Amazon Web Services (AWS) has released Amazon Managed Blockchain, a service that it first announced last November.

Amazon Managed Blockchain is a fully managed Hyperledger Fabric service and will be followed later this year by a managed Ethereum service. It is designed to help companies quickly set up blockchain networks of their own that are scalable and easy to create and manage.

AWS says that the new service removes the burden for customers of provisioning hardware, installing software, managing certificates for access control, and configuring network settings.

The release means that AWS has joined IBM in offering a managed Hyperledger-based blockchain service. The IBM blockchain platform provides a managed offering delivered either on IBM Cloud itself or third-party clouds, which include AWS.

Since being announced six months ago, Amazon Managed Blockchain has been in preview and is now generally available, arriving first in the US state of northern Virginia before expanding to other regions over the course of the next year.

Blockchain benefits

According to AWS: “For customers in businesses like finance, logistics, retail, and energy that need to perform transactions quickly across multiple entities, blockchain gives them the ability to execute contracts and share data, with an immutable record of the transactions, but without the need for a trusted, central authority.”

It adds that Hyperledger Fabric suits applications that require stringent privacy and permission controls with a known set of members, while Ethereum is suited for highly distributed networks where transparency for all members is key.

According to a report by Computer Business Review, AWS put forward US telecommunications multinational AT&T, food and beverage giant Nestlé and market infrastructure provider Singapore Exchange Limited as early adopters of the new service.

Nestlé has begun to release information on its supply chains for its 15 key commodities; using blockchain technology enables more precise tracking, said Armin Nehzat, digital technology manager for Nestlé Oceania.

“With Amazon Managed Blockchain, we are able to set up our Hyperledger Fabric network and easily invite our partners to collaborate in our supply chain transparency efforts. (It) will enable our customers to track their products on the blockchain from the farm all the way through to consumption.”

Nestlé has not said how widely it is using the service, but the company has been testing blockchain technology on specific products and recently announced that it was putting its Mousline instant mashed potato brand on IBM’s blockchain.

Computer Business Review comments that many companies are not yet convinced that blockchain lives up to its publicity. “It is clear that while cloud providers like AWS are aiming to get ahead of the curve and make sure the portfolio of managed offerings are as substantial as possible, enterprises are largely still dipping their toes in and assessing business value,” it notes.