Blockchain for Business


Book Description

The Pragmatic Guide to Driving Value and Disrupting Markets with Blockchain "Blockchain’s potential to transform businesses has generated a tremendous amount of excitement across industries. However, it can be difficult for decision makers to develop a practical approach to blockchain for their specific business requirements. By identifying and clearly describing the value of blockchain for enterprises, as well as the processes required to harness blockchain to achieve business objectives, Blockchain for Business presents a startlingly concise yet comprehensive roadmap for business leaders. This book is an excellent resource for anyone looking to leverage blockchain to transform their business." —Dr. Won-Pyo Hong, President & CEO of Samsung SDS “Much has been written about blockchain in the past few years: what it is and what it is not (at various levels of detail), as well as the technology’s long-term strategic value for companies, industries, and economies. However, what we’ve been missing is a practical, operational, ‘how to’ set of steps for creating, implementing, and operating a blockchain-based solution. This book aims to fill that gap. It’s an invaluable tool for anyone ready to take the plunge and start taking advantage of this remarkable technology.” —Irving Wladawsky-Berger, research affiliate, MIT; columnist, WSJ CIO Journal; VP Emeritus, IBM "I will never be able to adequately express how useful this book will be to my class. In addition the great chapters on cybersecurity, I loved the Integration Models, especially 'Coexistence with Systems of Record.' Legacy integration with Blockchain is a critical barrier, and you nailed it!" —Thomas Doty, JD, LLM - Adjunct Professor, University of New Hampshire Law Blockchain enables enterprises to reinvent processes and business models and to pursue radically disruptive applications. Blockchain for Business is a concise, accessible, and pragmatic guide to both the technology and the opportunities it creates. Authored by three experts from IBM’s Enterprise Blockchain practice, it introduces industry-specific and cross-industry use cases, and reviews best-practice approaches to planning and delivering blockchain projects. With a relentless focus on real-world business outcomes, the authors reveal what blockchain can do, what it can’t do yet, and where it’s headed. Understand five elements that make blockchain so disruptive: transparency, immutability, security, consensus, and smart contracts Explore key use cases: cross-border payments, food and drug safety, provenance, trade finance, clinical trials, land registries, and more See how trusted blockchain networks are facilitating entirely new business models Compare blockchain types: permissioned, permissionless, private, public, federated, and hybrid Anticipate key technical, business, regulatory, and governance challenges Build blockchain financial models, investment rubrics, and risk frameworks Organize and manage teams to transform blockchain plans into reality Whether you’re a senior decision maker, technical professional, customer, or investor, Blockchain for Business will help you cut through the hype and objectively assess blockchain’s potential in your business. Register your product for convenient access to downloads, updates, and/or corrections as they become available.




Blockchain Consortiums - A Comprehensive Handbook


Book Description

The promise of what Blockchain can offer businesses has evolved from a cryptocurrency payment gateway platform to something bigger and truly a game-changer. Blockchain can be a transformative technology for many businesses as it has the potential to drive a distributed and decentralized way of re-imagining processes and business models. As an inter- organizational paradigm, Blockchain enables cooperation, collaboration, coordination, and communication between hitherto untrusted entities, unknown to each other. And, the best way to participate in this revolution is by being a part of a consortium of eco-system players. Joining a Blockchain consortium raises many questions in the minds of member organisations as this is a relatively new phenomenon. While searching for accurate, ground-level, unbiased and business-oriented information to answer the above questions, we realized that there is no single repository or detailed guide that gives complete information on the best practices of Blockchain consortiums. It was to address these lacunae that we put together this handbook for Blockchain practitioners and business leaders, to help them plan their participation in a holistic way – by cutting through the hype and focusing on the core value propositions that Blockchain consortiums may unlock for their organizations.




