Cognizant Digital Consulting: Wall Street should go for blockchain and stop wasting time worrying about costs (Download the full report)

Everyone on Wall Street seems to think blockchain will be a game changer.

The technology is seen as having the potential to improve productivity across Wall Street, including banking, payments and capital markets, but the extent to which blockchain will revolutionize financial services remains anyone’s guess.

As the cryptocurrency’s popularity has grown, its underlying blockchain technology has become a ubiquitous buzzword on Wall Street.

Cognizant, a US digital consulting firm, recently surveyed more than 1,500 executives from more than 570 financial services companies and released a detailed survey report - "Financial Services: Building Blockchain Technology Brick by Brick" (download the full text of the Coin Library). This report is aimed at these companies' strategies for integrating blockchain technology into their infrastructure. The vast majority of companies participating in the survey (specifically 91%) said they are aware of the importance of blockchain to the future of their industry. However, only a small number of companies are actively integrating blockchain into their infrastructure. According to Cognizant's report, most companies are still procrastinating in the trial stage.

The report states:

“While some early blockchain adopters are moving forward quickly, most companies are still content to simply learn about the technology and test proofs of concept internally until future directions come into focus.”

According to Cognizant, these companies do not have a "viable" path forward.

To be sure, it makes sense that these companies would want to take some time to understand what blockchain can do for their companies. The technology is less than a decade old and is extremely complex and expensive to develop.

Regardless, Cognizant is advising these companies moving forward. In their report, they outline some aspects for financial companies to consider when developing a blockchain strategy.
For example:

● Don’t waste time worrying about costs . Learning is an iterative process, and costs and benefits will only become clearer as the project progresses. Furthermore, many reasons to move forward are strategic in nature and cannot be determined from the outset.

● Don’t leave all the work to IT staff . “Rather than starting from the IT side, blockchain projects should be designed to solve specific business problems or opportunities, and business stakeholders should be involved from the beginning.”

● Keep calm and carry on . “Recognize that blockchain is still in the early stages of development; innovation will continue, and the infrastructure will evolve.”