Large corporations worldwide considering blockchain technology, some expect to roll out solutions next year: Juniper Research

Blockchain technology is an increasing consideration among surveyed company representatives around the world, with most firms that have reached the proof of concept (PoC) reporting they expect to roll out solutions by the end of next year, Juniper Research reports.

Juniper Research received responses from 369 company founders, executives, managers and IT worldwide who took part in the recent survey.

Findings detailed in the Blockchain Enterprise Survey: Deployments, Benefits & Attitudes, released Monday, indicate that 66% of companies that have reached the PoC stage “expected blockchain to be integrated into their systems by the end of 2018.”

Related: Applying blockchain technology could slash US$40 billion in costs for financial services: BIS Research

As well, the global survey found that 57% of large corporations participating in the survey – those with 20,000-plus employees – are “either actively considering, or are in the process of, deploying blockchain technology,” notes a statement Monday from Juniper Research.

It appears that companies expected to benefit most from blockchain include those with the following:

• a need for transparency and clarity in (trans)actions;
• a current dependence on paper-based legacy storage systems; and
• a high volume of transmitted information.

And what particular functions seem to be the “best fit” for use of blockchain technology? The report “identified settlement, land registry and digital fiat currency as ‘best fit’ opportunities for blockchain deployment, but cautioned that for each of these opportunities the scale and variety of barriers were significant.”

Despite the dramatic increase in blockchain awareness and identified benefits over the past 18 months, however, it is critically important that companies consider all alternative options before deciding whether or not to deploy blockchain.

“In many cases, systemic change, rather than technological, might be a better and cheaper solution than blockchain, which could potentially cause significant internal and external disruption,” expert Windsor Holden cautions in the statement.

In fact, the research suggests, “companies may have underestimated the scale of the blockchain challenge. For issues such as interoperability, the proportion of survey respondents expressing concerns progressively increased as companies proceed towards full deployment, while concerns also rose sharply regarding client refusal to embrace blockchain,” it adds.

Related: Blockchain for enterprise applications market to reach US$19.9 billion by 2025: report

The research offers insights into the scale of current and planned blockchain deployments, the key benefits that companies hope to achieve through integration and the scale of investment in the technology.