The Business Blockchain


Book Description

The definitive pioneering blueprint covering the what, why and how of the blockchain. Blockchains are new technology layers that rewire the Internet and threaten to side-step older legacy constructs and centrally served businesses. At its core, a blockchain injects trust into the network, cutting off some intermediaries from serving that function and creatively disrupting how they operate. Metaphorically, blockchains are the ultimate non-stop computers. Once launched, they never go down, and offer an incredible amount of resiliency, making them dependable and attractive for running a new generation of decentralized services and software applications. The Business Blockchain charts new territory in advancing our understanding of the blockchain by unpacking its elements like no other before. William Mougayar anticipates a future that consists of thousands, if not millions of blockchains that will enable not only frictionless value exchange, but also a new flow of value, redefining roles, relationships, power and governance. In this book, Mougayar makes two other strategic assertions. First, the blockchain has polymorphic characteristics; its application will result in a multiplicity of effects. Second, we shouldn’t ask ourselves what problems the blockchain solves, because that gives us a narrow view on its potential. Rather, we should imagine new opportunities, and tackle even more ambitious problems that cross organizational, regulatory and mental boundaries. Drawing on 34 years of technology industry experience as an executive, analyst, consultant, entrepreneur, startup mentor, author, blogger, educator, thought leader and investor, William Mougayar describes a future that is influenced by fundamental shifts brought by blockchain technology as the catalyst for change. William Mougayar has been described as the most sophisticated blockchain business thinker. He is a blockchain industry insider whose work has already shaped and influenced the understanding of blockchain for people around the world, via his generous blogging and rigorous research insights. He is a direct participant in the crypto-technology market, working alongside startups, entrepreneurs, pioneers, leaders, innovators, creators, enterprise executives and practitioners; in addition to being an investor, advisor, and board member in some of the leading organizations in this space, such as the Ethereum Foundation, OpenBazaar and Coin Center. Just as the Internet created new possibilities that we didn’t foresee in its early years, the blockchain will give rise to new business models and ideas that may still be invisible. Following an engaging Foreword by Vitalik Buterin, this book is organized along these 7 chapters: 1. What is the Blockchain? 2. How Blockchain Trust Infiltrates 3. Obstacles, Challenges & Mental Blocks 4. Blockchain in Financial Services 5. Lighthouse Industries & New Intermediaries 6. Implementing Blockchain Technology 7. Decentralization as the Way Forward The Business Blockchain is an invitation for technologists to better understand the business potential of the blockchain, and for business minded people to grasp the many facets of blockchain technology. This book teaches you how to think about the blockchain.




The Real Business of Blockchain


Book Description

Blockchain is transforming business. What's your strategy? Leaders of forward-thinking organizations are exploring how blockchain can transform the way they create and seek value. Whether it's used to streamline multiparty processes, create and trade new assets, or leverage artificial intelligence and the internet of things, blockchain enables entirely new business opportunities. This is just the start. As blockchain becomes more widely adopted, it has the potential to radically change the way companies and societies operate, as transformative a paradigm shift as the launch of the internet. The Real Business of Blockchain is one of the first books on this transformative technology written for business leaders. Authors David Furlonger and Christophe Uzureau--both of Gartner, the world-renowned research and advisory company--will help you: Assess how blockchain will impact your business Explore the value proposition that blockchain offers Make smart near- and midterm investments Position your organization in a new competitive landscape Timely, visionary, and accessible, The Real Business of Blockchain cuts through the hype and helps you unlock the vast capabilities of this powerful and potentially world-changing technology.




Blockchain Value


Book Description

This book focuses on the values of blockchain across industries. If you think that blockchain is everything you don’t understand about technology, finance, and law mixed together, then this book will help you appreciate its value more clearly. While it is a complex technology that is still largely experimental today, it will be transformative in the future. This book focuses on the values of blockchain across industries. Among other things, it explores how blockchain technology adds value to data management, security, and sharing as well as ownership, property, collaboration, and trust. It also explores the possibilities of the Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS), digital goods or dGoods, and the transformative power of small acts and micropayments.




Mastering Blockchain


Book Description

Develop a deeper understanding of what's under the hood of blockchain with this technical reference guide on one of the most disruptive modern technologies Key Features Updated with four new chapters on consensus algorithms, Ethereum 2.0, tokenization, and enterprise blockchains Learn about key elements of blockchain theory such as decentralization, cryptography, and consensus protocols Get to grips with Solidity, Web3, cryptocurrencies, smart contract development and solve scalability, security and privacy issues Discover the architecture of different distributed ledger platforms including Ethereum, Bitcoin, Hyperledger Fabric, Hyperledger Sawtooth, Corda and Quorum Book Description Blockchain is the backbone of cryptocurrencies, with applications in finance, government, media, and other industries. With a legacy of providing technologists with executable insights, this new edition of Mastering Blockchain is thoroughly revised and updated to the latest blockchain research with four new chapters on consensus algorithms, Serenity (the update that will introduce Ethereum 2.0), tokenization, and enterprise blockchains. This book covers the basics, including blockchain's technical underpinnings, cryptography and consensus protocols. It also provides you with expert knowledge on decentralization, decentralized application development on Ethereum, Bitcoin, alternative coins, smart contracts, alternative blockchains, and Hyperledger. Further, you will explore blockchain solutions beyond cryptocurrencies such as the Internet of Things with blockchain, enterprise blockchains, tokenization using blockchain, and consider the future scope of this fascinating and disruptive technology. By the end of this book, you will have gained a thorough comprehension of the various facets of blockchain and understand their potential in diverse real-world scenarios. What you will learn Grasp the mechanisms behind Bitcoin, Ethereum, and alternative cryptocurrencies Understand cryptography and its usage in blockchain Understand the theoretical foundations of smart contracts Develop decentralized applications using Solidity, Remix, Truffle, Ganache and Drizzle Identify and examine applications of blockchain beyond cryptocurrencies Understand the architecture and development of Ethereum 2.0 Explore research topics and the future scope of blockchain Who this book is for If you are a technologist, business executive, a student or an enthusiast who wishes to explore the fascinating world of blockchain technology, smart contracts, decentralized applications and distributed systems then this book is for you. Basic familiarity with a beginner-level command of a programming language would be a plus.




