BLOCKCHAIN: UN-CALLED FOR!

Hardly, a day seems to pass in which we do not read about new Blockchain use cases. It has varied applications right from waste management to artificial intelligence. But how many of these are necessary and genuine use cases of Blockchain?

With the advancement of the technology, there might be a scenario of over-hype. This enthusiasm leads to unnecessary use of the Blockchain. Below are the few use cases where we can implement without Blockchain.

1.      No rule transactions

The smart contracts on the Blockchain handle the transactions where there is a lack of trust between the parties involved in the transactions. Here, the transactions have well-defined rules that everyone will follow.

But when the transactions between parties are customized and in flux, then a large number of specified smart contracts are required on the blockchain. Creating and executing those over and over is not the most efficient way to do business. When the transactions are customized there is no need of a common shared ledger. The best option is to directly communicate with each other rather than using the Blockchain.

2.      Supply chain management

In supply chain management, Blockchain application is in how to record every step, handover and repackaging of every good as it flows from farms through commodity traders, shipping companies, wholesalers, warehouses and stores and is combined, split, removed for not meeting quality requirements, labelled, etc. and all of that without imposing ridiculous burden on the people involved and with acceptable error rate. That’s where IoT might come in, it is about mapping, redesigning processes and reporting.

3.      Asset management

As assets move across the parties, the owner can sometimes lose track of who is holding them at which point. A blockchain as a solution could help by providing indisputable information about the movement of the assets.

Blockchainis wholly a ledger technology: It helps in safeguarding the consistency of transactions, not at recording information about them. The challenge in solving the recording part of the problem is in technological or process integration to a ledger. Blockchain cannot help there. To solve it, partners need to find means to minimize effort and the rate of errors in recording the assets’ changes of state. Data integration, IoT, and clear process ownership could help.

4.      Intra-company

Companies seek Blockchain as a ledger where transactions are immutable and are available forever. When there is a single-company solution i.e. if all the transactions are within the company, Blockchain may not be useful. A secured traditional database might be sufficient.

5.      Centralisation

Blockchain as a Service platform is used when a single company acts a control authority. No party is allowed to take decision, they are forced to abide rules of single company. If the parties were already putting their trust in one company, by assuming they’re working in the best interest of the industry, then there’s no need to use a blockchain. There are many great enterprise SaaS services that manage a lot of data for their customers. But these services don’t need a blockchain because they manage the data and it’s updations.