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Assessing blockchain’s
business value
NOW
Worldwide spending on
blockchain solutions has
a forecast annual growth
rate (CAGR) of 76.0%,
reaching $12.4 billion
in 2022
Sources: IDC. https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=IDC_P37345 (accessed 3/5/19).

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INTRODUCTION

Since the digital era, organizations have been looking This white paper can help organizations by understanding
for ways to improve their operating model through the state of the blockchain environment and the path to
modernizing their technology infrastructure. Being able adoption. The analysis highlights the main advantages of the
to simplify complex processes while enabling innovation technology (broken down by industry), and the interviews
is the driving motivation for tech modernization. shed light on the benefits and challenges of blockchain
Today, organizations are trying to understand what role technology. And for organizations unsure where to begin or
emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence how to build a business case to assess the technology, the
(AI), the internet of things (IoT), immersive reality and value framework shows what blockchain enables and where
even quantum computing will have in their business. one can expect to realize value from it. Though peer-to-peer,
The Fourth Industrial Revolution has arrived, and privacy-enabling payments are perhaps the best-known
organizations understand the need to innovate to applications of blockchain technology (e.g. Bitcoin), they are
prevent them from being disrupted. High-growth not the focus of this paper.
organizations are investing aggressively and taking a
This paper intends to help organizations build out a business
distinct approach to innovation that is change-oriented,
case after deciding that blockchain may be a good fit for
outcome-led and disruption-minded. But with blockchain
a particular use-case. For those looking for guidance on
technology, even the leaders have challenges when
decision-making, see Part 1 of this series, “Blockchain
realizing the true value of the technology.
Beyond the Hype: A Practical Guide for Business Leaders”.

CONTENTS 3
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CONTENTS
05 16 26
LANDSCAPE EXAMPLE: FREIGHT BILL OBSTACLES AND
AUDIT AND PAY CHALLENGES

08 17 29
TOP ADVANTAGES KEY DIMENSION 1: DECISION-MAKER
PER INDUSTRY IMPROVING CONSIDERATIONS
PRODUCTIVITY AND
QUALITY

11 22 31
THE EXECUTIVE KEY DIMENSION 2: RECOMMENDATIONS
PERSPECTIVE INCREASING
TRANSPARENCY
AMONG PARTIES

12 24
THE BLOCKCHAIN KEY DIMENSION 3:
VALUE FRAMEWORK REINVENTING
PRODUCTS AND
PROCESSES
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LANDSCAPE

Each organization may take the path to Figure 1: Path to blockchain adoption
blockchain adoption at different times,
but the steps along the way remain similar. Can we  Can we 
What value 
In many organizations, the move along What is it? How can it could it Can it transform  create new 
be used? have? scale? industries / products &
this path comes to a halt at some point markets? markets?
between the proof of concept stage and
production. The funding source may be a SCALE
vital contributor. According to Accenture’s
“Building Value with Blockchain” survey, PRODUCTION
more than 64% of blockchain initiatives
are currently being funded by IT or PRE-PRODUCTION
research/innovation budgets – implying
VERSION 1S VERSION 2S VERSION 3S
that the focus is on technology, rather
than on aligning with the main areas PROOFS OF CONCEPT / VALUE
of opportunity for the organization.
R&D

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However, organizations are certainly taking note of

blockchain. Worldwide spending on blockchain solutions
is forecast to be nearly $2.9 billion in 2019, before
surging to $12.4 billion in 20221. According to a 2018
Constellation Research survey, 67% of US companies
are evaluating or implementing blockchain technology, with
a quarter already having projects underway or completed2.
In addition to the vast opportunity, this motivation is often
driven by sheer competitiveness. According to the survey,
57% of respondents investing in blockchain technology
agreed, or strongly agreed, that their organization should
adopt blockchain technology to remain competitive.
And of those who declared their blockchain investments,
68% are spending more than $1 million, with 27%
spending more than $10 million on blockchain activity.

