When an organization has decided that a Blockchain system will be beneficial to the business by means of a comprehensive study involving cost-benefit scenarios and a much improved business delivery rate as an ideal concept, the only part left is to build the actual Blockchain and it is no easy feat considering Blockchain’s architecture.
The standard development lifecycle of Blockchain is a thorough model of data requirement gathering, project planning, distributed definition of roles and the many test scenarios prior to the Blockchain entering alpha or beta stages. From algorithm, data, information, protocols, distributed services and secondary services, each moving part if necessary in order for Blockchain to function in continuity.
Out of the full-development cycle of Blockchain, comes innovative ways that help cut down time and development costs in rolling out a Blockchain. Just as Blockchain has birthed niche services, specialty companies and innovative use cases, the Blockchain development lifecycle is due for disruption with the arrival of Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) from leading tech providers whose specialty are IT infrastructure and networking.
Amazon Blockchain as a Service
Amazon rolled out its Blockchain as a Service platform based on Amazon Web Services (AWS) that allows users to deploy full-fledged Ethereum and Hyperledger Blockchains systems within minutes. This is made possible in Amazon by storing templates of Ethereum and Hyperledger within its network so users can choose, deploy and then build their Ethereum / Hyperledger based Blockchains.
Under AWS, Hyperledger Blockchain is set as private while Ethereum templates can either be public or private.
A Closer Look at Ethereum AWS
Ethereum Blockchain templates under AWS have several launch options. Each template is deployed by default under the Elastic Container Service (EC2) containers. As a build case, users can also develop and customize their Ethereum networks based on mining that tie in with Ethstats in keeping track of network metrics while Ethexplorer allows users to explore smart contracts and a variety of transactions within the ledger.
A Closer Look at Hyperledger AWS
Hyperledger Blockchain templates under AWS allow organizations to quickly build and deploy their private Blockchain services within minutes. Under AWS, Hyperledger Blockchain templates are modeled after successful use cases that were previously deployed. This means, several variations of Hyperfabric and Sawtooth are pre-built and ready for deployment – all of which can be later customized for private organization use.
BaaS Helps Blockchain Adoption
Through Blockchain as a Service, Amazon is helping organizations adopt Blockchain faster and more efficient by significantly cutting down Blockchain development cycle by as much as 90% through templates that are easy to deploy and later build upon. This allows an organization to create a public or private Blockchain with less resources involved, although they will still need to procure a dedicated Blockchain team in maintaining the architecture.
Amazon joins the rank of the growing Blockchain as Service providers: Oracle, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Microsoft, SAP, Stratis, Tencent and Baidu.
The invisibility of Blockchain within consumers and the non-technical business people has allowed Blockchain to be labeled as the “silent revolution” that is disrupting businesses as we know it. When we refer to it as invisible, it means that Blockchain is thriving outside that of consumer awareness and Blockchain has gain major progress even during the years when business leaders dismissed it as a pure hype technology.
This is the rationality behind Blockchain as a Service where invisibility of a technology platform is ripe for mass adoption when businesses and consumers know that it exists but without going deeper, accepts it as a common fact. Take the internet for example, it is all around us, from the common Wi-Fi to the web driven mobile applications, where businesses and consumers alike are all using it, without the technical knowledge of HTTP, IP, server and routing. Further down the years, Blockchain will be invisible; meaning it will be there in mass adoption, but it will lose the shining hype as it becomes a commonly used technology that powers modern commerce.
