In the media, blockchain is often linked one-to-one to Bitcoin and others crypto currencies, but this technology can potentially be implemented in almost any industry. Unlike many other IT companies, IBM already offers a full-fledged blockchain platform. During the day IT Room Infrastructure will Rick Reesen blockchain indicate further and highlight the possibilities for the data center world.
The blockchain is nothing more or less than a ledger that is shared publicly or not by multiple parties. Within this, the parties can approve transactions by signing them digitally. Encryption and algorithms play an important role in this. With the rise of Bitcoin ten years ago, the most innovative part of this project received the most attention; Numerous companies – from startups to multinationals – started working with this potentially disruptive technology.
One of the technology companies that immediately saw opportunities in blockchain was IBM. Reesen says: “When blockchain emerged, we realized that it would have a major impact on our customers, and in particular the shared business processes that our customers have with each other when doing business. And this in literally every industry. We believe that 'what the internet has done for information, blockchain will do for transactions'.”
The choice fell on Hyperledger
IBM was looking for an approach in which it chose to participate in a widely supported open source project around new blockchain technology, Hyperledger called. There are several reasons for this choice, says Reesen: “We believe that this technology should not be owned or controlled by one or only a small number of parties. Given the impact that blockchain has on business and society, IBM supports the open source approach and also open governance for further development. That is why we were one of the first, together with a number of other parties, to embrace the Linux Foundation's Hyperledger project.”
IBM now has an increasing number of customers for its blockchain platform, including supermarket chain Walmart and transport giant Maersk. But the company thinks that the blockchain can be used much more broadly: “We currently see most applications in the financial, logistics and medical sectors. And many blockchain use cases are cross-sectoral. But there is no industry or sector that cannot benefit from blockchain or will be affected by it,” says Reesen.
Blockchain in the data center
Looking specifically at the data center sector, Reesen also sees opportunities: “Blockchain for Business is about a network of parties and transactions surrounding assets. Consider, for example, lifecycle and asset management of the equipment that you can find in a data center, its use - such as enabling pay-per-use - and access control/security controls. But energy management and reuse towards the circular economy are also possible applications for the blockchain.”
IBM says it can now offer the entire spectrum of blockchain technology: from business consultancy and application development to infrastructure, integration and management. IBM also states that in practice it also happens that blockchain is not a solution in certain cases: “Disadvantages quickly come to light, mainly due to our approach, when the use case is not actually suitable for the blockchain. And those cases certainly exist,” says Reesen. “Some companies want to retain a kind of exclusive right to blockchain applications. That doesn't really work. Blockchain is a team sport, between business and IT and with multiple parties. Maybe some people see this as a disadvantage, but for an ecosystem that wants to deliver market value it is actually an advantage.”
During the day IT Room Infrastructure, on November 13 in 1931 Congescentrum in Den Bosch, Rick Reesen during a keynote explain blockchain technology in more detail. He will also discuss a number of application examples that are applicable in the context of data centers and data center equipment.
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