How can Blockchain-as-a-Service Fuel a New Phase of Innovation among Global Enterprises?
The blockchain technology is continuing to disrupt several industry domains owing to its revolutionary proposition. According to Gartner, blockchain became the second most searchable term at its platform, with an increase in search volume by up to 400% in 12 months. The growing interest in blockchain solutions is paving way for service providers to simplify block tech for companies looking for ways to implement this technology to streamline operations.
In 2019, the global market value of Blockchain-as-a-service was USD 420.5 billion and now it is expected to boost up to USD 982.8 billion till the end of 2025 and that too at a CAGR of 15.2% above the forecast period 2020–2025.
With the introduction of Blockchain-as-a-Service by Microsoft in 2015, a new avenue opened up for companies who wanted to familiarize themselves with the technology before investing heavily to develop blockchain-based solutions. Essentially, Blockchain-as-a-Service allows companies to outsource the development, operations, and maintenance of blockchain platform for their business and leverage the benefits without deviating from core business functions.
BaaS: What it means for businesses?
To interact and utilize blockchain for your business, you will have to set up nodes on a blockchain platform and maintain the same. This technically-complex and a tedious process can keep an enterprise away from implementing efficient blockchain systems for operations.
Blockchain-as-a-service is offered by tech companies to help enterprises deal with the complex blockchain backend. The engagement model, similar to others in the IT industry such as Software-as-a-Service is fuelling the rapid adoption of blockchain for businesses.
Blockchain as a Service: A Boon for Modern Enterprises Looking for Change
A BaaS provider will set up blockchain connected nodes for your enterprise and will speed up the adoption by handling things at the technical end. In other words, BaaS enables an enterprise to hire blockchain from a hosting provider who will take responsibility for deploying and configuring blockchain for your business in their own servers.
Deployment of enterprise software is not easy owing to the scale of operations, integration and deployment issues. Blockchain-as-a-service enables businesses to try out the new technology before rolling out to cut down costs and eliminate complexity from the beginning. Instead of taking the decision of a costly legacy system upgrade, enterprises can first check out a solution and its utility when it comes to their custom solutions.
Driving innovation via Blockchain as a Service
There are potentially infinite applications for the blockchain technology. From finance to data administration and management, digitization to manufacturing and logistics, blockchain has an inherent potential to drive innovation across a number of industries. Already, blockchain is refueling the startup culture globally with the launch of blockchain-based solutions.
Blockchain Startups & Innovation
With the help of a service such as BaaS, established as well as budding enterprises can take advantage of modern technology to turn the innovation wheel and bring out something valuable for the society. As blockchain-as-a-service makes it possible to get hold of blockchain apps and scale up as the company grows, it also ensures that enterprises do not spend without having a solid proof-of-scalability in hand.
Top BaaS platforms for enterprise solutions
Some of the largest players in the tech industry have already launched their dedicated BaaS platforms for enterprises. From Ethereum-based platforms to hyperledger-based BaaS offerings, the ecosystem is already crowded making it hard for your company to choose a reliable provider. To give you a heads up for making a decision, we are enlisting the top BaaS platforms:
- Microsoft Blockchain on Azure
One of the first blockchain-as-a-service platform in the market, Microsoft Blockchain on Azure facilitates deployment and configuration of blockchain network with minimum technical knowledge. The platform is quite user-friendly and enables single-click deployment enabling companies to deploy blockchain network topology in minutes. The platform is based on Ethereum Consortium Blockchain and charges a company based on the resources consumed such as network and storage.
- IBM Blockchain Platform
IBM’s blockchain platform enables a business to develop, manage and operate a multi-institution network with ease. With an enterprise plan offering access to transaction ordering service, certificate authority and a network peer, the platform is one of the most unique BaaS offerings in the industry. Recently, IBM announced a pluggable architecture, a new consensus algorithm, and advanced identity management to make its platform one of the most powerful, secure and highly-customizable BaaS solution.
- Blockchain Cloud Service by Oracle
Oracle launched its blockchain cloud service as a part of its Platform-as-a-Service portfolio. It gives enterprises the power to create new revenue streams and reduce costs by providing on-premises applications for performing secure transactions on a business network. Facilitating rapid onboarding and faster scalability around the globe, Oracle’s solution is embedded with an integrated application, sample codes, design patterns, and templates to speed up blockchain integration across business networks and application suites.
- AWS Blockchain Templates
Amazon’s AWS Blockchain Templates makes it easy for businesses to set up Ethereum or Hyperledger Fabric-compatible blockchain networks. AWS templates can work as open-source frameworks that speed up the deployment, configuration, and development of blockchain applications and decentralized networks. With a distributed consensus algorithm and multiple access control features, AWS Blockchain Templates have the potential to give businesses the ability to develop multiple aspects of a secure and stable blockchain network. On-demand start and shut down functionality ensures the business can customize the platform according to the growing or diminishing needs.
Why Do organizations need BaaS services?
Many IT organizations are increasingly adopting Blockchain technology which has a strategic set of advantages. Blockchain-as-a-service is potentially seen as the strongest solution to all the problems that small companies facing in the adoption of blockchain technology. You need to make the right choice of an organization that will provide you the best assistance for Blockchain development services. The skilled BaaS partner will always provide you the best set of results at the end of your project.
How does a BaaS model work?
The BaaS partner will rely on the required resources and leverages the needed technology and infrastructure for setting up and maintaining the Blockchain connected nodes on the behalf of the customer. Based on customer’s requirements, BaaS partner configures the Blockchain network on any of the distributed ledgers like Bitcoin, Ethereum, R3 Corda, Hyperledger Fabric, Chain Core or any BlockApps. Later on, Blockchain as a Service partner maintains all the critical Blockchain-related artifacts and keeps the infrastructure in the running condition.
Merits and Demerits of BaaS for businesses
• Saves a lot of costs which is involved in the project development
• Easy to use technology from a developer’s point of view
• Purely focus on customizing different things as per the project’s requirement
• Requires less staff and optimizes its resources for adding value to the project
• Consists of limited in-depth knowledge of the technology
• Possess a lack of visibility and control for dealing with the technology and business solutions
- Faces many different data compliance challenges
Here are some points that one needs to consider while choosing BaaS partner -
• The BaaS partner should have a proven track record of developing and deploying Blockchain technology similar to what you are planning to execute.
• Quality assurance is a vital factor that the BaaS partner should hold and show while executing your project.
• Security is yet another important factor to consider while implementing the whole plan. It is critical to see that a minor bug can create serious issues.
• The vendor must have enough experience in deploying the cloud-based solutions for operating systems that are similar to that of your organizations.
• Analyze the pricing options before you hire any BaaS partner and also look for post-deployment options.
BaaS platforms in the future will be seen across industry segments such as financial services, healthcare and supply chain management, among others. Owing to the benefit offered by BaaS platforms, they will act as a catalyst for adoption of blockchain technology at large, worldwide.
There is no doubt that the easy accessibility of blockchain technology owing to BaaS platforms will enable enterprises to experiment, evolve and create better solutions. Increased adoption of blockchain solutions will spurt an innovation drive that will leverage potential use cases of blockchain for the benefit of entrepreneurial as well as consumer ecosystem in the future. If you are ready to be a part of the revolution, you can talk to experts at Intuz who have deep insights into the utilization of BaaS platforms for business growth.
This story is published in The Startup, Medium’s largest entrepreneurship publication followed by +368,366 people.
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