Open Blockchains Aren’t Secure Enough for Enterprises, Says Salesforce Exec

Salesforce’s SVP for emerging technology, Adam Caplan, says that is difficult for enterprises to place trust in public blockchains as they do not offer any access and governance controls.

During the online Consensus: Distributed conference, Caplan said that it’s crucial for enterprises to be able to exercise some control in a blockchain system, which is only possible in permissioned blockchains. 

He added that, while business may want to bring value to their end consumers through blockchain, security concerns may be enough to dissuade them from adopting the technology.

An open internet doesn’t fit the needs of enterprises

During the conference, Caplan spoke with Dominic Williams, founder of DFINITY Foundation, a non-profit organization building a new internet protocol for an open internet. 

Caplan’s statement about the lack of credibility of open blockchains for enterprises came as a response to Williams’ idea of creating an open internet, which, he said, will attract enterprises to build new systems on the blockchain.

It’s not that enterprises want to build secret networks of their own, but they want to be able to control and govern activities on the network, Caplan elaborated.

Salesforce is the world’s largest customer relationship management platform and it has been highly active in the blockchain and digital asset space. 

In May 2019, Salesforce announced its Hyperledger-based blockchain platform to help enterprises build smart contracts, apps and networks for data sharing. The likes of S&P Global, Arizona State University, and Lamborghini were reported to be using the Salesforce Blockchain platform.