Below you will find everything about this solution that emerged to facilitate the use of blockchain technology and make it accessible to any company and user.
Index
What is BaaS (Blockchain as a Service)?
Blockchain as a Service is an offer of blockchain network services.
It is about the installation and maintenance of cloud-based blockchain networks, which are managed by third parties.
Companies and users can use these services to create, develop and host their applications, functions and smart contracts on the blockchain.
The field for the use of blockchain technology exceeds its most popular use, which is for cryptocurrency transactions. Its use has been extended to the venture of secure transactions of all kinds. This has caused the demand for blockchain hosting services to increase.
But the technical complexities and operational costs for the creation, development and maintenance of the blockchain infrastructure are real obstacles to the widespread adoption of blockchain technology.
BaaS comes into play to offer solutions in this regard. Its cloud-based service provider is responsible for performing all necessary tasks to sustain the infrastructure dynamically and operationally.
Thus, the BaaS model allows blockchain-based technology to be accessible to all types of customers, without the need for them to previously invest to develop it.
Therefore, Baas is contributing to the mass adoption of blockchain technology.
Examples of BaaS (Blockchain as a Service)
The BaaS platform helps all types of users build their blockchain-based applications. No experience in this field is required nor previous knowledge is needed.
Therefore any customer -whether a particular consumer, a new company or a multinational corporation-, can use BaaS to develop various tasks.
Some examples of using BaaS are:
- Smart contracts
- Cryptocurrency wallets
- Inventories
- Supply chain management systems
- Confidential customer or patient records in the healthcare industry
- Real-time risk assessments (for insurance policies, for example)
Benefits of BaaS (Blockchain as a Service)
One of the central advantages BaaS provides is accessibility to blockchain technology.
BaaS involves the installation and maintenance of blockchain networks by third parties, which allows any business or user to access blockchain networks.
Thus, BaaS helps consumers develop and host applications, smart contracts, etc. on cloud-based blockchain ecosystems.
This is how BaaS makes blockchain capabilities more accessible and usable within a business.
In addition, BaaS offers an external services provider to set up all the necessary blockchain technology and infrastructure in exchange for payment of a fee.
Once the service is contracted, the BaaS provider is the one who continues to manage the complex operations of the blockchain networks.
Along with this, the BaaS operator provides various support tasks, such as bandwidth management, proper resource allocation, data security functions, etc.
Through the BaaS service, the customer is freed to be able to focus on his main goal of taking full advantage of the blockchain technology’s functionality.
Another benefit of using BaaS is its ability to adapt to the particular needs of a given company or user.
For example, a real estate company can use it as a platform to develop smart contracts, while a retail store can hire a BaaS provider to manage a payment processing service.
Without a doubt, combining cloud services with Blockchain as a Service, is an enormously valuable resource for consumers of all sizes and shapes.
Companies offering Blockchain as a Service (BaaS)
Among the most popular BaaS providers we can find the following:
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
AWS has many partner-tested blockchain solutions that support major protocols. As a result, you can develop blockchain and accounting applications more easily, quickly and efficiently.
One of these services is Amazon Managed Blockchain, which facilitates joining public networks or creating and managing scalable private networks through Hyperledger Fabric and Ethereum.
IBM Blockchain Platform
IBM has developed its own BaaS service based on the Hyperledger BaaS system, to allow companies and users to create blockchain solutions securely, reliably and adaptably.
Microsoft Azure Blockchain Service
Microsoft Azure offers a variety of BaaS solutions to help developers build scalable blockchain applications. These solutions include Azure Blockchain Service, which enables the creation and management of blockchain networks based on Ethereum.
Ardor
Ardor is a public and open-source Blockchain-as-a-Service platform. Its novel approach is that it allows users to employ the NXT blockchain technology. This technology is based on “child chains”, which are individual blockchains hosted on the “main chain” that maintains Ardor.
In addition to these providers, other companies offering BaaS include:
- Dragonchain
- Inveniam
- Bloq
- Skuchain
- LeewayHertz
- Altoros
- Appinventiv
- Innominds
The existence of so many BaaS providers is not a coincidence, but rather responds to the fact that users and companies, instead of creating and executing their own blockchains, now simply have the possibility to “outsource” the technically complex work and focus on their main activities.
For this reason, BaaS is causing blockchain technology to penetrate more and more into different sectors and, certainly, it will continue to help its use to become massive and continue to become generalized.