According to Gartner, 34 percent of CIOs have no interest in blockchain technology. A further 43 percent are monitoring it but have no action planned. Only 9 percent have already invested or are considering a short-term investment.
Changes needed
That 9 percent accounted for 293 CIOs, and of that group, 23 percent said blockchain required the most new skills compared to any technology area. A further 18 percent of that group said that blockchain skills are the most difficult to find. 14 percent believe that DLT requires a change in culture and structure of the IT department.
Some might argue that the organizational changes are more significant than the technical ones. Gartner noted that it takes time to transform business, governance and operating models because of the economic impact of blockchain.
“While many industries indicate an initial interest in blockchain initiatives, it remains to be seen whether they will accept decentralized, distributed, tokenized networks, or stall as they try to introduce blockchain into legacy value streams and systems,” said David Furlonger, VP at Gartner.
Furlonger also warned about the risk of rushing into live blockchain deployments. His concern is the problems of failed innovation, wasted investment, rash decisions and rejection of game-changing technology.
The daily news about prototypes and the fact that only 1% of CIOs reported live deployments implies this risk is relatively low.
“Blockchain technology requires understanding of, at a fundamental level, aspects of security, law, value exchange, decentralized governance, process and commercial architectures,” continued Mr. Furlonger. “It, therefore, implies that traditional lines of business and organization silos can no longer operate under their historical structures.”
Industries
Telecoms, insurance and financial servers are the sectors most actively involved in blockchain in the short term. Financial services and insurance are the leaders. For telecoms companies, Gartner states the drive is to “own the infrastructure wires” and to benefit from the consumer payment opportunity.
Transportation, government, and utilities sectors are gaining interest with a strong focus on logistics and supply chain opportunities.
“Blockchain continues its journey on the Gartner Hype Cycle at the Peak of Inflated Expectations. How quickly different industry players navigate the Trough of Disillusionment will be as much about the psychological acceptance of the innovations that blockchain brings as the technology itself,” said Mr. Furlonger.
