How to make a business case for blockchain

Blockchain may be an incredible new technology, but how do you convince your colleagues and leaders that it will help your business?

It is crucial that you can clearly explain exactly what blockchain delivers and how that impact can be measured.

In this article, we step you through how to make a business case for blockchain.

Decide if you really do need blockchain

As a general rule, blockchain could be a good fit for your organisation if you need at least three of the following:

1. Highly secure, tamper-proof data systems
2. Transparent business rules and computation
3. Trusted, verifiable recordkeeping
4. Unified transaction and decision-making processes

If the above factors are relevant, it is likely that blockchain technology would make doing business faster, safer and cost-effective, and a feasibility study is an ideal next step.

Conduct a feasibility study for blockchain

Before you commit to a major project or initiative, it’s important to conduct a feasibility study to develop a clear understanding of where the blockchain opportunities are within your organisation.

This can include the production of a working proof-of-concept and a prototype, which help your stakeholders gain practical insight and clarity.

For this, it is important to use advisers who can help you develop a strategy and engineers who can build, adapt and iterate your solution and use case.

Understand and quantify costs

When going to your leaders with a business case for blockchain, the first thing they’ll want to know is how much it’s all going to cost.

Implementing blockchain involves engaging external experts and one-off costs associated with designing and building the infrastructure you need.

Some costs to think about include:

• Design and development
• Hardware and software
• Storage
• Security and privacy protections
• Staff training and change management

Having all of these costs clearly set out into your business case will help you and your colleagues understand whether your business case is viable.

Understand the risks

For large enterprises, there can be a lot at stake when adopting any new technology.

Making a big shift will attract the scrutiny of shareholders and the public, so you want to make sure you’re getting it right.

Risk management shouldn’t be an afterthought, but something factored into your initial planning.

It may all feel a bit daunting, but if you make efforts to evaluate (and where possible eliminate) risks it is likely to save a lot of pain down the track. 

Not to mention, your leaders will quite rightly want to know exactly what they’re getting themselves in for.

Examine case studies

In developing your business case for blockchain, it can be helpful to research how others have used the technology to their advantage.

For example, we at Rewired.one helped a large company target the cost of regulation by allowing regulators to remotely verify corporate credentials and digitally verify compliance using blockchain technologies. 

It is possible that you are underestimating the true scope of your blockchain business case.

Rewired.one partners with large enterprises, startup businesses and government agencies to unlock the full power and value of blockchain technology.

Find out more

Seek advice from the experts

Rewired.one partners with large enterprises, start-up businesses and government agencies to unlock the full power and value of blockchain technology.

For help developing your business case, request to book a free discovery session below.