COVER STORY EMBRACE CHANGE. . . THE BUT STAY WARY More than half of the world’s large corporations are right now considering blockchain (distributed ledger technology), according to a study by UK. research firm Juniper Research. Its work has found that 57% of large corporations – defined as any company with more than 20,000 employees – are either actively considering or in the process of deploying blockchain. Two-thirds of companies surveyed by Juniper said that they expected the technology to be integrated into their systems by the end of this year. 14 FEBRUARY 2018 “It is clear that companies across the board have a significantly greater understanding of blockchain technology than was the case 12 months ago,” Juniper blockchain specialist Windsor Holden says. “This stems in part from a surge in R&D (research and development) both internally and in partnership with third parties, with a recognition that blockchain has the potential to be deployed in a variety of use cases. “As the number of research projects have increased, so too has awareness, both amongst the participants and elsewhere in their industries, with competitor companies in turn beginning to consider whether they too should seek to gain competitive advantage from deployment. “For financial technology (fintech) start-ups in the blockchain space, this can only be good news, since it demonstrates the high level of demand within an enterprise space that is increasingly well-informed about blockchain.” However, in many cases, “systemic change rather than technological, might be a better and cheaper solution than blockchain, which could potentially cause significant internal and external disruption,” Holden says. The research found that some companies underestimated the scale of challenge of deploying blockchain. Survey respondents also indicated progressive concern as their companies came closer towards full deployment, particularly over clients refusing to embrace the technology. Blockchain offers particular benefits to improve efficiency and corporate transparency, Holden says. If an enterprise is heavily dependent upon paper-based storage and has high volumes of transactions or transmitted information, it can be especially effective. Blockchain technology is sweeping the business world and will benefit many industries, including food and beverage. But a blockchain expert warns against using blockchain technology without first considering the alternatives.
FT-eMag-feb18
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