Enterprise Blockchain Level Set

Author:

Gary Rowe
CEO, Principal Consulting Analyst

This report provides guidance for enterprise leaders as to the business value and timing of blockchain, or distributed ledger technology. Our goal in this report is to separate the hype from reality and provide our enterprise clients with answers to the what, when, who and why questions surrounding this space.

Blockchain can be thought of as a tool or recording mechanism to support commerce, smart contracts, and other similar business log and “ledger” functions. It can be thought of as a protocol of distributed, verifiable value exchange. Blockchain is best known as the technology behind Bitcoin and is used as a decentralized means of verifying and recording Bitcoin transactions. The focus of this report is the application of blockchain beyond Bitcoin for the enterprise.

This seminal report is the first of a series of blockchain-related research reports and it sets the foundation for organizations to get the basics of blockchain right, while providing a context for balancing investment, opportunity and risk. This report will focus specifically on blockchain in the enterprise and provides a roadmap for organizations to consider in researching, piloting, deploying and, ultimately scaling usage of blockchain. We include a set of practical steps for organizations to consider as they walk the fine line between being prepared for a tsunami and immediately selling their coastal property and moving to the mountains.