Oracle introduces Blockchain Cloud Service

Oracle on Monday announced the general availability of its Blockchain Cloud Service, which allows organisations to set up and manage networks of distributed ledgers using blockchain technology.

Oracle had been testing the new blockchain platform with select customers in the last few months including some India such as Indian Oil. But now the service is available to anyone who would like to use it.

“With our database, application portfolio as well as middleware technologies, blockchain is very logical for us to build on. We see our customers adopting this as we continue delivering updates in this area. We see a large opportunity for Oracle Blockchain to be adopted and Oracle becoming the market leader in the space,” Amit Zavery, Executive Vice-President, Oracle Cloud Platform, told BusinessLine .

“This will become a core part of our cloud platform. This is a very important investment as well as a differentiated offering for us,” he added.

Oracle Blockchain Cloud Service will provide customers with a development platform to build their own networks, and to integrate with Oracle SaaS and third-party applications they already use, as well as other blockchain networks and Oracle PaaS services. It also enables users to provision blockchain networks, join other organisations and deploy and run smart contracts to update and query the ledger.

“Blockchain promises to be one of the most transformative technologies of our generation,” said Zavery.

Oracle’s blockchain platform is built on Hyperledger Fabric, a service originally built by IBM and now managed by Linux Foundation. Oracle joined Linux Foundation’s blockchain arm late last year.

It benefits from broad capabilities in Oracle Cloud Platform for integration with existing cloud and on-premises applications, API management, and application development environments and tools. Additionally, Oracle is delivering new SaaS applications to deploy blockchain technology for common uses, such as track and trace, provenance identification, warranty and usage and cold chain.

“Blockchain projects are quickly moving from pilot to production as enterprises and governments begin to see the inherent value of distributed ledgers and smart contracts,” said Robert Parker, Group Vice-President of Manufacturing and Retail Insights, IDC. “As spending accelerates, buyers will need an enterprise class platform beyond open source that includes data security and integrity, scalability, manageability, and interoperability.”

Oracle is not the only one betting big on blockchain. Rivals Microsoft, IBM, SAP and Amazon have already launched similar services in the recent past as the demand for blockchain rises across sectors from applications ranging from logistics management to full scale banking operations to creating leakage proof citizen services.

Citizen services

Zavery said Oracle is already in talks with several State and Central government agencies in India for the deployment of blockchain in citizen services. The newly launched service will expand Oracle’s cloud offerings in India and offer it deeper inroads into Indian enterprises, he added.

“For cloud, our business has been aggressively growing in India. Our ‘cloud at customer’ offering, wherein we have our cloud in customer data centres, has been a big differentiator for us versus other cloud providers. That has really made a big difference and we are seeing good adoption in India. With blockchain, we are expanding our opportunity in India,” Zavery said.

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