Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud computing branch of Amazon, is taking serious steps toward consolidation at the top of the blockchain industry.
At the end of November, AWS unveiled a new service during its “re: Invest” event, which allows its customers to build their own cloud-based blockchain using Hyperledger Fabric or Ethereum as a template for their projects.
That announcement represented the next step in a long-standing process that has seen the cloud giant continue to get its hands deeper and deeper into the world of blockchain technology.
Previously, AWS had made an alliance with firms such as R3 and Kaleido. With Amazon Managed Blockchain, AWS was trying to break into the industry, although they have never assured that all their customers will benefit from the use of blockchain.
In this sense, according to Rahul Pathak, the general manager of Big Data of AWS, the conversations with his clients took to Amazon to the conclusion that the blockchain technology is not a kind of panacea, but a perfect solution for some inconveniences for specific business. On this, he commented:
“I can imagine a large manufacturer that wants all of its partners to write about their information about their transactions on their network. A blockchain network brings an unnecessary complexity, because you do not need the distributed trust nor the elements of consensus. ”
Also, the Amazon conference revealed another offer in the cloud – Amazon Quantum Ledger Database (QLDB). This product is offered as a radically more effective way to build cryptographically protected databases, and Amazon is betting that in some cases, customers will prefer that kind of blockchain solution.
Also published on Medium.