AWS vs AZURE vs Oracle Blockchain Solution Offering: The BaaS Comparison

This following will analyze Azure vs AWS vs Oracle Blockchain to compare their blockchain solution offerings and understand their benefits.

As the blockchain technology emerged as one of the fastest growing and game-changing new development in the technology industry, many tech giants came up with their own blockchain solutions for their customers in the last few months. BaaS (blockchain-as-a-service) is getting more and more attention.

In the last one year, almost all major tech giants like IBM, HP, SAP, and Chinese Huawei announced their own blockchain solutions one after another or almost at the same time. This reflects that the tech giants are competing with each other, investing heavily in blockchain technology, and convinced that the blockchain is the way forward. It also shows the urgency of the big players to race ahead in the game.

We also know that almost all major tech giants that include IBM, Google, Oracle, Microsoft, and Amazon, are investing heavily in blockchain companies and blockchain solutions.

In this article, we will look into the details of AWS vs Azure vs Oracle Blockchain Solution offering with a detailed comparison between the three.

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Azure vs AWS vs Oracle Blockchain Solution Offerings

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AWS Blockchain Solution

Let’s start with AWS, also known as Amazon Web Services. They announced their Blockchain Templates as a BaaS (blockchain as a service) offering in April 2018. The launch followed the similar announcements by Microsoft’s Azure, Oracle, and IBM. It makes Microsoft Azure the last one to bring forward their blockchain solution compared to Oracle and Azure. So what does the BaaS offers to developers and the companies?

Their most popular product is the AWS Blockchain Templates that allows AWZ users who are working on blockchain apps to set up Hyperledger Fabric or Ethereum networks in a faster way.

The AWS also gives its users access to affordable resources that can help them quickly deploy blockchain networks.

Salient Features

Here are some of the important features of the AWS Blockchain Solution.

• It offers security to the companies as users can add permissions to control the access to the AWS resources. Companies can also access the resource activity at any time which is logged in AWS CloudTrail.
• The service is offered as a pay-as-you-go service, so you only pay for the services you use and the amount of time you used them. This makes AWS resources affordable. You also don’t have to pay any termination fees or upfront fees as there is no long-term contract between AWS and the user.
• AWS also offers you a wide range of options when it comes to enterprise blockchain framework. You can choose from Corda, Hyperledger Fabric, and Ethereum, as well as partner solutions for your industry.
• With AWS Blockchain Templates, users can quickly deploy secure blockchain networks.

Products

AWS offers two different options under their blockchain solutions, which include AWS Blockchain Templates and AWS Partner Solutions that are available on their marketplace.

AWS Blockchain Templates

The AWS Blockchain Template is their primary product that allows users to choose between Hyperledger Fabric or Ethereum open-source frameworks to deploy secure blockchain networks in a fast way.

With these templates, you don’t have to spend time on the manual setup of your blockchain network, as you can simply deploy the AWS CloudFormation templates and focus on building your blockchain application only.

These templates deploy the blockchain framework of your choice on ECS, also known as Amazon Elastic Container Service. The best thing is, you don’t have to pay anything extra for these templates. In fact, you only have to pay for the resources you use to run the blockchain network.

Benefits

Other than pay-as-you-go feature, AWS Blockchain Templates also offer fast deployment of blockchain network on Amazon EC2 and Amazon EC3 virtual servers, in addition to the ECS container service. You also have the choice to choose between Hyperledger Fabric or Ethereum framework, that are currently the most popular and commonly used blockchain frameworks out there.

No matter which framework you choose, you have access to features like smart contract functionality, distributed consensus algorithms, access control, and other core blockchain features.

The templates also come with management tools of their own that allow you to monitor, browse, and manage your blockchains.

Which Blockchain Framework to Choose: Ethereum or Hyperledger Fabric

Here is a quick comparison that will help you choose between the two based on your needs.

Ethereum	Hyperledger Fabric
Ethereum is currently the most popular blockchain framework developed by Ethereum Foundation. It is preferred for those who want to build a new public network, intends to use Ethereum Solidity smart contract language, or want to transact with peers on public Ethereum network.	Linux Foundation developed Hyperledger Fabric. It is recommended for those who want more security features, wants to limit the transactions users can see, or want to create a private blockchain network.

Once you have decided about the framework you want to work with, simply build your blockchain network over it, and deploy decentralized applications.

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AWS Partner Solutions

Other than using AWS Blockchain Templates, AWS also allows its users to choose from a wide range of AWS Partner Solutions for implementing blockchain. This enables users to select one that fits their needs as many of the below-listed partners offers specialized blockchain solutions for specific industry.

Partners

To offer best blockchain services to its clients, AWS works with several partners that are listed below.

