Enterprises of all kinds are beginning to look at blockchain technology as what it really is, a tool that can be used to drive efficiency, competitiveness, and transformation compared to just looking at the speculative price of various tokens.
How can blockchain be used to increase the competitiveness of an organization? That’s what we’re going to be looking at in this post.
Efficiency and productivity
If you’ve been tuning in for the recent The Bitcoin Masterclasses, you might already know how scalable blockchain technology can enhance efficiency and boost productivity.
To give a concrete example, let’s imagine a Fortune 500 organization and its business processes. How much time and manpower is spent on administrative tasks that could be automated using blockchain? Hundreds or even thousands of hours per quarter are spent on invoicing, data entry, updating records, bookkeeping, and more.
This can be automated with timestamped records keeping track of everything on scalable blockchains. For example, as invoices come in and are paid, an organization’s wallet balances and relevant records can be updated on the spot, giving hitherto unheard-of insight into the position of the enterprise in real time and reducing the costs associated with keeping these records manually.
What happens to all of the people whose jobs depend on this paperwork? Some will find employment elsewhere, and others will turn their minds to productive, revenue-generating tasks, boosting the bottom line rather than subtracting from it.
Compliance and risk management
It’s no secret that we live in a data-driven world. Almost every organization has to deal with records of some sort, and there are an increasing number of regulations and requirements to comply with.
Storing data carries risks, but it’s unavoidable in the modern world. What if that risk could be eliminated or at least drastically reduced by keeping hashed records of data on a timestamped immutable ledger that makes it impossible to lose records and which makes it immediately known who accessed them and when?
Blockchain can not only help with the issue of losing records and storing them securely; it can also help with the ever-present danger of hacking. Hackers can only do what they do by breaking into centrally stored data silos, but these can be distributed on the blockchain so that there’s nothing to hack.
Giving another concrete example to bring this point home, imagine an iGaming organization such as a sports betting operator. Thanks to blockchain, it’s possible for the first time to prove with absolute certainty to regulators that appropriate action was taken to reach out to potential problem gamblers, for example, eliminating the risk of fines, reputational damage, and potentially revocation of licenses.
In a blockchain-powered world, there’s simply no need to take risks with data. Blockchain technology offers the solution every enterprise has been waiting for.
New revenue streams and models
The time-tested business models are well established by now; pay-to-play a game, subscribe to a newspaper or digital magazine, or read an article for free in exchange for your personal data and a barrage of annoying ads attacking your eyeballs at every turn.
Due to scalable blockchain and the digital currencies that run on them, it’s possible for forward-thinking organizations to offer new ways to pay customers and build new business models around the concept of micropayments.
For example, rather than offering visitors to a news website the option to subscribe for $100 a year, to which a tiny percentage will ever respond positively, it’s possible to offer them access to an article for a few pennies of Bitcoin or a tokenized fiat currency. Requiring much less of a commitment and not requiring credit cards or even bank accounts, this innovative payment option can bring in new customers worldwide.
Furthermore, blockchain-powered rights management software can give organizations a competitive edge when attracting talent. Smaller organizations without the megabucks of big firms like Disney (NASDAQ: DIS) or Netflix can offer artists equity in their own creations, guaranteeing them a steady stream of micropayments each time the picture, video, or audio they’re collaborating on is paid for.
Micro and nano payments are arguably the biggest and most important thing to come out of the blockchain industry. Those who see the bigger picture of how they’ll play an essential role in the future of commerce can move quickly to capitalize on the opportunity they present.
Cost reductions and savings
We’ve already touched the surface of how blockchain technology can save organizations time and money by looking at how it can automate many administrative tasks and reduce risk around compliance above.
However, this is only the beginning of how blockchain can transform organizations into revenue-generating machines with dramatically reduced overheads.
Think about the following: blockchain can enable enterprises to track and trace every step in a supply chain, knowing exactly where their materials are sourced from, where they are, and who has or had custody of them every step of the way. It can reduce the need for paper copies of anything, with every invoice, balance statement, and cash flow projection generated by software pulling records from verifiably true data. It makes it possible to tokenize inventory so that a real-time overview of stock and supplies down to the level of an individual item can be had at a glimpse.
Truthfully, even those of us who live and breathe blockchain technology can’t imagine the many different ways it can reduce costs and drive savings. What we can be sure of is that experts in every industry will figure out how it can increase their bottom line by reducing overheads and outgoings.
As the old saying goes, a penny saved is a penny earned. Blockchain can help identify where costs are accumulating, and solutions can be built to reduce them.
Enhanced security and reputation
We have already touched on how massively scalable utility blockchains can reduce the risks associated with collecting and storing data in a world where hackers and cybercriminals view databases as a way to make a lot of money.
Yet, customer data management isn’t the only risk scalable blockchains can help with. Businesses must also manage the growing risk of cyberattacks, such as network break-ins that can lead to intellectual property theft, loss of funds, or corporate or government secrets leaking.
Tools like Sentinel Node are being built on the BSV blockchain to help mitigate those risks, dramatically reducing the time to detect a network penetration and allowing network admins to act quickly to contain breaches and threats.
Enhancing the network integrity of any organization, be it a commercial enterprise or government body, brings many rewards. The reputational damage caused by breaches can be avoided, as can the fines associated with them. Aside from avoiding reputational damage, an organization’s reputation can be greatly enhanced by becoming known as one that either does not suffer cyberattacks or detects and deals with them extremely quickly and professionally when they do occur.
Join us at the London Blockchain Conference for more ideas
If you find these ideas about how scalable blockchains can drive competitiveness, or if you have further ideas to add, join us at the London Blockchain Conference between May 31 and June 2, 2023.
Far from being a BSV-only conference, we’re interested in hearing from anyone and everyone with legitimate ideas or applications that utilize utility blockchains.
While we won’t allow the promotion of unregistered securities at the conference, we invite and encourage debate, discourse, and discussion about how massively scalable public blockchains can change the world.
Secure your free tickets today for a speaking slot, a booth, or just to mingle with like-minded blockchain enthusiasts!
Watch: London Blockchain Conference 2023 brings government enterprise onto the blockchain
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