
2 ) Look at your current cloud strategy , and the best way to support any new Blockchain applications . This means , understand how existing cloud endpoints map into ( or don ’ t work with ) a Blockchain implementation and / or applications . A Blockchain strategy may also affect the public clouds that you chose . Right now , each vendor is off in its own direction for supporting Blockchain .
3 ) Identify the tactical use cases for Blockchain . Understand the general requirements we covered in the first point . But also define the existing use cases and break them down into their sub-parts , so you understand how they must be built . You can work up from the use cases , to the applications and then to the technology solution that you ’ ll need to support Blockchain .
If you follow these steps , the path to Blockchain via the cloud should be a short one , and not at all complex . The complexity does come in when dealing with the maturity of a technology that has not yet established itself . Time will solve that problem , and the cloud should be able to do the rest .
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