Accenture bets big on blockchain technology

Tech giant’s India unit is developing solutions for global oil and gas majors

Global IT services giant Accenture will soon see a fullfledged roll-out of its blockchain solutions by two oil and gas majors in AsiaPacific and North America, and a major part of the implementation is being done by the company's advanced technology centre in India.

Though, blockchain has grabbed much attention globally as a transformational technology after its use in cryptocurrencies, its large scale implementation by enterprises is still a far cry. Accenture said the company has already piloted the solution in these companies¸ which would soon see enterprise-level implementation.

“After a year of discussion and co-innovation with one of our oil and gas client, proof of concept and solutions have been signed up. Now, they are going for full scale global implementation. It will happen soon,” said Mohan Sekhar, senior managing director and lead at Accenture Advanced Technology Centers in India. "We are doing a lot of work from our Indian centre.”

Accenture is one of the largest global IT employers in India, with over 150,000 working across its various centres in the country. Of those, over 4,000 are engaged in working across new age technologies and bringing out innovative solutions.

According to the tech firm, the implementation of blockchain solutions by these oil and gas majors will enable these firms to drive operational efficiency. For example, the implementation will help these companies to streamline supply chain management, recording of financial transactions and stop pilferage.

“Today, certain processes have to go through multiple hubs because there are no alternatives. Companies have to create large database with multiple security checks (for ensuring smooth supply chain management). This whole architecture will get simplified by blockchain,” Sekhar said.

Apart from large scale manufacturers, Accenture is also working with banks regarding adoption of this new age technology. “In the banking side, we are actually implementing a couple of things. With blockchain, a lot of nodes get eliminated and process becomes faster,” he said.

However, regulatory issues have cropped up relating to adoption of blockchain technology in financial services sector as central banks have to give their nods before its implementation by banks. "Banking sector will take a little more time to adopt blockchain as you need consortium, you need regulatory approval,” he said¸ adding that Accenture is becoming part of such consortiums to drive the use of this technology.

Accenture, which draws 60 per cent of its revenue from digital services comprising artificial intelligence, machine learning, quantum computing, security among others, recently raised its full-year revenue forecast by 9.5-10 per cent, from 7-9 per cent earlier. Majority of this growth will be driven by its digital and cloud services.

While the firm is building up its capability internally in the digital space, it has also done a spree of acquisitions, of companies with digital skills, to grow through inorganic route. “Acquisition will remain as a complementary, go-to-market strategy for us. As we already have the scale, size and clients, we will acquire firms with niche digital skills,” Sekhar said.

Other than the inorganic route, Accenture is also internally grooming talent in newer technologies through various reskilling programmes. Almost 85 per cent of its employees in India have already been trained in various digital technologies, he added.

Accenture is one of the largest global IT employers in India, with over 150,000 working across its various centres.Of those, over 4,000 are engaged in working across new age technologies