Dell-owned VMware launches enterprise-focused blockchain

Major cloud computing and virtual machine firm VMware has launched VMware Blockchain, an enterprise-ready blockchain platform.

Owned by Dell, the billion-dollar company first teased the blockchain’s development in 2018 through its Project Concord, promising an enterprise-grade platform that can enable secure inter-organization data sharing.

VMware joins the ranks of IBM and other global tech conglomerates that have launched their own blockchain platforms. The firm identified highly complex and fragmented multi-party enterprise workflows that resulting in delays, increased costs and hindered innovation as core problems they aim to solve with its blockchain solution.

VMware Blockchain is now available for commercial use, after being tested by the Australian Stock Exchange. The exchange intends to replace its current CHESS system with the new platform, although this was recently delayed until April 2023.

International fintech firm Broadridge Financial Solutions is using VMware’s solution to develop “blockchain-based solutions to transform capital market’s infrastructure” according to the Head of DLT Repo for Broadridge, Horacio Barakat. He added that the platform enabled the company “to model and enforce multi-party agreements on a Scalable Byzantine Fault Tolerant platform.”

The Scalable Byzantine Fault Tolerant consensus protocol mentioned was developed internally by VMware as part of Project Concord. The firm has partnered with Digital Asset to incorporate Digital Asset Modelling Language smart contracts, and is also partnering with service partners such as Accenture, Infosys and Intellect EU.

The cloud computing company started in 1998 and reported a revenue of $10.6 billion in the 2020 fiscal year.

Last year, VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger condemned Bitcoin as being “bad for humanity,” claiming it is primarily used for illicit activities and has overly excessive high energy consumption requirements.