Microsoft Azure will get blockchain through Project Bletchley

While many companies have been hesitant to adopt the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, the blockchain technology that made it possible is now being sought after by a number of companies due to the way it acts as a decentralized ledger that can be used to store data and keep track of how assets are exchanged.

Microsoft has just released the first details into how it will use blockchain in its upcoming Project Bletchley, which will add the technology into Azure services through some new middleware.

The director of bizdev and strategy for cloud and enterprise at the company, Marley Gray, said: "Project Bletchley is a vision for Microsoft to deliver Blockchain-as-a Service (BaaS) that is open and flexible for all platforms, partners and customers. We’re thrilled to be on this journey with the blockchain community, and are looking forward to helping transform the way we think about and do business today".

Blockchains were first introduced by Satoshi Nakamoto, the inventor of Bitcoin, in 2009. So far they have proved impossible to be falsified despite many in the industry trying to break their cryptography.

Microsoft first tried using the technology in April to help a consortium of banks add the technology to their systems. Of all industries, the financial sector is very excited about how a secure digital ledger could revolutionize their businesses.

Project Bletchley will allow Microsoft to add blockchain technology to other areas of business and through this Azure will be able to sell more business information services as well as processing power. The company wants to enable the new technology through an additional layer of middleware that will enable blockchain transaction to occur over the cloud.

So far Microsoft, IBM and even the British government have expressed interest in adopting blockchain technology. Its successful implementation will likely result in even more businesses and industries doing so as well.

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