Microsoft & IBM Declare Blockchain Open for Business

Microsoft and IBM, two of the biggest names in technology, are ramping up their distributed ledger initiative and Blockchain-as-a-Service platform with the aim of changing the world with their latest tools.

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The blockchain has become more than a buzzword as these two corporate behemoths are tapping into the potential of the technology. Back in November of 2015, Microsoft took the first steps with its Blockchain-as-a-Service platform (BaaS). Now IBM has just announced the official launch of its digital ledger deliverance and says the “Blockchain is open for business.” In its latest press release the company says:

IBM Delivers Blockchain-As-A-Service for Developers; Commits to Making Blockchain Ready for Business. To help developers quickly begin exploring the use of blockchain in the enterprise.

IBM Blockchain Cloud Service is Open

The International Business Machines Corporation, commonly referred to as IBM, is pushing blockchain technology to the next level. The company’s latest submission of 44,000 lines of code to the Hyperledger Project shows that the business plans to move fast into this new emerging industry.

IBM is also bringing blockchain services to a cloud-based system that the firm believes will “power a new class of distributed ledger applications.” So far with the Linux Foundation, the organization has 35 global researchers and software developers, and more than 100 technical architects involved with the project.

Users can take advantage of the new platform through Bluemix, where developers can create, deploy and run blockchain-based applications. Newly created code can also be launched on IBM z Systems, which the company says enables additional security.

The new service is ready to bring this technology to the enterprise level and is working with many global partners. Two firms collaborating with IBM’s project are the London Stock Exchange Group and the Finnish business development organization, Kouvola Innovation. 

“London Stock Exchange Group is directly engaged in the development of the open blockchain technologies with IBM, and we are excited to help enable the creation of solutions that will help manage risk and bring additional transparency to global financial markets,” Moiz Kohari, head of technology innovation at London Stock Exchange Group, said. “We believe this technology has the potential to drive change across the industry but will need to be developed in partnership with customers and industry participants under an open source approach.”

Microsoft Initiates the Race

Last year, the multinational technology company Microsoft made headlines by introducing its own cloud-based blockchain service Azure. Partnering with ConsensYs and many projects like Ethereum, Emercoin, and Ripple Labs, the BaaS concept has come to life. Just recently R3 CEV told the world it was using the Ethereum protocol through Azure to connect 11 banks together for a Bank-to-Bank (B2B) platform. The project says anyone using its service can put together a distributed ledger platform and add value to the Azure service. The project has recently added more including:

ARM templates: Build an ARM template for complete one click install of your service to run in Azure. Once completed, your template will show up with other community contributed templates. Use your ARM template to build a DevTest Labs artifact using a subset of your scripts. Find additional documentation on GitHub. Look for the official launch of the Azure Blockchain Marketplace category. This is a more rigorous certification process, so make sure you have a stable release build of your service before you line up.

The Microsoft Azure platform has been introducing new updates regularly since the its inception. “Blockchain and the whole ecosystem is a fast moving space,” Marley Gray, Microsoft’s Director, Technology Strategy US Financial Services said. “We look to make Microsoft Azure the absolute best place to develop, test and deploy distributed ledger applications in the cloud, hybrid and local environments.”

A few weeks ago the platform also revealed its first Technical Preview of the Azure Stack, showcasing the project’s progress.

Microsoft and IBM helped start the digital revolution in the early 80s. With the PC DOS that eventually became MS-DOS on every IBM computer, the pair of companies partnered together to change history in the microcomputing landscape. Now with the emerging blockchain, these corporations are leading the pack once again.

What do you think of these tech giants turning blockchains into an enterprise service? Let us know in the comments below!

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