Sources: (1) www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=IDC_P37345 (accessed 3/5/19)

(2) www.constellationr.com/research/constellation-research-2018-digital-transformation-study (accessed 3/5/19)

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This activity is not limited to the private sector: A recent Overall, it appears that blockchain truly adds value in
World Economic Forum report showed that over 40 central instances where there is a need for tamper-evident
banks are researching distributed ledger technology for a ledgers along with decentralized control, particularly
variety of use-cases3. Elsewhere in the public sector, there where participants have an even hierarchy.
are 202 blockchain initiatives spanning 45 countries4.
When asked what led organizations to invest
in blockchain technology, 75% included their
organizational priority for innovation. The top three
areas of interest across surveyed industries were:
1. Full traceability of information on the blockchain;
2. The ability to check that data had not been tampered
with; and
3. The way the technology is distributed.
Notably, few organizations selected “new business products
or services” – which ranked last among the options for
investment. This suggests the current focus for organizations
is on improving existing products and services before
considering investing in new opportunities.

Sources: (3) www.weforum.org/whitepapers/central-banks-and-distributed-ledger-technology-how-are-central-banks- exploring-blockchain-today (accessed 3/5/19)

(4) oecd-opsi.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blockchains-Unchained-Slides.pdf (accessed 3/5/19).

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TOP ADVANTAGES
PER INDUSTRY
Automotive Banking Comms & Consumer Energy Healthcare High Tech Insurance Public Retail Software & Travel Utilities
Media Goods & Service Platforms
Services

Full traceability for any

1 information on the blockchain 7 2 4 3 1 1 3 1 3 1 6 1 4

Ability to ensure no data

2 has been tampered 4 1 1 3 4 2 1 2 1 5 2 2 4

The way the technology

3 distributes the data 8 4 5 1 8 4 3 3 4 6 4 3 6

4 Smart contracts and automation 2 3 2 2 5 5 6 4 6 3 3 6 3

5 Increased speed and efficiency 3 6 2 5 3 7 7 7 2 4 5 5 1

6 Increased security 1 6 7 7 2 3 1 5 4 2 1 3 2

A holistic view with transparency

7 to all appropriate parties 5 5 6 6 5 6 5 5 6 7 7 7 7

New business products

8 or services 6 8 8 8 7 8 8 8 8 7 7 8 8

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THE EXECUTIVE PERSPECTIVE

Many of the executives overseeing large-scale and
advanced blockchain initiatives stress the technology’s
value as a data-sharing mechanism. However, it is
challenging to convene diverse operations and businesses
Blockchain is a database architecture to implement the technology across the trade chain. As
technology and, in particular, provides the a result, many organizations choose to bring the smallest
number of necessary parties to the table before opening
ability for anyone to build applications on top of it up for additional parties – with the hope that early use-
a common infrastructure that could be reusable cases will serve as an incentive for other parties to join in
from one customer to the next. Once you’ve the future. Due to their relationships and organizational
created this shared source of truth through structure, common infrastructure operators and market-
this technology, you also then create the wide collaboration platforms may be well placed to
succeed in this space.
ability for cross-organization workflows to be
dramatically simplified. The interviews highlighted the potential of the technology
to simplify and optimize complete value chains through
the sharing of simplified real-time data with increased

PETER
efficiency. Because the technology is intrinsically
decentralized and distributed, blockchain can help remove
bottlenecks and put pressure on low-value intermediaries

HIOM
to take up overdue technology and structural
improvements or simply leave the market altogether.

Deputy Chief Executive Officer of

Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)

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THE EXECUTIVE PERSPECTIVE

One additional theme uncovered in the interviews is the way
in which blockchain can stimulate innovation around both
products and processes. New opportunities to innovate
will arise as external data becomes more trustworthy and
improvements in automation, smart contracts and digital
identity5 and assets continue.
While this theme was prevalent among executives, only 17%
of survey respondents noted ‘new business products and
services’ as a top-three advantage of blockchain technology
There are lots of cases where people need – potentially indicating that the broader populations prioritize
common repositories, common systems of short-term gain while executives think longer term.
record, common directories and things where
you need coordination between multiple
different parties in a business ecosystem…
Sources: (5) www.weforum.org/whitepapers/inclusive-deployment-of-blockchain-for-supply-
chains-part-2-trustworthy- verification-of-digital-identities (accessed 3/5/19)

BRIAN
BEHLENDORF
Executive Director of Hyperledger (an umbrella project
of open-source blockchains and related tools hosted by
the Linux Foundation)

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FROM USE-CASE
TO BUSINESS CASE
So, your team has a use-case or two you are excited about.
If you are still making this decision, the World Economic
Forum’s Decision Tree may help to determine the feasibility
of blockchain for your idea6. The next step is assessing the
value of your blockchain use-case. This can effectively be
done using the Blockchain Value Framework and the four-step
process detailed on the following pages.
This prerequisite step is critical. It is important to carefully
consider whether blockchain is the best solution, relative to
other technologies or other digitization strategies. As noted in
“Blockchain Beyond the Hype”, blockchain may not be a viable
solution or it may not be the correct time to pursue
this avenue.

