IT consultancy Wipro joins blockchain consortium Hyperledger
Indian information technology and consulting giant Wipro has announced a collaboration with Linux-backed blockchain consortium Hyperledger. The alliance will focus on the primary objective of designing open source-based blockchain solutions for enterprise-grade deployments.
In a bid to tap into Hyperledger’s expanding international profile, global IT consulting firm Wipro, a company originally from India, has joined forces with the consortium to develop blockchain solutions for industry-specific cases. Blockchain technology is an invention that allows data to be distributed rather than copied. Initially developed to feed the Bitcoin economy, a blockchain is essentially a shared online database, which can be accessed by a number of consensual users, and which constantly updates itself. The shared nature of the data omits the requirement of a central storage or management unit, thereby eliminating the risk of the loss or compromise of information. As a result, the technology is rapidly being adopted in industries across all sectors beyond just the Bitcoin economy, including the consulting industry, with Big Four firm PwC recently combining with ArcNet to attempt the prevention of food fraud using blockchain technology.
As a response to a global spike in the adoption of the hyper-efficient technology, Wipro has rapidly been developing its blockchain advisory and consulting offerings, establishing a Blockchain Innovation Lab, developing blockchain applications, and even constructing blockchain networks. In addition, the firm runs a Blockchain Center of Excellence (COE), where it works on industry solutions and frameworks.
In order to further bolster this apparatus, Wipro has joined the Hyperledger consortium, which is a global collaboration of leaders in finance, banking, Internet of Things, supply chains, manufacturing and technology, hosted by the Linux group – industrial competitors of Microsoft, who themselves recently founded a global blockchain council with consulting industry members Synechron as one of the launch partners. The Hyperledger group was meanwhile established to develop enterprise-grade industry specific blockchain solutions, and is made up of firms who share a common appreciation for the capabilities of blockchains to enhance efficiency, profitability, cost efficiency and, most importantly, transparency and accountability in the global marketplace. Through collaborative efforts, the goal is to introduce blockchain technology into the mainstream commercial arena.
Given the benefits of blockchain technology, a number of customers globally have begun turning to the Hyperledger group for solutions. The move carries the hopes of both Wipro and Hyperledger, as explained by Krishnakumar N Menon, Vice President, Service Transformation at Wipro. Menon said, “We are excited about joining Hyperledger and look forward to working closely with the Hyperledger community to catalyse blockchain adoption for global enterprises. Our customers are increasingly looking at Hyperledger to build enterprise-grade blockchain solutions for specific industry use-cases. Additionally, Wipro's open source services, expertise and solutions add value to our Hyperledger-based blockchain offerings. We look forward to investing in crowdsourced innovation and open collaboration as part of our efforts in the Hyperledger community.”
Brian Behlendorf, Executive Director at Hyperledger added, “We are excited to welcome Wipro to the Hyperledger community. Wipro brings industry-acknowledged blockchain advisory and consulting capabilities, coupled with industry solutions for specific use cases and a strong partner ecosystem to help client businesses innovate on blockchain. We look forward to Wipro’s active contribution in the Hyperledger community to share insights on blockchain use cases, technology frameworks, tools & standards, and thought leadership.”
