Blockchain is deservedly taking a center stage around the globe due to the transparency and immutability it offers to an array of transactions. It is the powerful technology behind cryptocurrency; hence, numerous cryptocurrency tracing experts, traders, and lots more are paying more attention to it. In fact, many leading corporations around the world are investing in blockchain technology.
Despite the potential of blockchain technology, Microsoft ended its blockchain service a few months ago. But why did the service end? How did this affect the existing users of the Azure blockchain service? Will Microsoft offer related services in the future? These are some of the questions that will be answered in this article. So, let’s shed more light on this occurrence.
How did Microsoft blockchain technology come into existence?
Foremost, it may come as a surprise to some individuals that Microsoft owns a blockchain service. This could be because the service was not marketed on a large scale to many small businesses. However, you should note that the Microsoft blockchain service was not a new project as it existed for several years. Factually, it had achieved several astounding things because it backed out of blockchain technology.
Microsoft Azure Blockchain Service
The news was broken by ZDNet that Microsoft Azure Blockchain Service would come to an end in September 2021. However, the deployments of the company got support until the period. But it is essential to understand that the news didn’t specify if there would be support for new member creation or deployments after the end of the service.
According to the post, it was in 2015 that Microsoft created the Azure Blockchain as a BaaS or Service. The service was first provided on the official platform of Ethereum in the form of ConsenSys. Notably, many notable companies hopped on it during its existence.
Lack of Updates for Microsoft Azure BaaS
Sometimes in January 2016, Microsoft offered a novel preview of a particular lab environment. This was done in the official DevTest Labs of Azure to ensure the decoupling of the entire blockchain technology from some virtual machines by the new blockchain-based services. At the time, the short-term target of the service was to guarantee its availability on an officially certified blockchain marketplace in the new few months or years.
The officials of Microsoft noted that the interim goal was to integrate more blockchain partners to various types rather than selecting a handful of prospective winners. Nevertheless, Microsoft could only offer a new preview of the Azure BaaS. But after a few years, the corporate could not offer an update for the service. Hence, it couldn’t compete favorably with similar services.
Users of the Azure BaaS
On the product page of Microsoft, J.P. Morgan, Singapore Airlines, Xbox, Starbucks were all listed as the customers of the service. However, it was later reported by the official documentation of Microsoft that the user had begun to move to other similar services.
The ConsenSys Quorum Blockchain service was the migration destination recommended by the corporation itself. Besides, users are allowed to utilize VMs to decide to manage their blockchain themselves. As Microsoft had recommended an alternative blockchain service to users, it was becoming obvious at this point that Microsoft would move away from the blockchain service.
Therefore, it didn’t come as a surprise when it was finally announced in the middle of 2021 that the service would come to an end in September of the same year.
Using ConsenSys Quorum as an option to Microsoft blockchain service
At the announcement of the end of the Microsoft blockchain technology, the intention of the corporation was not known by many individuals. However, lots of individuals continue to guess the next action of the company. It has been suggested that the closure of Azure Blockchain Services could lead to the creation of a new blockchain service by Microsoft. This would probably be a more advanced version of the Azure Blockchain Service. But we cannot confidently say whether this will be the reality or not.
Nonetheless, the only certainty is that users would have to migrate from Azure blockchain service to an alternative. In fact, the majority of the users migrated before the closure of the blockchain service in September 2021. With this development, they did not have to wait endlessly for Microsoft to make up its mind on whether it would like to continue with its blockchain service or not.
Regardless of what Microsoft decides to do in the future, everyone can rest assured that blockchain technology will continue to grow. Until this technology will likely experience a wide range of changes, it will remain one of the leading factors behind the transparency and trust required in many transactions. The technology will ease the process of sharing information with different parties around the globe.
