10 Questions Businesses Should Ask Prior to Selecting a Blockchain Provider

With each passing year, more and more businesses are attempting to implement blockchain-based solutions. According to Blockdata, 36 of the top 100 public companies have invested $3.5 billion into the technology. In the US alone, spending on blockchain-based products and services is expected to reach $41 billion by 2025.

Although knowledge of the benefits of blockchain for business operations is gaining momentum, the technology continues to come against several obstacles that impede full adoption. Generally, it’s believed that several key issues need to be addressed before blockchain can become mainstream, such as interoperability, scalability, costs, and regulatory clarity.

Businesses looking at blockchain-based solutions will find that the majority of the well-known systems in use today require costly hardware infrastructures, lack flexibility, and require specialized development from a limited pool of blockchain engineers.

These systems offer limited interoperability, often only connecting with other similar protocols. Additionally, connecting these platforms to traditional business systems requires a complete overhaul of those systems and expensive development work.

Most of these inoperable systems are use-case and industry-specific and can't physically and economically scale as business situations change.

Businesses that manage to implement a blockchain solution from one of the more well-known providers, often find their employees struggle to learn the new system. Weeks of extensive training are required and often lead to poor user experiences and low compliance.

The end result is wasted time, resources, and many solutions failing to deliver as promised.

Businesses looking to integrate blockchain this year should consider the answers to a series of questions before choosing a blockchain provider.

Can the blockchain be created quickly without the need for specialized infrastructures?

Dragonchain addresses the pitfalls of other blockchain integrations with an interoperable hybrid blockchain platform that is industry and use-case agnostic. Our hybrid blockchain platform allows businesses to use commodity hardware like regular off-the-shelf computers that are mass-produced at a nominal cost. Well-known solutions like AWS, Azure, Intel, AMD, and Google are the most common.

Businesses can also use commodity operating systems such as Linux, debian, BSD, or other open-source software. These systems are the most widely used and offer the biggest base of knowledgeable users. When setting up a blockchain solution, Dragonchain allows businesses to use commodity platforms such as Docker, Apache, and of course, Dragonchain. This allows for the greatest flexibility to deploy business-specific solutions to any on-prem or cloud environment of their choosing and the ability to quickly adjust when needed.

Learn more in Blockchain Technology Fundamentals.

Does the system secure data at rest and in motion?

Dragonchain takes a multifaceted approach to security. Beyond the typical IT security features, the use of blockchain offers many alternatives and advanced capabilities for countering security threats. We use a hybrid blockchain architecture as a security feature. Unlike permissioned systems that make it hard to share data across networks or permissionless systems which can cause concerns for security, hybrid systems can seamlessly connect data between the two systems and allow users to selectively share portions of the data or business logic with a public blockchain without risking exposure of private business data.

Implementing a hybrid model for security mitigates risks associated with data breaches and nefarious actors. Businesses can secure sensitive data at the Enterprise level and then selectively choose what data to distribute and to whom. The data payload from every transaction never changes hands nor is it exposed in any way. Instead, the proof of the data can be sent for decentralized verification leaving the private and proprietary data secured by the Enterprise.

Separating the data from the verification process mitigates the risks of data exposures yet allows businesses to obtain measurable proof of the state of data during specific moments in time. Proof reports can be maintained for the business's records and/or disseminated to regulators to prove compliance. Additionally, with the use of quantum encryption and signing capabilities integrated at the base of a hybrid blockchain architecture, a business can secure their sensitive data with strong and efficient quantum-safe encryption.

This type of data segregation allows the system to be GDPR and CCPA capable and safeguards personal identifiable information (PII) from end to end.

Security is further strengthened with an interoperable hybrid blockchain verification platform as every decentralized node is its own blockchain and as such is exponentially more resilient to attacks such as the well-known 51% attack. In order to maliciously alter or otherwise attack data a nefarious actor would need to compromise the business’s blockchain, the entire network of independent distributed decentralized verification blockchains, and all public networks connected via Interchain (i.e. Bitcoin and Ethereum) at great cost.

Learn more in Securing the Nation's Software Supply Chain

Can the blockchain solution connect to all of the business's traditional business systems? Does the solution connect disparate business systems regardless of the individual networks for which they operate?

In combination with commodity hardware, operating systems, and platforms, our patented interoperability uses a RESTful API based integration model to connect to any business system or other blockchain network. This gives the business the flexibility to selectively choose the solutions they want to build and integrate with the infrastructures they already use.

We use smart contracts as “glue code” between traditional systems. This allows us to connect systems that are otherwise not compatible. Smart contracts conduct all interactions between the two systems and bring immense value to the business in the form of automation and future flexibility.

Learn more in Interchain™ Between Blockchains and Traditional Systems

Can the blockchain be integrated without specialized blockchain development teams?

Our hybrid blockchain model employs traditional Software Development Kits (SDKs) that support several complete programming languages such as NodeJS, Python, Java, and even BASH shell script, allowing a business to use existing IT staff or leverage a broad spectrum of development talent to build on or integrate with blockchain technology. With this model, the business can use its existing engineering resources that already know their business, their customers, and their unique business situations to deliver value to the market sooner with less risk.

Applications and smart contracts can be written in any executable code so businesses can use their existing DevOps teams without the need for specialized training. This allows for faster deployment of blockchain solutions without costly specialized blockchain coding language training.

Learn more in Flexible and Scalable Smart Contracts Powered by Dragonchain

Is the blockchain scalable? Is it flexible enough to be deployed to any environment and can it easily re-deploy to a different environment as needed?

Dragonchain’s architecture is independently scalable by design and allows businesses to scale up or scale down operations as workflows change, saving time and resources from underperforming systems or added infrastructures.

Dragonchain established Context-Based Verification as its consensus model. Every transaction is immediately usable on-chain and, in time, is provable to an increasing level of decentralized consensus.

Because every business blockchain system is independently scalable, any number of systems can be added to the network without adverse effects. The system can also be quickly adjusted by adding or removing systems as needed.

Read more about the Dragonchain Architecture.

Is the blockchain intuitive and user-friendly? Does the solution provide a way to motivate behaviors to give businesses confidence in the integrity of their data?

From the time we started at Disney one of our primary objectives was to use blockchain to affect behavior. We have pioneered advanced behavior systems to motivate employees and partners to perform specific tasks to increase the accuracy and thoroughness of data sets.

Businesses can spin up their own blockchain in 3 clicks and less than 10 minutes. We offer web-based and console-based management interfaces for real-time dashboards that are user-friendly and intuitive to better monitor and analyze data.

This information can help businesses fine-tune workflow processes or gain advanced insights to prepare for future events. Using incentives to modify and maintain behaviors helps to create a more efficient environment for businesses to meet their goals. The entire process gives businesses confidence in their data as its employees are motivated to be accurate and efficient and all information is on-chain and provable to Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Learn more in Incentivizing Behavior and Loyalty with Dragonchain.

Does the blockchain solution operate on a sustainable platform?

The Dragonchain platform operates in carbon-neutral facilities and our verification nodes use the smallest amount of energy of any blockchain platform available today. Transactions on Dragonchain use 90% less energy than that of the worldwide non-cash payments system. This allows businesses to maintain their environmental goals while using blockchain responsibly and efficiently.

Learn more in Dragonchain Network Energy Efficiency and Sustainability Report.

Dragonchain created a flexible platform for any business to leverage workable solutions to their real-world problems. Our platform is significantly more flexible and user-friendly than others being attempted today. Businesses can develop and integrate faster and at a fraction of the cost of other blockchain solutions for a greater line-or-sight into all aspects of their business.