A growing number of mainstream giants are looking into blockchain technology. With that, comes an expanding need for supporting tools and structures. Back in the gold rush days, pick and shovel businesses raked in the cash as they helped miners pursue the precious yellow metal. Similarly, software mammoth Oracle is using its products and solutions to help big businesses incorporate blockchain.
Utilizing Oracle’s various technologies, such as its “cloud platform,” the company built the “Oracle Blockchain Platform,” which saw general availability release in July 2018, said Frank Xiong, group vice president, blockchain product development at Oracle. This platform is “fully managed,” by Oracle and operates as a Platform as a Service (PaaS), Xiong explained. Interested parties can “subscribe [to]the service, and cloud service there, and then use that service to build their blockchain application on top of.”
Other software players have also thrown their hats into the blockchain ring with similar endeavors. Amazon Web Services (AWS), for example, boasts centralized and decentralized options for customers with Amazon Managed Blockchain and Amazon Quantum Ledger Database (QLDB).
Oracle’s blockchain platform is “industry neutral” and “enterprise-grade,” Xiong detailed. This essentially means the platform is capable of scaling for large operations spanning many different industries. “Our primary focus is on the enterprise customers because that’s traditionally Oracle’s clientele,” Xiong said. “We have very high standards on […] scalability, performance and high availability,” as well as other similar characteristics, he added, “just like our other products and services here.”
Oracle has already seen a large number of clients develop blockchain applications and endeavors utilizing its blockchain service. Oracle’s blockchain service has clientele from a broad range of sectors harnessing the tech for use cases such as supply chain and identity management, Xiong mentioned.
At Play In Supply Chain
Meshing blockchain with supply chain allows for the detailed tracking of all sorts of products and materials, providing greater data and clarity throughout the process. This data can also help in verifying product authenticity.
CANO is one company that is taking advantage of Oracle’s blockchain platform for its supply chain. Transparency-focused startup company, Retraced, is using the tech to provide greater clarity surrounding the CANO shoe brand, keeping an in-depth record of the whole process, from the materials involved, to the people constructing the shoes, according to a June 2019 press release from Oracle.
In The Realm Of Money Transfer
Parties also have used Oracle’s blockchain solution in the arena of fund transfer. Arab Jordan Investment Bank (AJIB) conducted a proof-of-concept (PoC) for exchanging money across borders between two of its locations using Oracle’s blockchain platform, a January 2019 article from Oracle detailed.
AJIB’s PoC application of the tech “[d]elivered nearly instant cross-border payments – down from two to three business days – with lower costs, higher security, and more reliability, responding to customer demand for convenience, speed, and simplicity of money transfers,” the press release detailed.
An April 2019 blog post from Oracle noted AJIB’s endeavor to have entered the production stage. “The project is the largest blockchain deployment in the Middle East,” the post stated.
Author: Benjamin Pirus