Sources: (6) www3.weforum.org/docs/48423_Whether_Blockchain_WP.pdf (accessed 3/5/19)

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THE BLOCKCHAIN
VALUE FRAMEWORK
This value driver framework aims to help organizations identify the value
of blockchain technology in their use-cases and build a corresponding
business case. As stated earlier, it is based on a global survey of 550
individuals across 13 industries, dozens of interviews with public-sector
leaders and private-sector chief executive officers, and an analysis of
79 blockchain projects.
The projects were evaluated across three main value dimensions:
1. Improving productivity and quality;
2. Increasing transparency among parties; and
3. Reinventing products and processes.

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When building business cases to evaluate the blockchain

opportunity, the value drivers can become the prime
benefits or opportunities that organizations need to
assess. These will differ for each use-case – some will
be realized in traditional metrics such as operating
costs, number of employees or increased revenue; in
other cases, opportunities will be measured in lives
saved or privacy rights enabled. It is nearly impossible
to accurately state the general impact of a use-case
broadly, but given this framework, organizations can
identify potential expected areas of value on which to
focus within their personalized business cases.
It is important to note that some of these value drivers
may be achieved through digitization that does not
involve blockchain. So the evaluation should take into
account blockchain’s costs relative to other solutions.

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Figure 2: Blockchain Value Framework Cheat Sheet The blockchain value framework in action
Improving Productivity
Increasing Reinventing 1. Understand the impact of the idea to the business. Each
KEY DIMENSIONS Transparency Products
and Quality
among Parties and Processes use-case should initially be assessed for the pain points
Automation Control
Self-validating network + smart contracts Control at the individual data
Distributed
No single-entry data ownership,
DAx (Decentralized Autonomous x)
Transparent, predefined rules mean
it addresses and/or the opportunities it creates. Next,
enable auto execution of business rules. element level, maximum flexibility
over what data is shared and how.
consensus applied to transactions
and shared access with no
new ventures may be created,
providing autonomous products/ those pain points and opportunities are prioritized. This
central point of failure. services through decentralized model.

Full Traceability Security Holistic view Enhanced identity

assessment of the current state captures an honest picture
Provenance and complete history
of all new data added is known.
Data can be encrypted and segregated
at the data element level, while also
Single source of truth – all
stakeholders see the same information
A combination of capabilities with
advancements in digital identity
of the present situation, and what matters most – without
CAPABILITIES enhancing overall data security. to which they have access. (e.g. biometrics) increase confidence
in, and improvement of, security thinking about how to solve issues, or which technology
and management of customer
and personal identity data. to use. This process reemphasizes the importance of the
Speed / efficiency
Can enable faster data transfer,
Evidence tampering
Underlying mathematics and
Tokenization and digital assets
Physical objects with verified unique
projects being managed and owned by the profit and loss
streamline tasks to optimize process
efficiency, particularly where
cryptography allow users with
appropriate access to verify
digital representation enable digital
ownership, management and transfer. (P&L) groups.
intermediaries have been removed. data has not been shared.

Data Identity Key questions: What are your pain points and areas for
Auditability Compliance Data Security Data Sharing Resilience Authentication
Management Management
opportunity? What matters most to your organization?
New / Enhanced
Process Marketplace
VALUE DRIVERS Ownership Payments Reconcilliation Transparency Trust Products and
Automation Creation
Services

