A new strategic partnership between J.P. Morgan and software giant Microsoft Corp. will now enable customers of both companies to develop and scale blockchain networks in the cloud. The collaboration, announced May 2, 2019, is aimed at expediting the growth and adoption of enterprise blockchain.

Microsoft Unveils Azure Blockchain Service

At the same time, Microsoft rolled out its latest fully-managed blockchain offering dubbed Azure Blockchain Service (ABS) to facilitate the formation, management, and governance of consortium blockchain networks for enterprise customers.

Per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the two companies, J.P. Morgan-owned Quorum will become the first distributed ledger platform deployed through ABS.

J.P. Morgan describes Quorum as the enterprise-focused variant of Ethereum. It is touted as an ideal solution for applications that require “high network speed and the high throughput processing of private transactions in permissioned group of known participants.”

As the new strategic partnership kicks in, Quorum, powered by Microsoft’s Azure, will enable enterprises to develop new blockchain applications in a matter of weeks, if not days. That too without requiring any high-level expertise or R&D.

Reacting to the new development, Umar Farooq, Global Head of Blockchain, J.P. Morgan, said:

“We are incredibly proud of the success Quorum has had over the last four years, as organizations around the world use Quorum to solve complex business and societal problems via blockchain solutions.”

He added:

“We are delighted to partner alongside Microsoft as we continue to strengthen Quorum and expand capabilities and services on the platform. Azure will bring unique strengths to enterprise clients using Quorum.”

Neither company has so far divulged the financial terms of the deal.

Quorum’s Integration With Azure Is A Treat For Blockchain App Developers

Besides superior speed, the Microsoft-JPM partnership will also make it easier for enterprise customers to benefit from Azure Blockchain Service’s simplified deployment, better cost-efficiency, and built-in governance.

It gives enterprise technology teams access to all the resources they will need to write and test blockchain codes. The whole process is decentralized as developers can manage their codes using Azure cloud and transmit data as and when required using the Quorum network.

J.P. Morgan is optimistic that with so many perks up for grabs, more and more enterprises will cozy up to blockchain-based solutions. The combination of Azure and Quorum, Mr. Farooq underlined, ensures that enterprise blockchain projects can do without a high degree of involvement from blockchain experts and IT teams.

He noted:

“It allows [companies] to get to production faster and allows them to do things that generally would have been more complicated”

Meanwhile, Matt Kerner, GM for industries and blockchain at Microsoft Azure, said that the Quorum’s integration with Azure has rendered it much easier for developers to build blockchain PoC apps. The process can now be wrapped up as early as in about six weeks compared to the six months it took previously, he noted.

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