Should you rebuild your company’s tech stack in blockchain?

Michelle O'Keeffe

Michelle has been in marketing strategy for nearly 20 years and for the past seven has been CEO of Sydney headquartered digital technology agency, Engaging.io. Working with leading brands, Engaging.io uses human-centred digital strategy, design and development to enhance the customer journey and drive engagement for customers.


The question I get asked most regularly these days is: ‘Do I need to rebuild my company’s systems on Blockchain?’ And the answer, every time, is ‘No, you’re asking the wrong question’.

Ever since cryptocurrency became part of the zeitgeist, blockchain has been talked about, by some at least, as the panacea for business wanting greater security and transparency. However at a recent conference on blockchain, where present were the top tech experts from some of the country’s leading household brands, it was clear to me understanding of this emerging platform is poor. Blockchain as a platform has four distinct positive characteristics:

  • Security – It’s nearly impossible to hack
  • History – The records it contains cannot be altered
  • Transparency – It shows the complete transaction history of a record
  • Speed/cost – Public blockchain networks can negate the need to have a central governing body (but transaction processing time can be slow).

But companies’ systems these days usually consist of most, if not all of the following:

  • Bespoke, or highly customised CRMs
  • Marketing automation systems
  • Accounting software
  • Multiple analytics tools
  • Websites
  • Social platforms

It’s imperative these systems are well integrated and feed information backwards and forwards to each other, most of the time they’re not, and they don’t. And surprisingly enough, the bigger the company, the less likely it is that their systems ‘talk’ effectively to each other. The single most important aspect of these systems is their holistic architecture - in other words, how each of them serve the different objectives and touch points of the company, and how they share information with each other.

Get the system architecture right, and then you just need to ensure you’ve got the right humans powering and analysing them. It doesn’t matter how many millions you’ve spent on your IT, if you don’t have the right people or organisational structure to support those systems - and vice versa - they won’t be effective.

Get the system architecture wrong, and your business will be functioning on two wheels instead of four.

Read more: What blockchain will do to the experience economy

Big companies usually have big legacy systems they’ve invested a lot of time and money into, and whether it’s the right decision or not, they’re reluctant to let them go if they’re not quite working for them. That’s why ‘digital transformation’ specialists can help by mapping future needs and manage the change to get there. Back to blockchain.

As part of an holistic system architecture, blockchain can be an integral component, particularly if you need part of that system to be secure or auditable. But oftentimes, the functionality required around it is better performed by more traditional technology. Investing in blockchain technology because you think you should, or because others are doing it isn’t the right approach to be taking. Instead the best course of action should be getting a consultant to map out the business’ existing systems (and the problems that those systems are supposed to be solving) and work out if the existing systems are, in fact, solving the issues they’re supposed to be solving.

Then have someone put together an ‘optimised’ map and analyse the gaps (these gaps will likely be a combination of technology and people). This is the same process regardless of whether you’re wanting to use blockchain or not. Only then should a decision be made on if blockchain is the right solution for your business.

It may sound like it’s stating the obvious, but it’s clear the mystery surrounding blockchain is causing some, many of whom who should really know better, to rush into adopting this new tech opportunity, when in many cases it simply isn’t the right fit and could be a costly mistake.

Tags: emerging technology, Emerging Technologies, chief digital officer, marketing technology, Blockchain

Show Comments

Latest Whitepapers

More whitepapers

Latest Videos

More Videos

More Brand Posts

What are Chris Riddell's qualifications to talk about technology? What are the awards that Chris Riddell has won? I cannot seem to find ...

Tareq

Digital disruption isn’t disruption anymore: Why it’s time to refocus your business

Read more

Enterprisetalk

Mark

CMO's top 10 martech stories for the week - 9 June

Read more

Great e-commerce article!

Vadim Frost

CMO’s State of CX Leadership 2022 report finds the CX striving to align to business outcomes

Read more

Are you searching something related to Lottery and Lottery App then Agnito Technologies can be a help for you Agnito comes out as a true ...

jackson13

The Lottery Office CEO details journey into next-gen cross-channel campaign orchestration

Read more

Thorough testing and quality assurance are required for a bug-free Lottery Platform. I'm looking forward to dependability.

Ella Hall

The Lottery Office CEO details journey into next-gen cross-channel campaign orchestration

Read more

Blog Posts

Marketing prowess versus the enigma of the metaverse

Flash back to the classic film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Television-obsessed Mike insists on becoming the first person to be ‘sent by Wonkavision’, dematerialising on one end, pixel by pixel, and materialising in another space. His cinematic dreams are realised thanks to rash decisions as he is shrunken down to fit the digital universe, followed by a trip to the taffy puller to return to normal size.

Liz Miller

VP, Constellation Research

Why Excellent Leadership Begins with Vertical Growth

Why is it there is no shortage of leadership development materials, yet outstanding leadership is so rare? Despite having access to so many leadership principles, tools, systems and processes, why is it so hard to develop and improve as a leader?

Michael Bunting

Author, leadership expert

More than money talks in sports sponsorship

As a nation united by sport, brands are beginning to learn money alone won’t talk without aligned values and action. If recent events with major leagues and their players have shown us anything, it’s the next generation of athletes are standing by what they believe in – and they won’t let their values be superseded by money.

Simone Waugh

Managing Director, Publicis Queensland

Sign in