What is blockchain? The story is still new, but it will transform the way you do business. Last week I participated in a tele-seminar along with Evan Kirstel, who is a social digital influencer. It was sponsored by Frontier Business and we discussed many transformative ideas and technologies to help the small and mid-size business market grow. We talked about unified communications, the cloud, AI and we discussed blockchain.

Blockchain all started in 2008 and was created by Satoshi Nakamoto for the new monetary technology BitCoin. That is the transformative cyber currency that seems to have kick started an entirely new slice of the money industry and beyond. New technology and new competitors are jumping in all the time and this is expanding to industry after industry.

Jeff Kagan and Evan Kirstel in Tele-Seminar on UC, AI, the Cloud and Blockchain

So, what does blockchain mean to you and to your business? Blockchain started in the world around decentralization in the world of money. This helps as the money industry continues to expand and reinvent itself, time and time again. It helps as the computer and Internet work their way into the money industry. It helps monitor and track every transaction and adds more security with secure blocks of information.

That means bad guys may be able to break into one block, but that is useless because it doesn’t open the door to other information blocks in the chain. So, your information is safe and protected.

Many companies are getting involved with blockchain technology like Comcast and Walmart. Among companies like yours who enter this space, there are leaders and followers. You don’t need to be a leader in this new field, but you know that you will jump in sooner or later, so it’s vital you learn everything you can about this new technology now, and how your competitors are using it. Learn now while it’s still a new space and your customers will forgive any early mistakes like they did with the Internet twenty years ago.

Blockchain is Security for Money, Food Safety, Medical Records and More

Understand, things will change, over and over again, but the idea of blockchain is here to stay and will continue to grow. And it will transform industry after industry. Small and large businesses need to get up-to-speed as quickly as possible. It’s important to understand it and how to use it.

I am still learning about this amazing new technology myself. Everyone I learn from seems to come at this from a different angle and with a different perspective. There are so many different angles. This makes understanding this new technology and this new world more complicated to grasp. However, over the next several years it will become crystal clear to everyone and you must be up to speed at that time.

Frontier Business Research on UC, AI, Cloud and Blockchain

Frontier Business did some impressive research for this event last week. Blockchain started around cryptocurrency like BitCoin. It’s also about security and the changing money industry. And beyond that, we are seeing this new industry grow into other industries.

Think about all the new companies that are re-writing everything. Companies like PayPal, Venmo and Zelle. They let you share money with friends and family, they let you purchase items from web stores and they do it in very new ways.

Blockchain works with sales transactions, computer records, food freshness and so much more. It’s starting to be used by large and small business in a variety of ways.

Walmart is starting to use this technology to monitor freshness of produce in its supermarkets, nationwide. IBM is working with blockchain for business customers and governments. The growth opportunity is huge. This technology is rapidly expanding. Expect this technology will continue to grow and spread.

Blockchain Started with Bitcoin But is Rapidly Expanding

Blockchain creates a chain of blocks. Each block is a record or an information file. Each are linked in an ever-growing chain using cryptography. Each are protected from break-ins. In the case one block is broken into, it does not open other blocks.

This is the beauty of blockchain security. Each block gets a new hash and is linked to previous hashes and each is protected separately. Is it bullet-proof? Who knows. But it’s pretty good so far.

While every business does not have to jump in today, that time will come. So, it is vital that every business learns and gets up to speed on this new technology.

Leaders and Followers in Blockchain Technology

I always talk about leaders and followers. How the leaders pave the new roads but take the initial risks. How the followers don’t create the new path, but ride on a more stable road that was created by the leaders. The choice is yours when it comes to blockchain. However, you must be a player. Either a leader or a follower. You can’t ignore this transformation. If you do, your business will suffer.

Blockchain is part of the changing world of money and payment technologies. We are still in the very early stages of this new technology. And while there is no rush to enter this world today, you must follow it, learn about it and prepare for your entry as your competitors will be doing so.

Ready or not, blockchain is here, it is rapidly growing and it’s coming on strong. You remember the early days of the Internet from the 1990’s, right? Did you need to get up to speed with that new technology? Of course, you did. The same opportunity and risk surrounds you in this new world of blockchain technology. Now is the time to be exploring this new world, while customers and competitors are still all unsure.

Jeff Kagan is an Equities.com columnist. Kagan is a Wireless Analyst, Telecom Analyst, Industry Analyst, speaker and consultant. He follows wireless, wire line, telecom, Internet, cable TV, IPTV, Cloud, Mobile Pay, FinTech and communications technology. Email him at [email protected]. His web site is www.jeffKAGAN.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeffkagan.