One of blockchain's biggest competitors is the cloud. However, as blockchain continues to establish itself as a secure and transparent platform, the decentralized ledger technology may outpace cloud networks, according to the Network World.
"The entire cloud computing industry will be disrupted by blockchain technology in just a few short years," a spokesperson for BlockApps, a provider of blockchain technology, told Network World.
Blockchain networks cannot be altered and are accessible to all parties on the decentralized ledger. The technology aims to store transactions forever while only adding to the data, never altering it. Experts say this creates a trustworthy system.
Additionally, storing information on a blockchain means it is all together. There is no need to put some data in one storage platform and other in a different node. This also ensures that data sets are not duplicated, ultimately improving efficiencies, Network World reports.
Network World suggests that beyond cloud platforms, "blockchain-based file storage will more be more secure, will make it harder to lose data, and will be cheaper than anything seen before."