Tag: blockchain

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Forbes: Microsoft partners with startup Truffle on blockchain developer tools for Azure Cloud Service

Microsoft announced today that it is integrating tools built by the blockchain startup Truffle into its Azure cloud computing service to help developers build and manage enterprise blockchain applications.

Truffle tools have been available on Microsoft Azure since May 2, and according to the company have been used by thousands of people on the platform so far.

“We really believe in the power of blockchain. This is not some arbitrary thing that we’re going to do because customers are forcing us,” says Marc Mercuri, principal program manager at Azure Blockchain Engineering.

Truffle, one of the earliest projects at the Brooklyn-based Ethereum incubator ConsenSys, started out making tools for developers to help them build applications on Ethereum at a time when blockchain developer work required an extremely specialized set of skills.

“We wanted to open that up and make access to the blockchain more available to a large swath developers,” says Truffle founder and CEO Tim Coulter. Truffle officially spun off from ConsenSys this year and in May received a $3 million injection of capital from the organization to support enterprise expansion.

Truffle is also integrated with Quorum, the open-source enterprise blockchain used by JPMorgan for its newly launched JPMCoin, and AxCore, a blockchain built by Axoni that is currently being used by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation.

Truffle tools have been downloaded more than 2.7 million times, and the new integration with Microsoft means that Azure customers, which include major companies like Adobe, HP, and the International Hotels Group as well as legions of smaller projects, will be able to build on public or private Ethereum blockchains with support from Microsoft.

“What we’re doing with this partnership is extremely exciting, because it it opens up all of those developers to Truffle and it opens Truffle up to all of the services that Microsoft provides,” Coulter says.

One of Azure and Truffle’s newly integrated services, an extension to Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code, helps developers create smart contracts and test them locally before deploying them. Another new service is designed to help teams monitor the performance of blockchain apps in real time.

Of course, Azure is not the only web services platform to embrace blockchain in recent months. Amazon Web Services offers its own blockchain services and has partnered with Kaleido, another ConsenSys project, on a marketplace for blockchain tools for businesses. Oracle also has its own enterprise blockchain platform, and Salesforce introduced its iteration of a blockchain developer tool last month.

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J.P. Morgan and Microsoft announce strategic partnership to drive enterprise adoption of Quorum

Quorum, an enterprise-variant of the Ethereum blockchain, to be powered by Microsoft Azure

NEW YORK and REDMOND, Wash. — May 2, 2019 — J.P. Morgan and Microsoft Corp. on Thursday announced they have signed a memorandum of understanding to form a strategic partnership to accelerate the adoption of enterprise blockchain. Through this partnership, Quorum, developed by J.P. Morgan, will become the first distributed ledger platform available through Azure Blockchain Service, enabling J.P. Morgan and Microsoft customers to build and scale blockchain networks in the cloud.

“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,” said Umar Farooq, global head of Blockchain, J.P. Morgan. “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.”

J.P. Morgan logoThe partnership with Azure will further strengthen Quorum as a fully integrated, Ethereum-based blockchain platform and suite of applications. Together, the platform will enable enterprise businesses across all industries to shift their focus from infrastructure management to application development, ultimately driving transformative business value. Customers will be able to rapidly grow their networks while benefitting from lower costs, simplified deployment and built-in governance enabled through Azure Blockchain Service.

Going forward, J.P. Morgan and Microsoft will continue to work together to address common enterprise, independent software vendor, and developer needs for building and deploying blockchain applications on Quorum in the cloud. Microsoft will also provide engineering, consulting and go-to-market support for Quorum.

“As digital transformation extends beyond the walls of an individual organization, companies need solutions that enable them to securely share their business processes and data in order to drive imaginative new business models and reinvent industries. We’re thrilled to partner with a leader like J.P. Morgan to establish a foundation on which enterprises and partners can rapidly build and scale blockchain networks,” said Peggy Johnson, executive vice president of Business Development, Microsoft. “Together, we’re taking a truly transformative technology like Quorum and making it available through the Azure platform to accelerate innovation for our customers.”

In addition to providing a platform for Quorum customers to build blockchain networks and applications, Quorum will continue to power J.P. Morgan and Microsoft blockchain programs and first-party apps, such as the Interbank Information Network, JPM Coin and Microsoft’s Xbox royalty payment process, among others.

More information can be found at https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/solutions/blockchain/.

About J.P. Morgan’s Corporate & Investment Bank

J.P. Morgan’s Corporate & Investment Bank is a global leader across banking, markets and investor services. The world’s most important corporations, governments and institutions entrust us with their business in more than 100 countries. With $24 trillion of assets under custody and $444 billion in deposits, the Corporate & Investment Bank provides strategic advice, raises capital, manages risk and extends liquidity in markets around the world. Further information about J.P. Morgan is available at www.jpmorgan.com.

About Quorum

Quorum, led by Oliver Harris, offers an enterprise ready version of Ethereum for businesses that need a secure, reliable, and open-sourced blockchain solution. Quorum is designed to make adopting blockchain a seamless process. For more information, visit https://goquorum.com

About Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

For more information, press only:

Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications for Microsoft, (425) 638-7777, [email protected]

Jessica Francisco, J.P. Morgan, (212) 270-1719, [email protected]

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://news.microsoft.com. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-public-relations-contacts.