Track and
Standardization New / Enhanced Partnerships
Trace

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2. Think through blockchain’s role. Blockchain use-cases Key questions: How do those characteristics map to
have the potential to transform the business across three the enabling capabilities? Check in again – are these
main dimensions: priority areas for your organization, and are these
enabling capabilities specific to blockchain when
• Improving productivity and quality
considered holistically?
• Increasing transparency among parties and
4. Identify where the value will be created. The value
• Reinventing products and processes. Bucketing the
drivers are where you’ll find your cost savings, your
pain points and opportunities into these three groups
increased revenue and your improved customer
simplifies the next steps
experience. Each driver touches on important
Key questions: Are there characteristics of blockchain components of the business that are driven by
that can help with the identified pain points/areas of technology – and when the time comes, these value
opportunity? How so, specifically? Are there other drivers become the basis for any business case.
technologies that can solve the same pain points/areas of
Key questions: What are the value drivers that map to this
opportunity more effectively or efficiently? Consider cost,
pain point / area of opportunity? How can we think about
risk and speed of implementation.
measuring or capturing this type of impact? Have we made
3. Use the Blockchain Value Framework Cheat Sheet to a strong case – both at the organization level and the
assist in moving from current-state assessment to ecosystem level?
future-state blockchain opportunity. Each dimension
includes the blockchain-enabling capabilities that – at
times singlehandedly, but often in conjunction with Consider the real-world example on the next page.
others – provide a solution to the pain point or present
areas of opportunity. Consider this as the validation
that blockchain is the correct technology to solve
the current-state priority and a first step for future
development to focus on.

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FREIGHT BILL
AUDIT AND PAY
Billions of dollars a year are invoiced to organizations for Figure 3: How blockchain can help solve FBA&P issues
freight moves by truck, train, aircraft and ship. The freight bill
audit and pay (FBA&P) process involves matching invoices PAIN POINTS/AREAS
OF OPPORTUNITY
BLOCKCHAIN
SOLUTION
ENABLING
CAPABILITY
VALUE
DRIVER
against the services rendered prior to payment remittance.
Difficulty in managing
The shipping process starts with negotiating shipping rates, missing and changing
Having a single shared source of previously
agreed-upon information can ensure everyone
rates, which leads to Holistic View Transparency
completing the purchase order, tracking the shipment, downstream invoicing
is aligned on the rates and corresponding
terms and conditions.
problems
calculating and auditing the invoice, and finally paying the
carrier. Along this process, there are numerous pain points Lack of visibility in
Being able to track the shipment in real time
provides all parties with increased confidence Full
goods movement and Track & Trace
and potential areas for discrepancies, each of which increases shipment location
in their goods and the ability to quickly react to
any unexpected disruptions.
Traceability

the risk of mismanaging or incorrectly paying an invoice.

Inaccurate rates or
calculations being Primary organization would no longer need
Blockchain offers an opportunity to solve or mitigate these used for the invoice, to trust the accuracy of the shippers’ data
often caused by lack of or calculations, such as the number of miles
issues. Consider the below example, which begins with visibility or confusion on travelled or time to complete the trip, as this
Holistic View Data Sharing
metrics such as number data can be automatically gathered and shared
the value chain, identifies the opportunity for blockchain of miles travelled, time to with all parties on the blockchain.
complete the trip etc.
technology and its enabling capability, and then pinpoints
the value driver. This is a real-world example of a blockchain Using smart contracts and blockchain
technology, the level of effort to audit invoices
solution for an oil-and-gas company. Upon completing Use of third-party
is greatly reduced. Many activities, such as
reconciliation, are eliminated through having
auditors that are costly Automation Auditability
this analysis, the team was able to build a business case to and lengthen the process
a single shared document, while others are
automated through smart contracts calculating
quantify the value of each driver, calculating an expected invoices based on agreed-upon rates and

reduced freight spend of 5% (up to $100 million).

tracking data.

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KEY DIMENSION 1: BLOCKCHAIN VALUE FRAMEWORK DEFINITION KEY DIMENSIONS

Improving Productivity
and Quality
Increasing
Transparency
among Parties
Reinventing
Products
and Processes

IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY
CAPABILITIES

AND QUALITY
VALUE DRIVERS

Auditability
Given blockchain’s ability to provide a shared ledger of transactions to
all parties, with full traceability of any assets and associated activity,
organizations can not only cut their auditing costs but raise levels of
confidence in the data they are producing without having to manually
validate the data.
Example metric: Mistakes eliminated