• Kaleido

AWS announced its partnership with ConsenSys, the parent company of Kaledio, back in mid of May. It is a Blockchain Business Cloud that acts as an all-in-one enterprise SaaS platform for businesses. Kaleido was designed to make it simpler for organizations to deploy secure private blockchain.

• BlockApps

AWS partnered with BlockApps to provide Ethereum blockchain development solutions to their clients. BlockApps provides one of the fastest ways to deploy scalable Ethereum blockchain network and to build blockchain applications.

• Manifold Technology

The new partnership with Manifold Technology allows AWS users to have access to the cost-effective, scalable, and very easy-to-integrate blockchain network.

• CISCO

Cisco Blockchain allows AWS users to build Enterprise-level blockchain applications. The blockchain solution by Cisco is scalable, secure, and straightforward.

• Corda R3

Corda R3 is a well-known name in the blockchain industry as it was the first company that built the largest collaborative group in the financial market with more than 100 financial institutions.

It is the specialized blockchain platform designed for the financial market. Simply put, it is a financial grade ledger that meets the highest standards practiced in the financial industry. It offers codes and APIs to build blockchain apps to bring more efficiency to business transactions.

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• GuildOne

For decades, GuildOne provides specialized database and technology services to oil and gas industry, and now it leads the blockchain technology designed for companies outside of the cryptocurrency and financial industry. It also offers solutions for blockchain in oil and gas industry.

Clients

According to AWS, several major clients are using their service to build blockchain solutions. This includes clients like T Mobile and Guidewire.

AWS Blockchain Solution: What’s the Catch?

Even though AWS entered the race little late, but their products reflect they did their homework just right. Their most popular product, AWS Blockchain Templates make it easier for businesses to get things started quickly, as they can deploy the templates and begin working on their decentralized applications without any delay.

In fact, the AWS Blockchain Templates is a feature that makes them different from other BaaS providers.

In addition, users can also choose from their partner solutions. The price is also affordable as AWS users can pay according to the use, instead of getting into a yearly contract. Just pay for the features you use for the time you use it. In fact, you actually pay for the server and tools you use, not the blockchain service.

The solutions provided can be used in a wide range of industries that include financial market and commerce (financial transactions), supply chain, insurance, healthcare, and Identity and Compliance.

The only drawback is, it does not offer any dedicated blockchain workbench like the one offered by Azure. For managing and developing blockchain applications, you need to rely on conventional AWS services or load balancers. Anyhow, let’s check out Azure blockchain solutions in this Oracle Cloud vs Azure vs AWS Blockchain comparison guide.

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Microsoft Azure Blockchain

Microsoft Azure blockchain was the first major tech company to announce BaaS functionality to companies and developers. It also made the first effort to securely preserve digital identities on a blockchain in partnership with Decentralized Identity Foundation.

So, when it comes to the timeline, Azure is the pioneer in the BaaS industry. Microsoft Azure also has the largest compliance portfolio in the industry. The company claims to provide low-risk, low-cost, fast, and fail-safe blockchain solution as BaaS (Blockchain-as-a-service). It hosts blockchain on Linux servers.

Note: Azure announced discontinuance of managed blockchain services from September, 2021.

Salient Features

Here are some of the important features of the Azure Blockchain Solution.

• Azure blockchain reduces the development time by offering users pre-configured networks and infrastructure. This allows users to begin with the development of the decentralized applications instantly.
• With the help of Built-in connections to Azure tools, users can validate and iterate blockchain developments faster and easier.
• With the help of a globally available cloud platform, you can keep your data secure. The solutions are also scalable that allows you to expand any time you want.

Products

Just like AWS, Azure also provides different solutions based on the framework you want to work with. In addition, they also offer more personalized partner solutions that we will discuss in detail below. Anyhow, let’s check out more about Azure blockchain solutions in this Oracle Cloud vs Azure vs AWS Blockchain comparison guide.

Azure Marketplace Solutions

You can choose from multiple products as well as enterprise blockchain frameworks at Azure. Here is the complete list.

• Ethereum on Azure

Azure allows you to work on the most commonly used blockchain network Ethereum. However, with the variety of pre-configured network topologies it offers, you can deploy the network within minutes. The solution also features unique benefits like easy VM scale sets, ability to manage nodes with cross-region deployments, and monitoring tools.

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• Hyperledger Fabric

The next popular framework Hyperledger Fabric 2.0 is also available on Azure. This one is best for those who want to deploy services for validating peers and for membership ordering. Again, deployment is easy and fast.

• Corda

For those who want to work on decentralized applications in the financial sectors, Azure offers Corda distributed ledger technology. It allows users to deploy multi-network and multi-participant network with ease. Users can also work with notaries, peers, and a network map.

