Written by James Orme Mon 3 Jun 2019

90 percent of enterprise blockchain platform implementations deployed today will be obsolete by 2021, Gartner says

Gartner has slammed the sustainability of blockchain platforms currently implemented by enterprises.

The analyst house claimed 90 percent of deployments will have to be swapped out by 2021 if they are to remain competitive, secure and avoid obsolescence.

The industry has yet to establish a core feature set that should comprise an enterprise blockchain platform. As those requirements become defined, it is likely that many current deployments will become obsolete, Gartner said.

Adrian Lee, senior research director at Gartner, said platforms are still immature and that many do not provide “additional functionality” to the core blockchain technology.

“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,” Lee added.

Some of the commercial platforms available today include Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric, IBM Blockchain and Multichain, yet Gartner says choosing a platform is complex, as many offerings overlap or are being used in a complementary fashion.

In addition, Lee said vendors tend to market their platforms by mentioning features general to blockchain technology, such as its security and transparency, instead of connecting potential customer use cases to benefits gained by deploying a solution.

“While these may be functions of blockchain-enabling technology, buyers are still confused as to how these functions are achieved or what benefits blockchain adds compared to their existing processes,” said Lee.

Lee added that as the industry lacks consensus on the features that should comprise a blockchain platform for the enterprise, its core application requirements or the target market, a multiplatform will emerge without one player dominating.

Blockchain technology is a suite of technologies including cryptography, smart contracts and decentralised ledgers, that gained traction in enterprise circles largely due to the popularity of cryptocurrency Bitcoin, based on the same set of technologies.

Compared to ordinary systems that enterprises use to store and exchange data, blockchain reportedly offers improved security and transparency, although interest has waned in recent months, with companies complaining that the slow speed and expense of hosting a decentralised database makes it practical only in limited cases.

Nevertheless, it appears that it won’t be long before blockchain is back in fashion once more. In a recent forecast, Gartner predicted the business value of blockchain to exceed $3.1 trillion (£2.45 trillion) by 2030.

Last week, CRM heavyweight Salesforce launched a blockchain platform that integrates Salesforce Lightning with distributed ledger technology.