Keep up with blockchain. Microsoft is one of the few companies that are heavily invested in this new technology, and pioneered development alongside IBM.
However, now with increasing adoption, slow and steady acceptance, the Redmond based technology firm is focused on providing tools and platforms for blockchain. Not only is Microsoft investing in distributed ledger technology, but is also partnering with startups.
This was revealed by Microsoft President Brad Smith, who in an interview said that the company has made this a focus of its early stage investments.
The Azure cloud platform, for example, is pitched as a highly capable ecosystem for design, development and hosting of blockchain based solutions.
His words:
“Fundamentally we want people to use Azure, as the main storage for blockchain services. But we are focused on other tools that the creators and the writers of blockchain services may want to provide as well.”
As for adoption, Smith sees the technology emerging to other parts of the economy soon.
The company recently teamed up with Nasdaq in a high-profile partnership to integrate blockchain technology for the stock exchange. The Azure platform, once again, took center stage as the two giants joined forces to deliver blockchain services for users.
Microsoft is also working to ease enterprise adoption of blockchains, as it tries to showcase how the Azure blockchain platform can prove its value for companies that are ready to dive head first into the deep end.
Ultimately, when it comes to future plans for blockchain, Microsoft knows full well what it is like to stake a claim as the unquestioned market leader — it did so with products like Windows and Word.
And with the technology gaining momentum, Microsoft has everything to play for.
