GFT features in latest Gartner report on blockchain

GFT has featured in a report from Gartner released this month entitled ‘Market Guide for Blockchain Consulting and Proof-of-Concept Development Services’. As a leading Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and blockchain provider, GFT contributed to the final report and is one of the representative service providers listed in this Market Guide. For banks, insurers and payment

Editorial Team
April 9, 2018
3 minutes

For banks, insurers and payment service providers, blockchain now offers solutions that were not possible with previous conventional technologies. An example of this is advanced invoicing: this uses a blockchain solution to deliver significant real-world cost savings and drastically reduce the risk of fraud.

One of the key findings from the Gartner report was how the pool of experienced blockchain service providers is expanding rapidly, with existing consultancy services being complemented by a proliferation of specialist blockchain service providers. As the interest in blockchain use cases has expanded beyond the original financial services offerings, every geography and every vertical sector now has a plethora of specific service providers.
As stated in the Gartner report: “GFT provides end-to-end exploration of blockchain and DLT solutions to resolve business challenges and support the creation of ‘proofs of concepts’ (POCs) to test potential solutions, followed by upscaling to industrial application where appropriate.”

The report also highlights several weaknesses in the current market. “However, there is a shortage of skilled staff who both understand blockchain technology and can also help align that technology with potential business.” This though is a key strength of GFT’s blockchain services, especially as GFT also has the added advantage of nearshore capabilities to further reduce cost.

Back in 2015, GFT in the UK created a model for DLTs within the physical commodities sector. The creation of this app was part of an ongoing programme, named ‘Project Jupiter’, with the aim of incubating disruptive business ideas and rapidly prototyping solutions around blockchain technology. Since 2015, prototypes have been implemented in Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK for various use-cases, including: lending, payment transactions, distributed trust and cross-border clearing and settlement. For example, an application was created for the Royal Bank of Scotland based on ethereum to test the concept of interbank payments amongst a connected network of banks. Flexible prototyping of use cases in the GFT incubator and GFT’s Digital Innovation Labs enables developers to quickly reject non-promising approaches and invest only in effective designs. GFT aims to help its clients understand the numerous ways they can leverage DLT and establish their own viable business models.

Richard Miller, Strategy Head – Disruptive Technology, GFT said “We are seeing tremendous interest from clients wishing to examine how distributed ledger technology can add value to their business. Firms are recognising that now is the time to utilise DLT and blockchain for non-mission-critical use cases that have the potential to be truly transformative, and inclusion in Gartner’s report emphasises that GFT is viewed as being a strategic ‘go-to’ player in this exciting new field.”