Blockchain pays for XaaS companies that do not exclude it: study

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As the potential for the use of blockchain goes beyond its roots in the digital currency, a new study sheds light on how the blockchain can strengthen the "all-as-a-service" (XaaS), now pervasive, business models in the e-procurement area.

"For the emerging" all-as-a-service "delivery model, the blockchain application code will be the key to enabling pay-by-the-use agreements between service providers and consumers," says the study. The Hackett Group.

The XaaS trend has taken off because companies can pay for the technology they need instead of buying software, computers, servers and other hardware that needs to be installed and managed on-site.

Blockchain is often dismissed as a simple "electronic ledger", but it also offers a level of data security and flexibility that is useful for multiple customers and customers to record transactions up and down the supply chain. And the cost of creating basic blockchain may be lower than those with multimodal networks that access multiple databases, the study says.

The study also evaluates the many ways in which companies are considering blockchain implementation and uses for their activities.

The authors of the study state that there are three main categories in which blockchain can primarily benefit business operations: by simplifying transactions, efficiently tracking and verifying money or assets and monitoring data and records management.

And the pay-per-use scheme seen in XaaS could also forge a path for new business models, says the study, such as expanding the recent rise in subscription-based businesses.

"For the IT, procurement and finance functions that work with software and platform providers as a service, blockchain will make it more practical and efficient to pay for services based on usage," says the study.

For example, the study outlines the ways in which supply chain, procurement, and operations might be affected by the use of blockchain technology.

Because blockchain offers what the study calls a "flawless control track", monitoring and auditing use cases can provide value to those seeking to strengthen corporate, government, security and audit data – such as those operating in the lifecycle management of consumables and / or in the tracking of ingredients, e-commerce and reduction of counterfeit goods, or even customer loyalty programs. These areas include companies in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, healthcare, agriculture, food and beverage, retail, shipping, online retailing, order forces, hospitality and entertainment.

Among the study's recommendations, the authors suggest that companies evaluate the most complex or convoluted aspects of their business models to identify areas where blockchain technology could simplify or simplify operations.

A 2017 article by two Harvard Business School professors entitled "The truth about Blockchain"It also suggests that, despite the common perceptions that technology is used primarily for financial transactions, it is a" fundamental "technology with the ability to do much more, such as tracking items through complex supply chains.

Food service companies, for example, might have an interest in how blockchain can verify the problems related to the supply chain related to the origin and to the routes of their products and ingredients, tracing these goods from a farm to a producer, and then to the distributor, the restaurant, the consumer or the regulator, notes the study.

In the medical field, data management and monitoring are essential, whether they concern patient files or the origins of medical devices

"We spend a lot of time in the field of medical devices and life sciences making a lot of traceability," the study cites Edwina Payne, head of information for the medical device company Halyard Health, from a speech to The Hackett Group & # 39; s Best Conference of Practices at the beginning of this year. "We could start exploiting the blockchain to obtain traceability information from our raw materials through our contract manufacturers and be able to register them as part of our production processes."