• Azure Blockchain Workbench

This is a complete Workbench solution for quick development of blockchain applications. Azure Blockchain Workbench is an easy-to-use web interface that also makes it easier to use compared to AWS.

• DevTest Labs for Blockchain as a Service

With this service, you can create a lab for a team to contain all policies and team templates.

Partners

You can also choose from 23 solutions in the marketplace from different partners. Here are some important solutions offered by their partners.

• BlockApps

BlockApps allows both single-node and multi-node private Ethereum blockchain platform for both developers and Enterprises. The Ethereum platform comes with RESTful API, and other blockchain tools like analytics, search, and explorer. In total, you can choose from the three solutions by BlockApps.

• GoChain

For those who want to focus on fast transactions in the financial sector, GoChain offers a single node Ethereum compatible blockchain as developer edition.

Other partners with their solutions available at the Azure marketplace include Guildkraft, Accredible, Chain Core Developer Edition, RekoChain, Quorum Demo, RSK Notary Solution, and many more.

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Clients

Azure has users from different industries that are using Azure Blockchain Solution to achieve completely different things. For example, Insurwave has recently developed an blockchain for insurance solution. Other clients include Xbox, 3M, the Association of Banks in Singapore, and webjet.com.au.

Azure Blockchain Solution: What’s the Catch?

Azure Blockchain Solution comes with multiple benefits over its competitors. First, because you have an option to choose from a wide range of blockchain platform options that include Ethereum, Chain, Corda, Hyperledger Fabric, Quorum, and more.

All these blockchain frameworks are available in single-node, multi-node, and multi-member topologies. The strongest of these options is multi-member topology that allows users to create a large network including multiple organizations while each organization keeping its administrative control as well.

In the marketplace, you can find solutions from 23 partners that allows you to choose a solution that is more personalized for your unique needs. Anyhow, let’s check out Oracle blockchain solutions in this Oracle Cloud vs Azure vs AWS Blockchain comparison guide.

Oracle Blockchain Solution

Oracle followed the footsteps of Microsoft and launched its B2B blockchain solution model in September 2017. The solution is known as enterprise-grade Oracle Blockchain Platform because it is targeted towards enterprises and businesses. The cloud service offers enterprise customers, who want to get involved with the blockchain, a fully managed approach. An on-premises version introduced in 2019 offers local datacenter or 3^rd party cloud deployment for customers where industry requirements or local data sovereignty regulations rule out Oracle public cloud, however Oracle since introduced a Dedicated Cloud region concept where its cloud, including managed blockchain service, can be deployed in customer’s data center.

According to the senior vice president, Zavery, Oracle introduced this service so companies can work on open source blockchain project and customize it according to their needs by adding confidential permissions, security, and APIs.

The blockchain service is built on open source Hyperledger Fabric project only, unlike AWS and Azure that allows you to choose from multiple blockchain frameworks. However, it can interoperate with other Hyperledger Fabric nodes in 3^rd party clouds, and integrate with other frameworks using interoperability solutions, such as Quant Networks Overledger.

Salient Features

Here is the list of some primary features offered by Oracle Autonomous Blockchain Cloud Service.

• Oracle blockchain is also quick and fast to deploy as it offers fully managed and preassembled blockchain service, which can be provisioned in a cloud in a few minutes.
• Allows you to develop blockchain network and applications on open source Hyperledger Fabric framework and deploy in multi-region, multi-cloud/multi-vendor, and hybrid topologies.
• You can use built-in API gateway for REST APIs and Events or leverage Oracle Integration Cloud enterprise adapters to over 50 packaged systems to quickly integrate on-premises applications, Oracle SaaS, and third-party applications.
• The Oracle Blockchain Platform is designed to provide enterprise level features like built-in synchronization with Oracle DB, live Analytics, fine-grained on-chain access control, role-based identity management, on-request auditability, and certificate revocation management.
• Included Blockchain App Builder, provides a low-code development tooling, which can generate extensible smart contracts automatically from a declarative specification of the assets data structure, and aid in rapid testing and deployment.
• Offers a fully managed solution that is ready for development and/or production in very short amount of time, simple to configure and integrate, with great attention to security, high availability dynamic scalability, ease-of-operation, and flexibility to expand the network topology.

Products

Oracle offers its blockchain solution under the name of Oracle Blockchain Platform – Cloud Service (BaaS) or Enterprise Edition (on-premises software appliance). The Cloud Service comes in Standard (up to 7 peer nodes) and Enterprise (up to 16 peer nodes) SKUs at $0.22/OCPU-hr and $0.43/OCPU-hr respectively, which includes everything required to deploy, develop (Blockchain App Builder is included at no extra cost) and operate blockchain nodes and trusted permissioned networks.