Compliance
Compliance brings with it a great deal of risk and damage if mismanaged.
Knowing that blockchain can’t be tampered with can provide increased
confidence in the data, while streamlining administrative processes and
reducing costs. Processes involving manual checks for compliance that
currently take weeks can be accelerated through a distributed ledger
of all relevant information. Tying blockchain technology to emerging
technologies such as AI and the IoT can enable real-time data gathering
and processing to improve overall compliance.
Example metric: Risk mitigated

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Data Management
Blockchain can improve the management of data in three main areas:
1. Data provenance and accuracy through knowing more about
digital assets and accompanying data
2. Data integrity through access / authentication to the network and
easy identification of manipulation or tampering and
3. Data aggregation and organization, as blockchain enables the
seamless sharing of real-time data from a single data source
Example metric: Improved product forecasting

Data Security
According to new Accenture research, poor data security could cost
companies $5.2 trillion over the next five years – yet only 30%
of organizations are confident in their data security7. Blockchain
technology makes use of military-level cryptography that creates a
more secure environment for sharing and storing data, reducing the
risk of a data breach and limiting the damage should it occur.
Example metric: Data breaches prevented

Sources: (7) www.accenture.com/_acnmedia/Thought-Leadership-Assets/PDF/Accenture-

Securing-the-Digital-Economy- Reinventing-the-Internet-for-Trust.pdf (accessed 3/5/19)

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Ownership
Blockchain technology can enable true digital ownership of
both real-world goods and digital assets by creating improved
intellectual property and personalized data profiles, without
the need to check the history or current state of the item.
Example metric: Improved customer experience

Payments
Blockchain technology can draw on the single shared data source to ensure
payments are accurate and remove the need to manually audit and track down
payments. With smart contracts, these payments can be automated, streamlining
the entire process – potentially removing unnecessary processing costs.
Example metric: Eliminated overpaying of invoices

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Process automation
Blockchain enables business processes to be executed
automatically via rules-based algorithms. Organizations can
use blockchain to look for improvements in efficiency, cost
savings and increased worker productivity and retention by
shifting the focus of the workforce to one of jobs with higher
engagement and satisfaction.
Example metric: Resources reallocated Cryptocurrency and payment systems
Blockchain technology is perhaps most widely discussed
in the context of decentralized “cryptocurrencies” and
payment systems. While the core motivations for the
Reconciliation use of blockchain are similar – increased time and cost
efficiency, and increased transparency – the singular
Inaccurate or missing information or fragmented communication nature of the use-case means that value may be evaluated
between multiple parties are often magnified year after year as outside of the outlined value framework. Specifically,
unreconciled items get pushed forward. blockchain enables peer-to-peer payments without
banking intermediaries and reduces the settlement
Additional complexities arise due to duplicate entries, post-event
times and costs associated with these payments. An
changes from cancellations or returns, or conversion from analogue
organization may evaluate whether it wants to take
to digital inputs. Blockchain technology can significantly cut down the
advantage of these properties for any number of business
overall costs in solving reconciliation while reducing errors and the
reasons. If it proves valuable, the organization can create
accumulation of unreconciled items.
a new system or make use of existing systems.
Example metric: Eliminated duplicate payments

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Standardization
For multiple organizations to work together in a blockchain
system, they must agree on common terms, business logic
and business flow as they share access to the same data
and apply the same smart contract-enabled business logic.
All participants must agree to the set of rules by which they
will work together. This task is often daunting for many
industries that have minimal experience of driving this level
of agreement.
Example metric: Improved speed to market

Track and trace

The management and tracking of supply chains8 as it stands today is
cumbersome, costly and susceptible to human error and vulnerable to criminal
activities. Distributed ledger technology allows trading organizations to view
each step of the supply-chain process. Each party can verify the current state
and trail of the products without depending upon direct communication with
others in the network.
Example metric: Resource time saved

Sources: (8) www.weforum.org/whitepapers/inclusive-deployment-of-blockchain-for-supply-

chains-part-1-introduction (accessed 3/5/19)

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KEY DIMENSION 2: BLOCKCHAIN VALUE FRAMEWORK DEFINITION KEY DIMENSIONS

Improving Productivity
and Quality
Increasing
Transparency
among Parties
Reinventing
Products
and Processes

