Published on the 19/09/2017 | Written by Donovan Jackson

Four in ten cited Big Blue as top player in a technology which could be crucial to its future…

Blockchain is another of those technologies which is certain to change the world, although even those of us who buy into that narrative tend to wonder how. There’s no question that the technology, which is in effect ‘just a distributed trusted system of record’, has technologists, banksters and even those targeting the public sector in thrall – but just who are the top players in this brave new world?

A new study from Juniper Research settles that question to some extent; it shows that IBM is regarded as having the strongest credentials in the blockchain sector. By a long shot.

Perhaps not surprising. Big Blue, which tends to be something of a ‘stodgy innovator’ (that is, visionary, but slow moving – hark back to the early 2000s, when IBM was honking hard on the ‘On Demand’ horn, only to be gazumped by more nimble competitors, including a certain book seller), has well-worn tech credentials. It is ‘the’ vendor, which gave voice to the probably now-discredited aphorism ‘nobody ever got fired for buying IBM’.

In second place, Juniper puts Microsoft; again, no real surprises there, particularly not under Satya Nadella’s leadership, though one could well imagine Steve Ballmer writing off blockchain as a fad in much the same way the iPhone or Dropbox caused the former CEO some amusement.

To our trained eye (make of that what you will), it is the number three which is the anomaly. Accenture. That’s a company we’ve always thought of as a consulting outfit; it’s blockchain initiatives are therefore more likely to be around implementing the technology, as opposed to developing it, which is what you’d expect from the top one and two.

Juniper said it polled ‘almost 400’ (399 then) company founders, executives, managers and IT leaders in its Blockchain Enterprise Survey. Amongst enterprises either actively considering, or in the process of deploying blockchain technology, 43 percent ranked IBM first. That’s head and shoulders above Microsoft at 20 percent. And while it was a handy third, Juniper did not say how many of the remaining 37 percent of respondents gave Accenture the tech leadership tick.

According to the study, said the researcher in a statement, “this reflected IBM’s high-profile R&D engagement with initiatives such as Hyperledger and its extensive list of blockchain clients across an array of key verticals and use cases, including banking, asset tracking and the music industry.”

A look at the Googler confirms that IBM has been doing what IBM does well: partnering widely and getting involved in multiple blockchain initiatives. That includes linking up with Nestle and Unilever for FMCG tracking, with Maersk for container shipping, a more prosaic use in the financial services sector for an Asset Custody System, and potentially as a solution to exchanging healthcare data.

Juniper’s study must come as most welcome news for the vendor: analysts at Swiss bank UBS said blockchain (and cognitive computing) may be the best hope for recovery at a company for which, as the analysts are quoted as saying,  “…legacy businesses are in decline.”

For its part, Microsoft – on a happy trajectory under Nadella’s rejuvenated leadership – has Blockchain as a Service on Azure, and (reflecting its consumer technology roots, perhaps) is working to make the technology more accessible.

Accenture is, of course, a partner with Microsoft on blockchain initiatives, developing an ID system for refugees. The consulting firm offers blockchain solutions for the financial sector, and reckons blockchain can disrupt multiple industries, including aviation.

We’re going to go ahead and note that much like the present hoopla around AI, blockchain’s promises are probably well ahead of the delivery at this point. Indeed, almost all of the multiple links above have as their start point an explanation of what blockchain is. This points to a low level of maturity for the technology – meaning it has a long way to go before it hits the mainstream.

Juniper offers a whitepaper ‘Which industries are the best fit for blockchain?’ (Registration required.)