Google has been among the last major cloud vendors to hold out and not provide a blockchain offering. However, the technology giant has recently partnered with a provider of distributed ledger solutions to enhance the Google Cloud Platform through blockchain technology.
‘Failed to Be on the Bleeding Edge’
Recently, Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google and current president of parent-company Alphabet, noted that the tech giant had probably failed to be on the forefront of blockchain technology. He stated:
We probably already failed to be on the bleeding edge, I’ll be honest.
Looking at Google’s competition, Brin’s words seem fairly substantiated.
Earlier this year, Amazon Web Services introduced the so-called “AWS Blockchain Templates” — designated to afford users the ability to create and launch their very own blockchain networks based on Ethereum and Hyperledger. Microsoft also revealed an ambitious blockchain strategy to become a leading provider of blockchain enterprise services and even launched Coco – a blockchain framework specifically designed for enterprise systems.
Google, on the other hand, has thus far failed to position itself as a major player in the field. Nevertheless, Brin took the chance to praise the technology, referring to it and its potential as “extraordinary.”
Better Late Than Never
On Monday, July 23, Google announced a partnership with Digital Asset — a startup company supplying tools for building blockchain-based applications.
Leonard Law, Head of Financial Services Platform at Google Cloud said:
We are delighted to innovate with Digital Asset in the distributed ledger space. DLT has great potential to benefit customers not just in the financial services industry, but across many industries, and we’re excited to bring these developer tools to Google Cloud.
According to the announcement, Google Cloud also joined the private beta of the startup’s developer program — which would grant Google developers the software kit for the Digital Asset Modeling Language in order to explore potential blockchain applications with their clients.
The news follows an announced partnership between Google Cloud Platform and BlockApps — another blockchain startup which facilitates the creation of decentralized apps (DApps).
Despite being admittedly late, Google seems to be making major strides towards adopting blockchain-based technologies — potentially putting the tech giant in a position to compete with Amazon’s AWS and Microsoft’s Azure cloud services.
What do you think of Google’s moves to enter the blockchain industry? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!
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