The Definitive Guide to Blockchain for Accounting and Business


Book Description

Blockchain is a disruptive technology potentially impacting how economic transactions are recorded, stored, and verified. Despite such ramifications, there is a lack of literature discussing this from the accountant’s perspective. Through real-world cases this book distils an abstract technology to relatable experiences for business professionals.




Business Models Guide


Book Description

The guide by FourWeekMBA on business models, to get up to date with all the potential models born and evolved during the web era and rising with the digital revolution happening on the web. A business model is a framework for finding a systematic way to unlock long-term value for an organization while delivering value to customers and capturing value through monetization strategies. A business model is a holistic framework to understand, design, and test your business assumptions in the marketplace. In this guide, we’ll see also 53 business model types identified by the FourWeekMBA research. Ever since, this list started to be published, back in 2018, many copycats around the web have started to duplicate it without understanding the meaning of each model referenced here. Thus, if you need our feedback, feel free to reach out. You can jump directly to any of them below or read the guide in order: A mix of chain and franchise business model Ad-supported (subsidized) business model Affiliate business model Aggregator business model Agency-based business model Asymmetric business models Attention merchant business model Barbell business model Bidding multi-brand platform model Blitzscaler-mode business model Blockchain-based business models Bundler model Cash conversion cycle or cash machine model Discount business model focusing on high quality Distribution based business model Direct-to-consumers business model Direct sales business model E-commerce marketplace business model Educational niche business model Family-owned integrated business model Feeding model Freemium model (freemium as a growth tool) Free-to-play model Freeterprise model Gatekeeper model Heavy-franchised business model Humanist enterprise business model Enterprise business model built on complex sales Lock-in business model Instant news business model Management consulting business model Market-maker model Multi-brand business model Multi-business model Multi-sided platform business model Multimodal business model Multi-product (Octopus) business model On-demand subscription-based business model One-for-one business model Open-Source Business Model Peer-to-peer business model Platform-agnostic model Platform business model Privacy as an innovative business model Razor and blade revenue model Self-serving model Space-as-a-service model Subscription-based business model Surfer model: reverse-engineering the gatekeeper Three-sided marketplace model User-generated content business model User-generated AI-amplified model Unbundler model Vertically integrated business model What is a business model and why is it important? A business model is a critical element for any startup's success as it is what unlocks value in the long term. In a way, developing a business model isn’t only about monetization strategies. Indeed, that is way more holistic. To develop a business model companies need to create value for several stakeholders. Thus, a business model is about what makes users go back to your app, service, or product. It is about how businesses can get value from your solution. It is about how suppliers grow their business through it. A business model is all those things together. In short, when those pieces come together, that is when you can say to have a business model.




The Organisation of Tomorrow


Book Description

The Organisation of Tomorrow presents a new model of doing business and explains how big data analytics, blockchain and artificial intelligence force us to rethink existing business models and develop organisations that will be ready for human-machine interactions. It also asks us to consider the impacts of these emerging information technologies on people and society. Big data analytics empowers consumers and employees. This can result in an open strategy and a better understanding of the changing environment. Blockchain enables peer-to-peer collaboration and trustless interactions governed by cryptography and smart contracts. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence allows for new and different levels of intensity and involvement among human and artificial actors. With that, new modes of organising are emerging: where technology facilitates collaboration between stakeholders; and where human-to-human interactions are increasingly replaced with human-to-machine and even machine-to-machine interactions. This book offers dozens of examples of industry leaders such as Walmart, Telstra, Alibaba, Microsoft and T-Mobile, before presenting the D2 + A2 model – a new model to help organisations datafy their business, distribute their data, analyse it for insights and automate processes and customer touchpoints to be ready for the data-driven and exponentially-changing society that is upon us This book offers governments, professional services, manufacturing, finance, retail and other industries a clear approach for how to develop products and services that are ready for the twenty-first century. It is a must-read for every organisation that wants to remain competitive in our fast-changing world.




Future Tech


Book Description

Amazon's Fire phone. Google Glass. Facebook Home. Quikster. New technologies alone don't always cause industry changes. Future Tech explains how the four forces of technology, policy, business models and social dynamics work together to create industry disruption and how this understanding can help to predict what is coming next. Technology is generally viewed as the single force that disrupts markets. However, history is rife with stories of technologies that have failed to meet such hyped expectations. In Future Tech, the author reveals that true change only results from combining the forces of science and technology, policy and regulation, new business models (i.e. sharing economy) and social dynamics (whether or not people adopt it). Whether these four forces align explains why some technologies, such as AI, blockchain, robotics, synthetic biology and 3D printing, stick and why others fail. With an understanding of these four forces, business executives and policymakers can explain what technology is likely to stick and even anticipate what is coming next. By 2030, the global labor force will be led by an elite set of knowledge workers enabled by robotic AI. To help individuals thrive in this workplace, Future Tech advises readers to develop their human capabilities of creativity and adaptation, develop deep expertise in one domain while being well-versed in dozens more, and develop a personalized approach to acquiring and processing information and deliberating decisions.