It looks like big consultancy groups have finally noticed a major shift in technology trends starting in financial and spreading to other sectors and now do not want to be left behind. The article on Deloitte University Press by David Schatsky and Craig Muraskin “Beyond Bitcoin - Blockchain is coming to disrupt your industry” mainly repeats the already known.
“If you’re not up to speed on blockchain, you need to be. The technology is young and changing very rapidly; widespread commercialization is still a few years off. Nonetheless, to avoid disruptive surprises or missed opportunities, strategists, planners, and decision makers across industries and business functions should pay heed now and begin to investigate applications of the technology.”
According to the authors, industry participants who are not closely following blockchain and exploring its applications may want to consider increasing their engagement with the technology and the ecosystem of companies involved with it.
Ernst & Young, another consultancy group, also weighed in warning banks that they are facing a serious threat from Bitcoin and internet payment systems such as Paypal and Nutmeg. “Even if this is a short-term trend this is a significant threat to the banks,“ says Imran Gulamhuseinwala, head of the EY Fintech division.
Are these consultants equipped with the bitcoin knowledge necessary to assist banks and other financial institutions and companies in implementation? “They are just looking into it because they feel they are missing something out. I don't think they have enough real expertise,“ Alireza Beikverdi, co-founder of Bitholla told Cointelegraph.
You will find the word “bitcoin“ used very sparsely in Deloitte's text, unlike the term “blockchain“. But that's in line with the rhetoric of banks and governments who are carefully avoiding the term that they use only in a bad looking connotation. “It explains blockchain correctly, though it's all about bitcoin no matter how they want to avoid it,“ says A. Beikverdi.
The ‘opportunistic’ positioning of many consulting firms and advisories that sprung up all over the landscape reminds Manie Eagar, president of Bitcoin Alliance of Canada, of the early bitcoin traders popping up everywhere a few years ago when bitcoin ‘hit the streets’ and became popular. “Everyone is positioning for the Distributed Ledger Technology opportunity, skills shortage and expertise lacking because technology is still new, under development and a work in progress. There is a need for huge integration and business process deployment requirements, so everyone is declaring their intent so as not the be ‘left behind’. There will not be one ‘killer app’ but probably ‘solution chains’, which are difficult to manage e.g. side chains, multi chains, cross chains, interchain developments are still evolving.“