Oracle’s Blockchain Service Goes Live

Oracle’s new blockchain service for the enterprise is now live, reports in Fortune said Monday (July 16).

The enterprise technology conglomerate has released its solution for businesses that provides them with software and infrastructure to set up their own blockchain networks. Those networks can be used for a variety of processes, including supply chain management, global shipment tracking, cross border payments and beyond.

“Anywhere there’s data transfer and information flow, blockchain has a potential application,” said Oracle Cloud Unit Executive Vice President Amit Zavery. “All that kind of stuff where we want to have trust and make sure things happen smoothly.”

The publication noted that Oracle has been piloting its blockchain enterprise platform in recent months. One of the early testers was solar equipment supplier Solar Site Design, which used the solution to manage and secure documents related to solar projects. Reports noted that Jordan Investment Bank has also been testing the tool to streamline electronic funds transfers, while Certified Origins was piloting the tool for supply chain tracking and food safety management of its olive oil production.

The platform uses Hyperledger Fabric, an open source blockchain framework hosted by The Linux Foundation. It positions Oracle in competition with other enterprise technology conglomerates like Microsoft and SAP that have similarly released solutions for their corporate clients interested in using blockchain.

Microsoft released one of its blockchain platforms in 2015 with ConsenSys to help financial institutions test the technology. The company is also working with R3, a blockchain consortium that includes U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo. Unnamed sources last week said R3 is considering going public, and is in the midst of conversations about a possible buyout.

SAP, meanwhile, revealed last year that it would be pressing for corporate adoption of blockchain. The firm is collaborating with EY to integrate blockchain apps on the SAO Leonardo platform, a solution designed to help enterprises and developers create their own blockchain tools.