Businesses ignoring blockchain will fall behind, report finds

Get with the program or get left behind. That’s the advice of Deloitte, a global auditing and consulting firm. According to a recent report by the company, businesses that ignore the blockchain are destined to fall, leaving those that embrace the technology to rapidly surge ahead.

The report, Deloitte’s “New Tech On The Block,” was drafted after studying 50 blockchain use cases that indicated that the blockchain is now considered to be a “critical asset” for implementation in both the retail and the packaged goods industries.

The firm indicated that blockchains will soon be “a standard operational technology across the financial, manufacturing and consumer industries.” In his foreword, Deloitte’s Steve Larke wrote, “Blockchain has the potential to transform the way that individuals and organisations interact, the way that businesses collaborate with one another, the transparency of processes and data, and, ultimately, the productivity and sustainability of our economy. It is in these applications of technology, not in the minding and trading of cryptocurrencies that Deloitte believes blockchain will thrive in the next ten years.”

The report was derived from investigations into three different areas—payments and contracts, supply chains and consumer services. Each area was given a score based on the value that was added by incorporating the blockchain. The results were definitive, with Deloitte saying, “The ultimate beneficiary will be the consumer. If blockchain can create efficiencies and save costs throughout the supply‐chain, these benefits can be passed on to the consumer in the form of lower prices. If blockchain provides more transparency across the supply‐chain, these benefits can also be passed onto the consumer in the form of safer products and higher quality.”

Deloitte’s paper expanded on research previously conducted by market research company Gartner. Gartner has put a numeric amount to the assistance blockchains can give businesses, indicating that companies can potentially see $176 billion in added value by the year 2025, and over $3.1 trillion by the year 2030 by using the technology.

Many global organizations are already on board. Fred Smith, CEO of shipping giant FedEx, recently said that the blockchain is “the next frontier that’s going to completely change worldwide supply chains.” Both Wal-Mart and Samsung have taken to the blockchain, using it to manage their supply chains. The leading software company Oracle recently announced a set of blockchain products, including a tool for supply chain management in the pharmaceutical industry.