ConsenSys deploys blockchain as a service for Microsoft Azure users

ConsenSys, a producer of blockchain technologies, recently announced that its Kaleido blockchain as a service platform is available on the Azure Marketplace.  Kaleido's offering helps organizations set up their own blockchains for different scenarios, with many of their customers drawn from financial services, aerospace, healthcare, media, government and supply chain operations.

In May 2018, AWS partnered with Kaleido in a bid to offer blockchain capabilities to its customers and now Microsoft is following suit. Kaleido co-founders Steve Cerveny and Sophia Lopez spoke with MSDW about the context of the release.

Cerveny noted that Microsoft has been active with blockchain almost since the time the technology broke onto the scene:

They're seen as a thought leader and are very active in different communities. ConSensys and Microsoft have collaborated, starting with open source communities and developer tools where Microsoft is really strong. But this is really a significant step forward in this partnership. Microsoft is offering not just thought leadership but also Azure as an enterprise grade cloud destination, while Consensys is now bringing Kaleido into Azure. This doesn't just bring the leading blockchain technology to customers, it unlocks lots of other interesting capabilities as well. Microsoft's Key Vault service supports some of key formats [we use], as well as pre-built integrations—which is an example of how customers can extend their existing investment in Azure.

With how involved Microsoft is in the blockchain space, there are now multiple opportunities to deepen the collaboration. Microsoft is involved in the developer tool space and they have something called the Blockchain Workbench. They've also announced middleware, like Azure Logic Apps and cryptlets, or integration components. Now on Azure, leveraging with Kaleido would be obvious collaboration points. Looking down the road at the networks and ecosystems adopting blockchain, I see hybrid options as really important. Azure Stack is something that could have further development [as well].

Lopez added: