“Many blockchain use cases have been identified, but full products/services have not yet been built out and are not used in production,” said Rangan.
The analyst says that Amazon Web Services (AWS) will benefit “from incremental cloud services demand from blockchain implementation, while improved supply chain tracking should make Amazon’s retail operations more efficient.” Rangan also predicts that blockchain will improve software-as-a-service (SaaS) platforms and that blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) will emerge to the benefit of the likes of Microsoft.
Amazon – the Rumors and the Reality
As one of the largest corporations in the world and one that is known for being quick to eliminate inefficiencies, Amazon is being watched carefully for blockchain or cryptocurrency adoption. Rumors often circulate about Amazon’s ownership of certain blockchain and cryptocurrency related web domains, prompting some to believe Amazon is about to take the leap.
“This is a heavy duty, full stack way of getting the company into blockchain solutions.”
Microsoft – Moving Data to Blockchain
Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing service has been using blockchain technology for around three years.
Matt Kerner, general manager of Microsoft Azure, revealed that Microsoft has been looking to underpin blockchain into many of its other platforms including Office 365 and SAP. The overall plan, according to reports, is for Microsoft users to move their data from these platforms to the cloud and then onto blockchain.
Potentially to this end, Microsoft Azure has added Microsoft Flow and Logic Apps which can connect applications into the Azure Blockchain Workbench for developers. Kerner says this is part of the evolution of Big Data.
The Bank of America analyst’s predictions are based firmly in fact. Amazon, Microsoft and other technology leaders like Facebook and IBM are all investigating and beginning to adopt blockchain into their technology stacks. This blockchain utilization can only grow as none of these leviathans can afford to be left behind.