INCREASING TRANSPARENCY
CAPABILITIES

AMONG PARTIES
VALUE DRIVERS

Data sharing
When retained in isolated systems – often fragmented and rarely shared between
organizations – data starts to lose its value and verifiability. Without blockchain
technology, a receiving organization must trust the validity of any data it receives
before being able to capture its value. With blockchain, however, trading partners can
share real-time data, but also the history of that data and any modifications to it.
Example metric: Enhanced value from data models

Resiliency
Organizations that manage and maintain on-site and central data systems are at risk
of malicious or incompetent employees, natural disasters or other events that can
irreparably destroy data. Existing in a distributed form, blockchain creates a highly
resilient network with multiple shared copies of the data, which mitigates the risk of
an isolated attack or incident.
Example metric: Decreased downtime

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Transparency
Blockchain technology’s distributed ledger allows all
designated parties to view the data in real time. With
unlimited transparency, organizations can identify
opportunities, improve decision-making and track
and trace the outcome of those decisions.
Example metric: Improved incident response rate

Trust
Trust is being challenged in the digital world, with
organizations unable to verify basic essentials.
Blockchain helps enable and even automate trust
through cryptographically securing information and
providing transparency to the state and trail of data.
Example metric: Mitigated business risk

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KEY DIMENSION 3: BLOCKCHAIN VALUE FRAMEWORK DEFINITION KEY DIMENSIONS

Improving Productivity
and Quality
Increasing
Transparency
among Parties
Reinventing
Products
and Processes

REINVENTING PRODUCTS
CAPABILITIES

AND PROCESSES
VALUE DRIVERS

Authentication
A core function of blockchain technology is its public and
private key cryptography, which can serve as a basis for
authenticating one user across multiple networks, resulting in
increased confidence in the overall network and participants.
Example metric: Prevention of attacks by bad actors

Identity management
With more and more business transactions being conducted online, it no
longer makes sense to rely upon physical documents as the only means of
establishing the identity of a user or object. Blockchain technology enables
enhanced characteristics in how digital identity is both managed and used,
while moving beyond the limitations of being operated by one institution.
Example metric: Improved retention rate

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Marketplace creation
Blockchain technology improves confidence in products and services
in the marketplace, while also using a shared ledger, smart contracts
and digital assets to facilitate real-time peer-to-peer transactions.
Example metric: New markets created

New and enhanced products and services

The technology’s unique capabilities are creating the foundations to enhance
existing products and services and create new ones. New digital assets can exist
beyond the umbrella of one organization, company or government.
How organizations offer and manage those products and services is evolving,
giving power back to the creators and consumers. Early examples include digital
rights management and improved land titling.
Example metric: New product revenue

New and expanded partnerships

With the increased confidence in data afforded by blockchain, new partnerships
can be formed more easily. Many of these partnerships can have automated
components as well, through exploiting digital assets and smart contracts.
Example metric: New distribution channels

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OBSTACLES AND
CHALLENGES
Beware the hype Moving from proof of concept to
production requires stakeholder
The technology is commonly seen as a great opportunity and
buy-in
transformation enabler, but unrealistic expectations remain
a significant challenge. Survey respondents on average Proof of concept projects are often led by
expected a 24% return on investment on their evangelists, developed in R&D, and always in
early blockchain projects, but realized only a 10% return. controlled environments. Moving to production
On top of that, 42% of respondents expected a noticeable requires stakeholder buy-in and can be a
or significant brand improvement from simply announcing real challenge. As Peter Hiom, Deputy Chief
a blockchain project, with that total jumping to 87% Executive Officer of Australian Securities
upon delivering a blockchain project. It is important for Exchange (ASX), explains, helping stakeholders
organizations to carefully consider whether there are other to understand the technology and its benefits
technologies or approaches to digitization that may deliver “is an ongoing process and it’s proven to
on their objectives more effectively or efficiently. be hugely valuable. It’s enabled us to better
understand the needs of our customers and
ensure we develop functionality that will make
their lives easier.”

