Blockchain Part II: Engineering Transformation; Building out the Blueprint
Techstrategy. One word; As Technology Drives Business Strategy
It will not be new news that the first step toward achieving Blockchain goals is to define your Blockchain strategy. But the reality is that the pressure is on to float media friendly POCs that assuage inquiring analysts, which is resulting in a lot of stop and go activity in the Blockchain space. When the dust settles however, lack of a comprehensive strategy will have led to drains on time and resources without significant upside. A confused strategy regarding Blockchain integration and innovation will invite skepticism from the board level (just when businesses need investment most), as well as concerned comments from ‘The Street’, who may be judging confused firms as ill-prepared for future frays. It’s time to get Business Line Leads and technology professionals in a room and find a group consensus on moving forward with Blockchain Techstrategy.
May I have this dance?; Aligning Business Goals with Overriding Organizational Change
Your goal may be to transformatively automate transactions, comply with regulations ‘real — time’, design new products to serve both established and potential customers, or maybe even build alternative marketplaces never dreamed of — using Blockchain technology. Whatever the desired outcome (and objectives will be different across diversified business lines) the end goal is to trial, learn and move forward, applying enterprise-wide capabilities where possible and other types of Blockchain solutions where not. That said, it’s vital to have a clearly articulated goal in mind before committing to any POC and understand its potential positive ramifications for other business lines. This simple alignment amongst all stakeholders will help guide scope, development and analysis decisions along the way while removing costly redundancies.
Go Big. Or Go Home; Enterprize-wide Blockchain Programing
To win the gold in Blockchain implementation, you simply cannot stop short of establishing an enterprise-wide competency. Currently, firms are standing up Blockchain programs in a few common ways: either through innovation labs, individual lines of business, or through investment arms, stymying knowledge share that limits scalability. Many of these small endeavors and isolated experiments have not been able to illustrate the bourgeoning bandwidth of Blockchain, and very few ‘proofs-of-concepts (POCs)’ have matured into production applications. Earlier builds, it seems, tend to be excessively narrow and often are not directly linked to specific business needs and outcomes.
Winning firms will start building blockchain solutions with clear, enterprise-wide business values in mind. They will be looking for scalability — ‘what can I solve that will help my internal processes — but will also help the way I work with other participants and prospective partners — optimally helping the way the industry conducts its business overall?’ Futurists are calling for industry leaders to ‘skate to where the puck will be instead of where it is now.’ That means firms must make decisions using a holistic, wide-reaching ecologic approach toward Blockchain implementaion. With this type of complex transformation, a robust technical architecture, and a coordinated operating program plan are not options — they’re imperatives.
Building from the Bottom Up; Acing Blockchain Architectures
Just as with the construction of a new building, the only way to shape a quality blockchain strategy that will last, begins with careful and thoughtful architecture. This is literally where the foundation is laid. The design of Blockchain architecture presents a number of unique challenges that will require a great deal of critical thinking to surmount. To build a Blockchain architecture strategy that will endure the test of time, consider the following:
1. Develop architecture patterns for each of your defined engagement models (build, buy, partner, participate or integrate). This will ensure you have the right architecture in place to act on the opportunities you decide to pursue as well as to quickly react to new use cases (both internal and externally-led).
2. Blockchain is about much more than ‘on-chain’ data and functionality. Successful implementations will require working with a number of existing and (potentially) new off-chain systems as well. Thus, it is necessary to identify key integration points within the enterprise stack; Which systems will feed into the Blockchain, and which will require data or functionality from it? Where will the Blockchain aspect of the solution replace existing systems, and where will it augment them? Important questions to both ask and answer!
3. The present reality of multiple business networks (and business networks running on different technologies) existing within firms as well as between firms points to the future likelihood of multiple Blockchain networks in business. Organizations will need to solve for the ability to orchestrate multiple Blockchain technologies simultaneously and determine how Blockchains will communicate with each other within a clearly articulated architecture.
Shaping the Future with Blockchain; Molding Strategies using Prioritization Models
A business value prioritization model should become the main filter through which organizations can run potential future use cases. Additionally, using a clearly defined model, cases can be compared to assess their value in relation to each other. Consistently assessing the success of Blockchain initiatives, both individually and against each other, will help create a clear path forward.
Having a prioritization model in place will allow firms to assess implementations early, avoiding significant expenditure on cases not worthy of subsequent investment. Robust prioritization models will also allow firms to evaluate and act on new ideas that arise within the organization, quickly placing investment funds where they’ll be best utilized. Once your initial use cases are prioritized and you have direction as to how you would approach each, you will be best positioned to initiate a coordinated effort around the right opportunities. With this framework in mind, organizations will be better prepared to dive into the technical details of prioritized use cases.
Metrix, Measures and Models; How to Tell What’s Working?
Once a vision for Blockchain transformation is in place, organizations should determine what goals and measures will ascertain if proposed programs are progressing to achieve the key capabilities desired. After implementation teams have defined actionable metrics, users will be ready to evaluate whether the specific use cases chosen were in fact the right course of action.
Following these procedures will result in a business value ‘prioritization model’ which will serve as a powerful framework for evaluating any given use case in the context of your strategic Blockchain vision. Here are a few examples of the sorts of criteria you should consider:
