Gartner Research: Expect Enterprise Blockchains to Become Insecure and Obsolete by 2021

Blockchain technology adoption seems to be doing good numbers at the moment. Even though there still are a lot of businesses and institutions that haven’t fully deployed blockchain based solutions to their varying businesses, solace can still be taken in the fact that a lot of these institutions are keenly considering it and doing a lot of related research.

This is very good news for the average blockchain enthusiast but according to a recent report, there just might be a problem.

A recently published conclusion from Gartner, a global research firm, has revealed that at least 90 percent of all currently used blockchains on an enterprise level will become obsolete and insecure in less than two years. Specifically, in about 18 months, these blockchains might compulsorily have to be changed to stay “competitive, secure, and avoid obsolescence.”

According to Adrian Lee, who is Gartner’s senior research director,

“Blockchain platforms are emerging platforms and, at this point, nearly indistinguishable in some cases from core blockchain technology. Many CIOs overestimate the capabilities and short-term benefits of blockchain as a technology to help them achieve their business goals, thus creating unrealistic expectations when assessing offerings from blockchain platform vendors and service providers.”

Fragmentation in the Industry

The report touches on fragmentation as one of the problems with the current enterprise blockchain market. The market currently has quite a few different innovations, offerings and projects with more being created continuously.

All these projects being simultaneously created by various developers have functions that are either completely similar or overlap a little too much.

Because of this, technology stakeholders and IT patrons are almost always unsure and confused about what steps to take and which platform to go for. According to Lee, the fragmentation that is currently being experienced in the sector will shoot up significantly.

A more unified front is suggested as the best possible approach but if that doesn’t happen (and it doesn’t seem like it will any time soon), then none of the current platforms will have any serious footing in the market and will all eventually become obsolete.

“Due to the lack of an industry consensus on product concept, feature set, core application requirements and target market, we do not expect there to be a single dominant blockchain platform within the next five years. Instead, we expect a multiplatform world to emerge.”

Blockchains Will Still Add Value

Regardless of the seemingly uninviting outlook, Gartner still points out that blockchain technology will increase the value and add almost $200 billion to the enterprise market. Five years after that, this figure is supposed to make a quantum leap and shoot past $3.1 trillion.

Whether or not current platforms become obsolete and new ones emerge, it is impossible to ignore how much interest there is for the technology from traditional institutions.

Should Blockchain Be Left Alone For Now?

Earlier this year, during their annual symposium, Gartner pretty much asked that enterprises leave blockchain technology alone for now because it was not mature enough. According to David Furlonger, one of the firm’s researchers:

“It’s still not appropriate for the vast majority of enterprises to consider blockchain technology at its current level of maturity.”

Furlonger explained that the technology especially at the enterprise level, still has a lot of problems that should be properly addressed before widespread can be advised.