Microsoft's blockchain blueprint: Bletchley to apply blockchain technology more widely

Blockchain is now in full swing and will play an integral role in the future of business, enterprise and government. Blockchain technology, or distributed ledger technology, has the potential to improve costs and efficiency between companies or between departments within a company.

Not only is Microsoft driving faster, more useful, and more successful adoption of the technology, it is also creating an opportune moment for itself to reap the benefits of the blockchain revolution.

Bletchley Project

On June 15, Microsoft announced the launch of a plan that Microsoft calls "open, modular blockchain components" that will be driven by Azure (cloud computing platform). The plan is called Bletchley, which is "creating a blockchain enterprise ecosystem alliance using Microsoft's own architectural approach." This is the second time Microsoft has opened its arms to blockchain after launching the "Azure Blockchain as a Service (BaaS)" plan in November 2015.

Since then, Microsoft and its partners have been working closely to understand the needs and concerns of the industry, while developing the necessary technology and ecosystem to enable broader adoption of distributed ledgers.

Bletchley attempts to address common themes of concern from partners and other early adopters of the technology across industries, such as:

1. Openness of the platform is necessary

2. Identity, key management, privacy, security, operations management, and interoperability capabilities need to be integrated

3. Performance, scalability, support, and flexibility are very important

4. Ideally, the alliance block can only be used by members, and the private network is for alliance members to execute contracts.

The project is powered by Azure and will support blockchain protocols from simple to complex. Bletchley will introduce a modular framework so that users can choose the best combination of technologies based on their needs.

For example, the distributed ledger design for derivative contracts is different from the design for cross-border payments. This difference is reflected in the privacy, security, regulatory and functional requirements, and they may require separate distributed ledgers.

Bletchley introduces two new concepts: blockchain middleware and Cryptlets. Blockchain middleware provides core services such as identity authentication, encryption, data (advanced analysis, machine learning), management and operations, etc.

Cryptlets are like a new building block of blockchain that will become a key component of complex blockchain systems, providing additional information (such as data and time) while activating security and scalability features.

Blockchain and the Cloud

Microsoft is not the only player in this field. IBM, Microsoft's old rival, is also competing in this field. In April 2016, IBM launched blockchain services on its own cloud services. In this way, IBM has accelerated the popularization of blockchain in business, while providing a security framework for blockchain network operations on its cloud, which makes the design of blockchain meet security and regulatory requirements.

“Clients tell me that the barrier to mass adoption of blockchain is security,” said Jerry Cuomo, vice president of IBM Blockchain. “So there is a sense of urgency among blockchain industry pioneers to define the ideal cloud environment in which blockchain networks can run securely.”

At the same time, Microsoft announced: "Azure is available in 24 regions and countries around the world. Hybrid cloud capabilities, a large number of complete certification documents, and enterprise-level security ensure the large-scale use of blockchain, especially in regulated industries such as financial services, healthcare, environmental protection, and government."

The inevitable result

The launch of Project Bletchley allows Microsoft to provide open, flexible, and modular blockchain services that meet the specific and detailed needs of partners and customers in different fields. Creating such an open ecosystem takes time, and Microsoft's initiative will surely accelerate the large-scale popularization of blockchain, while also creating a combination of distributed ledgers and cloud services.

More information about Bletchley will be revealed at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference in Toronto in July.