Research firm Gartner has warned that 90% of the blockchain technology used by enterprises will need to be replaced within the next 18 months, tech site ITPro reported on June 3.

The company’s senior research director, Adrian Lee, said the industry’s fragmented nature means the technology implemented by some companies is at risk of becoming obsolete or insecure by 2021.

Lee also said blockchain vendors often use marketing messages that fail to address an enterprise’s needs — leaving companies confused as to how decentralized platforms work, and whether they would add any net benefit to their operations. He told ITPro:

“Many CIOs overestimate the capabilities and short-term benefits of blockchain as a technology to help them achieve their business goals, thus creating unrealistic expectations when assessing offerings from blockchain platform vendors and service providers.”

The Gartner executive said this ultimately creates a headache for IT departments, as they need to decide which blockchain would be the best fit for their business.

Lee predicted that fragmentation will only increase in the blockchain industry over the coming years — and instead of joined-up thinking, standardization and unification, a multiplatform world will develop. As a result, Gartner does not expect a single blockchain platform to assert dominance between now and 2024.

Back in February, Gartner had warned businesses to stay away from blockchain for the time being, with research fellow David Furlonger claiming that the industry’s level of maturity means there are a series of challenges that need to be addressed before enterprises can confidently use the technology at scale.

Nonetheless, April saw the company forecast that 20% of the world’s top 10 grocers will be using blockchain technology by 2025.