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Working with others is difficult and

it is hard to capture ecosystem value
“The whole point of doing blockchain is it’s a team sport,” Christopher
G. McDaniel, President of the Institutes RiskBlock Alliance, explains.
“If you’re trying to do it on your own, maybe that’s OK from a proof-of-
concept standpoint, but if you ever want to get real production value,
you have to join with others. Otherwise there’s no point.” In order to
ensure that proof of concepts (POCs), standards and solutions are
adopted at industry scale, organizations must get better at working
together to create an environment of shared values and partner up
to solve additional obstacles. David Rutter, Founder and Managing
Partner of R3, says, “In the early days it was getting everyone to
understand the technology and its uses. Now it’s more like how the
operational and legal construct works with the new technology.”

Complex legacy systems and technical debt

Some 87% of survey respondents acknowledged that it is far
more challenging to undertake the implementation of a blockchain
solution as part of an existing digital transformation – especially when
a substantial amount of capital has already been spent on a legacy
technology. Alternative digital solutions may offer faster returns and
be more strategic in the short term, but organizations should evaluate
whether blockchain provides additional benefits in the longer term.

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Uncertainty exists
The industry has worked on many POCs and
experiments and has a reasonably good Prior to embarking on a blockchain project, 59% of
respondents stated they had no confidence that the
understanding of what works. However, you can
project would deliver a positive return on investment
prove that something works, but you cannot prove – and only 38% of those who have implemented the
that something will not fail. You believe it to be technology developed a business case prior to investing.
secure, but you cannot prove that it is hack-proof. Many of those interviewed had doubts as to whether the
You know that there will be cost savings, but you technology was production-ready – “limitations on blockchain
cannot foresee if there will be unexpected costs. technology” and “scalability issues” were selected as the
biggest challenges in adopting blockchain. Though many
You believe there will be benefits, but you do not technologists and service providers classify the technology
know if there will be unintended consequences. as v1.0 and ready for production, scepticism remains.
These lingering uncertainties are perhaps why
It is important to keep in mind that blockchain is in its early
there is still a reluctance to advance beyond POCs stages and there are limitations as a result. Challenges exist
to actual production usage. We need to summon in fully addressing security, speed and efficiency, given the
stronger management resolve to move beyond POCs. nascency of the technology.

RAVI
MENON
Managing Director of the
Monetary Authority of Singapore

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DECISION-MAKER
CONSIDERATIONS
In interviews, the chief executive officers and organizational “With blockchain technology, there is a fundamental shift
leaders have identified several major risks associated with from centralized to decentralized architecture, which has
this move towards blockchain technology. a wide-ranging impact from technology architecture to
business processes to operating models,” Ravi Menon,
Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore,
Lack of expertise and assessment points out. “Such expertise cannot be developed overnight.”
for promising new technology
“New technology domains often demand a sort of literacy
with them… If your team isn’t understanding either the
51% of survey respondents identified ‘missing out on
technical side of how to build them, or the strategic side of
developing new products/services’ as the number
how to use them best, then you’re going to be playing catch
one expectation for if they do not invest in blockchain
up competitively for those who do,” says Brian Behlendorf,
technology in the near future. The other two most
Executive Director at Hyperledger.
common answers were missing out on speed/efficiency
gains (23%) and missing out on cost savings (15%).

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Missing early-mover value

and potential market share
Blockchain’s transformational architecture paves the way for
If they’re not ready, if they’re not experts new business models and relationships. By not engaging with
the technology, an organization risks being left out of the
in this technology, then a new set of room when impactful decisions are made. As David Rutter,
middlemen are likely to step in, extracting Founder and Managing Partner of R3, warns, “If they’re not
their own monopoly rents for intermediating looking at blockchain now, and there are applications going
there. I don’t know how this is going to turn live in their industry, they could be disadvantaged in a pretty
out, but it seems to me a big risk is that you big way as they try to play catch-up.” For the opportunities
where the time is right, early movers will capture that
miss the opportunity again if you’re not
advantage. According to Sunil Kaushal, Regional Chief
ready for it. Executive Officer, Standard Chartered, “There is significant
value that companies in financial services can create by
moving first, setting the stage for new technologies and
creating new business models. It is not much different than
other technology leaders like Google, Amazon etc. where

CHRIS
early movers defined new opportunities and captured
disproportionate market share.”

