Yesterday, IT services firm Wipro along with HFS Research, published the results of a survey studying enterprise blockchain adoption and the future of the technology for enterprises. Titled ‘Ignore blockchain at your peril, but don’t drive blindly’, the report found that about 75% of executives believed blockchain was a strategic priority, but many are close to the blockchain initiatives. Other key results include just 10% of projects are on the path to production, and only 25% are long term focused as opposed to efficiency oriented.
Wipro and HFS surveyed 318 executives, including 111 C-level executives, and reviewed about 940 blockchain initiatives. The respondents have been closely involved in their organization’s blockchain efforts and spread out across the world and come from several industries.
The survey found that blockchain was more popular with top-level executives, with 90% saying they consider the technology as a strategic priority. On the other hand, about 69% of mid-senior management had the same opinion. Only 1% of the respondents believe blockchain is not relevant to their business, although the survey focused on executives who are associated with blockchain initiatives.
Just 25% are looking at blockchain as a means to create new business and revenue models or disrupt an existing business. Of these, only 6% said they were using the tech for eliminating intermediaries. The 75% balance of respondents are trialing blockchain for near-term business impacts, such as efficiency, data management, and better business outcomes.
The financial sector was one of the first to adopt blockchain and is well ahead with respect to adoption compared to other industries. Based on the 940 blockchain initiatives Wipro and HFS studied, they found that 95% of enterprise blockchain initiatives focus on the following areas — identity, crypto, trade, payments, fraud and compliance, supply chain, and finance.
However, the report observed that the overall maturity of blockchain projects is still low, and very few achieve production. Additionally, almost all live blockchain systems are parallel or shadow environment and have not entirely overhauled legacy systems. Only 14% of the studied projects were in production.
Wipro said that about 75% of the blockchain initiatives are less than two years old, and over 85% of enterprises have allocated less than $20 million for blockchain. But overall, 65% of respondents believe their blockchain will be in production in the next two years. What’s interesting was respondents from EMEA (67%) said their blockchain would be ready in two years. North America and Asia, with the U.S. and China as major patent holders, lagged behind at 57% and 63%, respectively.
The report also studied the adoption trends of blockchain and highlighted three hurdles. About 60% of enterprises are still figuring out what is blockchain. Nearly 30% of companies who have identified relevant use cases are planning to start a proof of concept or pilot. The balance of 10% have had successful pilots but are facing challenges with getting to a production grade.
Based on the study, Wipro and HFS made a few recommendations to derive benefit out of blockchain projects. Wipro advises enterprises to explore blockchain now, rather than regret later, and be wary of hype. It suggests developing real use cases, and initiating collaboration with peers. Unsurprisingly, to keep costs down, Wipro suggests partnering with an external service provider (such as themselves). Lastly, keeping an eye on technological developments is the key to success in the future.
“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,” said Wipro VP Krishnakumar N Menon.
Below are recent blockchain surveys:
Accenture: blockchain for aerospace
Boston Consulting Group: blockchain for transport and logistics
Cap Gemini blockchain survey
Deloitte 2019 blockchain survey
Deloitte 2018 blockchain survey
EY blockchain (finance and tech professionals) survey
EY fintech adoption survey
EY APAC blockchain survey
IDC semi-annual enterprise blockchain forecast
IHS Markit survey
KPMG technology industry innovation survey
PwC blockchain survey
PwC China blockchain survey
World Energy Council / PwC blockchain survey
SAP blockchain survey
Swiss Stock Exchange trader survey
TD Bank payments industry survey
BNY Mellon payments survey
State Street digital asset custody survey
Friss insurance survey
Juniper enterprise blockchain survey
BIS Central Bank Digital Currency survey
OMFIF/Ipsos Mori Digital Currency consumer survey 2020
IBM / OMFIF Central Bank Digital Currency survey 2018
IBM / OMFIF Central Bank Digital Currency survey 2019
ING general population cryptocurrency attitudes
