Global Blockchain initiatives cover identity, crypto, trade, payments

Wipro Limited, a leading global information technology, consulting, and business process services company, released a study on blockchain technology developed in collaboration with HFS Research. The report reveals the extent of blockchain adoption in the industry today, how it will fare in the year 2020 and beyond.

The report titled, ‘Ignore blockchain at your peril, but don’t drive blindly’ is an outcome of a global survey conducted with 300 senior executives, including more than 100 C-level executives who are closely associated with their organizations' blockchain initiatives and analysis of 940 blockchain initiatives across industries. It shares insights on the current and emerging state of enterprise blockchain adoption; explores why the technology is emerging as a compelling value creation lever, the business problems it can or cannot address, and how enterprises should manage the adoption challenges. The report also leverages Wipro’s key client case studies to bring context, data and real-life insights around blockchain adoption.

Among the major key findings of the report is that 

• Nearly 75% of executives look at blockchain as a strategic priority while only 1% dismiss it as not relevant.
• More than 95% of enterprise blockchain initiatives focus on six broad areas: identity, crypto, trade, payments, supply chain, and finance.
• Nearly 75% executives are leveraging blockchain for near term business impact (process excellence and efficiency, data and identity management, and better business outcomes) or to drive competitive differentiation (reimagined IT infrastructure, additional trust in multi-party collaboration, transparent and immutable transactions).
• Enterprise adoption of blockchain is nascent and challenging, yet ambitious as 75% of all blockchain initiatives are less than two years old and only 14% has reached a production stage.

Saurabh Gupta, Chief Research Officer at HFS Research, said, “In 2019, we witnessed pioneering blockchain initiatives succeed and proceed from proofs of concept to pilots to ‘live, in-production’ while several other efforts failed to move beyond laboratories. 2020 promises to be the most exciting year with enterprise blockchain adoption coming of age to solve real-world business problems. The study reveals that the financial services industry is an early adopter of blockchain technology compared to the other industries, which are now gaining ground. A balanced approach to blockchain is critical to drive meaningful success - one can no longer ignore blockchain as a value creation lever, nor should they be taken in by all the hype!”

Krishnakumar N Menon, Vice President - Service Transformation and Blockchain Theme Leader, Wipro Limited, said, “Enterprise blockchain clients are investing in blockchain solutions to get real business impact, but without a crisp use case, it becomes hard to quantify the benefits. Our key customer case studies included in the report highlight the business value blockchain delivered to our clients and helped them transform their existing business models. Our case studies support the findings of the survey and exemplify the state of enterprise blockchain adoption across industries globally.”

The report involved a survey of respondents from all major geographies namely Europe, North America, Asia, Middle East, Latin America and South-east Asia with extensive industry coverage – Banking, Financial Services, Insurance, Energy and Utilities, Industrial Manufacturing, Retail and CPG, Hi-tech and Telecom, Healthcare and Life Sciences, Travel and Hospitality, and Government and non-profits. To view the full report, please click here.