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Can Blockchain be used as a backend and database?

Using blockchain as a backend technology enables companies to track every single item or transaction and validate identities, with 100% transparency. One of the many benefits organisations can leverage from blockchain technology.

Enterprise tech is experiencing a revolution, as many organisations are looking to move from legacy applications to a blockchain-powered infrastructure and to accelerate the adoption of new technologies and processes.

These new technologies have not only changed the way our businesses operate but they also enable us to change their mindset, allowing us to think differently about how we interact with other people or the world around us, creating a better and more ethical culture to lead these conversations. The next wave of enterprise technology is what we call the ‘Blockchain Wave’.

The concept of blockchain – a transparent, shared ledger – has a number of benefits for organisations – from transparency to auditability to traceability with 100% accountability at every stage. This means that organisations and people have a better view on what they are doing, what is in their systems and how they are using, or have used, these technologies. Overview of blockchain as the Backend in your enterprise

Transparency

There are many benefits of blockchain technology that include:

The shared or distributed ledger technology stores or records all of the transactions made by all the members, participants and managers and is a highly secure method of storing a history of data records. These records can be analysed at any time to trace what items have been bought, sold or sent from one person to another.

Every time someone sends information or a document to another person, they can verify every step. This information, or transaction, is stored in real time and the transaction can be reviewed, validated, and the originator or recipient can change the transaction.

This level of transparency makes it possible to validate and prove the provenance of all the information and the ownership of all the assets being carried out of business.

Transparency also means it is possible to track every single item, person or transaction made, so that it is easy for all people involved in the business or the organisation to know where their money is coming from, who or what is receiving the money and how much they have been given, for example.

Verification

Blockchain technology allows two or more people to agree that a particular transaction has occurred and that a particular record exists as agreed. This then allows them to agree that the information is true, they did not do anything wrong, and that anyone with node access can see this as it happens. It would have been a nice-to-have for Citibank when they transferred $900 million to Revlon’s lenders, no?

For businesses that use the services of multiple suppliers, the possibility of agreement means the supplier can be confident that the information they have received is true. For example, if you are selling something through a retailer or a merchant, they can all check that the information contained in the order confirmation has been checked for accuracy.

This enables them to know that the product or service is legitimate and that the buyer or client is taking the right decision. This leads to significant improvements in the purchasing and sales processes.

All this means that if you want to purchase items in, or run your business, you can be sure that you are getting the best products or services from your suppliers and in the most efficient manner in which they are used.

Disclosure of information to outside entities

Using blockchain technology and an associated set of applications that can access the shared ledger, organisations can access the history of all the information on hand, creating a better visibility at every stage.

Security

For starters, the data stored or shared with third parties cannot be tampered with. Blockchain is built on the principle of encryption and cryptography, so no one can easily alter or intercept data recorded on their decentralized database.

Apart from the database, there is no way to track any transactions. It is also impossible to discover any personal information stored in your database, the user data can be stored only on the blockchain network. For that you need to use a unique password for every website, and it will no longer be possible to find out your unique password after you make one.

The main principle is that an entry to the network does not need any authentication, which can't be performed by anybody. This means, the database is safe, nobody can tamper with your personal data, and the entry of someone who does not belong to your company is practically impossible.

No third-party needed

If you want to know if your current data storage systems are secure, then it is definitely up to you to do a comparison with your current database and whether the database has enough security protection for your current and future needs.

Easily maintained

If you are familiar with the traditional file management systems in office and at home, you might have seen that there are very many files, folders and documents that make things very difficult to maintain. When we use these traditional file management systems, it is very challenging to make our data and information secure.

The file management system has no real mechanism to record the data for auditing purposes, so we can only ensure that the data files are clean and unspoiled. Although we do need to pay attention to the data, we still need to keep the information locked in a very secure place because there is no way to verify the data without accessing the files and folders.

When we use a blockchain like our database, it is easy to verify data, and we will have the information in a very structured and clean way for easy reference.

What about costs?

Well as you’ve probably seen with the NFT craze, storing large files in a blockchain like Ethereum can be very expensive, is linking an outside base holding the media asset is usually what is done to save costs. That link is stored in the blockchain with the rest of the NFT’s info.

Also as far as scalability a blockchain like Ethereum is also not really the right choice for a large company or an organization that needs to store tons and tons of data as cost can be quite steep.

So for enterprise the best solution will be going with a blockchain like Hyperledger for a better solution in terms of scalability, storage and costs.

Conclusion

Blockchain is most likely going to be more and more present in backends all over different industries, some of the most used blockchains are not ready for organizations to use them in this capacity but they will get there with time, and other solutions such as Hyperledger, Quorum, Azure’s blockchain, Tangle and Wave among others seem ready for prime-time.