2. WEBINAR Blockchain: From Irrational Exuberance To Rational Assessment
Martha Bennett, Principal Analyst
May 23, Call in at 10:55 a.m. Eastern time

4. Agenda
Setting the scene: definition and timeline
Key developments
Challenges yet to be addressed
Vendor checklist
Recommendations

5. There’s no such thing as “the blockchain”
Source: “Q&A: Forrester’s Top Five Questions About Blockchain” Forrester report

6. A few key principles
A blockchain is an append-only, cryptographically secured, distributed, and replicated store of records.
“Cryptographically secured” doesn’t mean the transaction data is encrypted.
“Store of records” doesn’t mean that all data associated with a transaction is stored on the chain.
A blockchain can be described as a distributed ledger — but a distributed ledger doesn’t have to be a blockchain.
Always clarify the meaning of terms first.

7. Blockchain timeline
Source: “Q&A: Forrester’s Top Five Questions About Blockchain” Forrester report

8. Key developments in the past six months
R3CEV: member-funded consortium
Adopt, adapt, and build approach.
Microsoft: “Blockchain as a service”
Hosting blockchain offerings on Azure (dev and test)
Linux Foundation Hyperledger Project
Develop an open source framework and code base.
IBM: long-standing blockchain involvement
Hyperledger, Blockchain DevOps, and internal
Consulting firms and SIs increasingly active
3Pillar Global, Capgemini, Cognizant, Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC, and Virtusa

9. It’s early stages yet
Image source: Wikimedia Commons (

10. More experience, more caution
A number of fundamental technology issues have yet to be addressed.
Use cases suitable for deployment in the near to medium term are likely to revolve around:
Internal applications that can be extended to include external parties (e.g., compliance ledgers, time stamping, and archiving).
Shared reference data (i.e., no confidentiality issues).
Applications where a single entity has control.
Selected supply chain aspects.

11. Changing the world will take longer . . .
Among the hype, it’s often forgotten that technology alone can’t change the fundamentals.
“The harmonization and development of business process cannot be separated from the application of shared mutual distributed ledger.”*
*Source: Michael Mainelli and Alistair Milne, “The Impact and Potential of Blockchain on the Securities Transaction Lifecycle,” Swift Institute, May 9, 2016 (

12. Changing the world will take longer . . .
Among the hype, it’s often forgotten that technology alone can’t change the fundamentals.
“ the first idea that we (and many others) started with, appears to be wrong. This idea was that private blockchains (or “shared ledgers”) could be used to directly settle the majority of payment and exchange transactions in the finance sector.”**
“The harmonization and development of business process cannot be separated from the application of shared mutual distributed ledger.”*
*Source: Michael Mainelli and Alistair Milne, “The Impact and Potential of Blockchain on the Securities Transaction Lifecycle,” Swift Institute, May 9, (
**Source: Gideon Greenspan, “Four Genuine Blockchain Use Cases,” CoinDesk, May 11, 2016 (

13. Vendor due diligence: what to ask
How does your technology work, and what makes it “blockchain” or “distributed ledger”?
Demand detail and clarity regarding what exists and what’s on the road map.
What use cases does your solution address?
Why can existing technologies not address these?
At what stage of development or deployment?
Do you have reference customers?
How does your solution scale?
Has this been proven?

14. A few make-or-break questions
What about:
Key management?
Exception handling?
Ensuring privacy and confidentiality?
If physical and digital worlds intersect, how is the:
Identity of a person or organization established in a way that satisfies governments and regulators?
Integrity of the physical object ensured throughout its life cycle?
Is there a dependency on the Bitcoin blockchain?

15. Recommendations

16. Recommendations Start from first principles:
What needs fixing?
Why hasn’t it been fixed yet?
What does the new process look like, A to Z?
Which pieces of the puzzle are missing?
Start small, and think big in terms of:
Use cases in your industry.
What it means for the development of distributed computing.

17. Further reading
“Blockchain — Don’t Believe In Miracles” Forrester report
“Q&A: Forrester’s Top Five Questions About Blockchain” Forrester report
Please note: Both reports contain a number of external references in the endnotes.

18. Q&A

19. Martha Bennett