The blockchain solution allows you to build blockchain decentralized apps on Hyperledger Fabric.  You can easily automate your transactions with smart contracts, also known as chaincodes, which can be written in Go, JavaScript, or Java.  In addition, Ethereum smart contracts written in Solidity can be used as well via Ethereum Virtual Machine emulation, and DAML smart contracts from Digital Assets can also be supported.

The blockchain solution also allows you to create hybrid blockchain networks, which means you can join with partners outside of Oracle Cloud provided they are also using Hyperledger Fabric platform.

Oracle also offers an Intelligent Track & Trace SaaS application built on this platform and available as a SaaS solution, which business users can leverage to track, trace, and monitor transactions and their associated assets, items, and documents across their supply chain based on the data integrated from its Cloud SCM and IOT solutions, with an adapter for custom data sources.

Tools

The blockchain solution offers you a comprehensive administration and monitoring options. You have access to an intuitive admin console which is easy-to-use dashboards and comprehensive DevOps APIs. You can easily navigate through networks, channels, nodes, and chaincodes because of it. It also allows you to easily manage the network and view blockchain components.

You can also configure network channels and set policies in real-time. In addition, Oracle also provides in-depth resources to developers that can help anyone with the creation of smart contracts.

Blockchain App Builder introduced in 2020 and bundled with all versions of Oracle Blockchain Platform provides two interfaces – a GUI based on Visual Studio Code Extension and a command line for power users and CI/CD integration.  It aids developers in rapidly building, testing, and deploying chaincodes, and can automate code generation for basic CRUD smart contract methods based on a declarative description of the data asset’s structure.

In early 2021, Oracle also introduced Blockchain Tables in Oracle Database 19c and 21c as part of its Crypto-Secure Data Management capabilities. These borrow from blockchain principles to provide immutable, append only tables with cryptographic hash chaining and digests for verification, as well as optional user data signing to deter identity fraud.

Oracle Blockchain Solution: What’s the Catch?

If compared to AWS and Azure, Oracle is clearly trailing behind but trying hard to lure more users to its blockchain solution. First, it limits you to the use of Hyperledger Fabric platform, with no support for other blockchain platforms.

Second, the product is only an Enterprise Grade solution, with no other solutions available from partners, like AWS or Azure. The pricing is similar to Azure and AWS, which is pay as you go.

However, for enterprises looking for secure and autonomous blockchain solution, with an ability to auto-backup all your transactions, Oracle is a good option.

The applications are also vast because the blockchain solution can be used in the finance sector, supply chain, manufacturing, retail, education, healthcare, and several other industries. The solution is also used in public sector, where Oracle blockchain has recently won government awards for innovative solution used by the HHS, CDC, and the States to track COVID-19 testing results from non-lab environments.

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AWS vs Azure vs Oracle Blockchain Solution Offering: Comparison Table

Here is a quick comparison table based on our detailed research and above-mentioned features. Learn more about AWS vs Azure vs Oracle Blockchain solution in the table.

Categories	AWS	Azure	Oracle
Framework	Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric, Corda, and Quorum	Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric, Quorum, Chain, and Corda	Hyperledger Fabric (cloud BaaS & in-premises)
Price	Pay as per use	Varies according to the plan, pay as per use	Pay as you go & Cloud subscription for Standard or Enterprise SKUs or on-premises licenses (all based on #of CPU cores used)
Major Partners	Cisco, BlockApps, GuildOne, Intel, Kaleido, Manifold Technology, Corda R3 with several other consulting partners	Corda, BlockApps, GoChain, with a total of 23 Partner solutions available	Deloitte, Infosys, Accenture, PWC, Quant, Xooa, retraced, Circulor, CargoSmart, myElth, origintrail, KoineArth, Vottun
Major Clients	T Mobile and Guidewire	Xbox, 3M, and Insurwave	-

Final Words

It is more than evident now that blockchain market will grow exponentially in the next few years. This is also visible from the race among the major technology companies that are competing to provide best BaaS (blockchain-as-a-service) solution to their clients.

The growing mass adoption of blockchain technology as a service also makes it the latest revolution in the fintech industry now. However, with so many good options available, you may want to learn which one is best for you. This is why I provided you with a detailed AWS vs Azure vs Oracle Blockchain Solution offering analysis that can help you choose between the best service for your unique needs. If you want to learn more about it, then it’s best to start with blockchain courses from our academy right now!

*Disclaimer: The article should not be taken as, and is not intended to provide any investment advice. Claims made in this article do not constitute investment advice and should not be taken as such. 101 Blockchains shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person who relies on this article. Do your own research!