The development of cloud-based computing changed the game for software developers.
For one thing, it rendered limitations related to storage, flexibility, and cost obsolete. It also ushered in a new era of software innovation, enabling the development of groundbreaking cloud-based services like Dropbox and Google Drive.
In recent years, however, a technology with even more innovative potential has availed itself to the developer community: blockchain.
The blockchain is what the cloud was always supposed to be — a truly transparent and interconnected network that eliminates the need for a centralized transactional authority and solves for the cloud’s most troubling security risks.
In many ways, the blockchain is really a “Cloud 2.0.”
Blockchain bears opportunities for developers unseen since the turn of the century. Here’s why those currently working in cloud should consider making the switch.
#1: Blockchain will allow you to innovate and disrupt entire industries.
Innovations are considered disruptive when they help companies displace established competitors. History has seen a number of technologies that qualify as such. The cloud, arguably, was one. The blockchain is another.
In fact, just as the cloud displaced legacy enterprise applications, decentralized ledgers will soon replace centralized cloud-based systems.
One reason is decentralized ledgers are simply technologically superior to centralized ones. They solve a key question which has troubled enterprise executives for years: how do you guarantee that your company’s data is stored and used in a way that’s compliant with the law if you’re forced to entrust those processes to an unaccountable, outsourced vendor?
The blockchain eliminates that concern. On the blockchain, you know your data cannot be secretly tampered with. When things go wrong, it’s easy to figure out what happened and who should be held accountable.
Not a single cloud vendor can claim the same. And that’s why companies powered by blockchain technology will win the future: they simply provide a better way forward.
Blockchain companies may still operate in niche markets now. But because the technology solves important problems and enables such an enhanced level of innovation, companies powered by the blockchain will soon become mainstream — and when that happens, developers working in obsolete systems will be left behind.
#2: If you have experience in cloud, you’ll be able to seamlessly make the transition.
The blockchain, like the cloud, is a distributed system.
The primary difference between the two is that data distributed over the cloud is stored on one company’s centralized set of data centers, while data on the blockchain is stored across a community of servers.
The difference for developers is minimal.
When I was working at Google and Amazon, the questions we were thinking about were whether or not products built in the cloud needed things like elastic load balancing — and whether that would be a necessary investment. Would applications be processing that much traffic?
On the blockchain, you have to make the same sorts of decisions.
When designing the Bee Token platform, the questions we asked first were: what sort of capacities might be added to Ethereum in the future? What will we be sacrificing by embracing a totally decentralized model? Would it be better to fully decentralize further down the road, when the technology can more speedily process transactions?
The similarities are evident, and experience thinking about these kind of questions on the cloud side of the equation has prepared me well for what I’m doing today.
#3: A mass transition to blockchain-powered technology is already underway.
The cloud is a trillion-dollar industry, and blockchain is moving in that same direction — except, it’s moving at a much faster speed than cloud adoption ever did.
All of the big players in the cloud (Amazon, Microsoft, IBM and Google) are currently experimenting with blockchain backends. They see the practical sense in it, and they see the inherent value of a more democratized, decentralized reality.
Consider this your call to action.
The similarities between the two platforms will enable those with experience in cloud to make an easy transition into blockchain. If you’re worried about the transition being difficult, don’t be.
But more importantly, making the switch is a smart move for the longevity of your career as a developer. Innovation creates opportunity. And the future will belong to those who capitalize on the opportunities availed by decentralized networks.
The blockchain is Cloud 2.0.
Note: I am hiring engineers for Bee Token, TRON, and other various blockchain projects that I’m advising. Please reach out to me at ali.k.ayyash@gmail.com and send me your resumes.