BALLINGER
Chief Executive Officer of Mobility Open
Blockchain Initiative (MOBI)

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RECOMMENDATIONS
Take time to understand the technology Set realistic expectations
It is important to think through the ways in which blockchain There are challenges to overcome – and it may take time to
may affect a given industry. In taking the time to understand realize the range of values that blockchain may bring. Like any
the characteristics and value drivers of blockchain, major business or organizational transformation, success is
organizations can assess what opportunities exist, but also dependent upon more than simply plugging in the technology
– and potentially more important – what threats may loom. or spinning up a blockchain node. Early movers may identify
The value driver framework can help build a business case incentives to build and operate the networks, accounting for
for specific projects, but creative thinking must drive the the investment and risk, while still developing an environment
consideration of greater impacts. Each organization should of shared value for all future participants. They may realize
have a senior leader responsible for understanding and incremental value at first, but network effects will magnify the
tracking what is happening with the technology and long-term impact.
within industries.
Even within an organization, the value flows only when the
operations, risk, finance etc. teams treat the blockchain
systems and accompanying data as the single source of truth.
Ensuring everyone is on the same page from the beginning,
both within one’s organization but also with external partners,
will provide the greatest chance of overcoming impatience
and unrealistic assumptions.

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Align to strategic priorities Remain agile in your approach

The answer on whether to be a first mover or to wait should Though there may not be a clear value proposition now, it will
be based on whether there is potential for significant added be important for organizations to monitor and prepare if they
value within the identified opportunities and pain points. For are interested in potentially participating. This methodology
those ready to move now, maintaining that use-case focus gives organizations the ability to make informed decisions
to identify the problem or opportunity is vital. Moving first and develop and evolve their blockchain strategy.
should be a result of identifying a competitive advantage to
building the blockchain networks and using the technology
first. Different strategies are correct for different organizations
– for some, not investing immediately is the correct response. Think beyond your individual organization
The decentralized nature of blockchain makes a
transformation from an isolated approach to end-to-end
Evaluate blockchain’s value value-chain integration within fragmented and complex
relative to other technologies environments more attainable. In fact, a lack of collaboration
can undermine – or even block – such transformation. In
Blockchain is not a substitute for digitization and should not assessing value, it is important to consider network and
be treated as such. For many use-cases, other technologies scaling effects, particularly as enabled by collaboration.
will be lower cost, lower risk, and implemented more quickly.
As such, organizations should do their research on whether
there are better-suited solutions for their pain points / areas of
opportunities before committing to blockchain.

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About Accenture Acknowledgements
Accenture is a leading global professional services company, The World Economic Forum and Accenture would like to
providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, acknowledge the valuable contributions of the following
consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining people in developing this document.
unmatched experience and specialized skills across more
than 40 industries and all business functions – underpinned Contributing Authors
by the world’s largest delivery network – Accenture works at World Economic Forum
the intersection of business and technology to help clients Sheila Warren and Sumedha Deshmukh
improve their performance and create sustainable value for their
stakeholders. With 459,000 people serving clients in more than Accenture Blockchain
120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way Simon Whitehouse, David Treat, and Alissa Worley
the world works and lives. Accenture Research
Visit us at www.accenture.com Justin Herzig, Piotr Pietruszynski, Brandon Starr,
Mike McCoy, Christine Yiannakis, and Geoffrey Nolting

About Accenture Research Survey Participants

Accenture Research shapes trends and creates data driven 550 individuals across 13 industries
insights about the most pressing issues global organizations
face. Combining the power of innovative research techniques Interviewees
with a deep understanding of our clients’ industries, our team of Brian Behlendorf, Hyperledger
300 researchers and analysts spans 20 countries and publishes Chris Ballinger, MOBI
hundreds of reports, articles and points of view every year. Our Christopher McDaniel, RiskBlock Alliance
thought-provoking research — supported by proprietary data
David Kenny, Nielsen
and partnerships with leading organizations, such as MIT and
Harvard — guides our innovations and allows us to transform David Rutter, R3
theories and fresh ideas into real-world solutions for our clients. Hanns-Christian Hanebeck, Truckl
Juan Villamil, UK Department for Work and Pensions
For more information, visit www.accenture.com/research Peter Hiom, ASX
Premier David Burt, Bermuda
Ravi Menon, Monetary Authority of Singapore
Copyright © 2019 Accenture.
All rights reserved.
Sunil Kaushal, Standard Chartered
Accenture, its logo, and High performance.
Delivered. are trademarks of Accenture.