R3, an enterprise software firm leading a blockchain consortium of major global financial institutions, has announced the launch of a commercial version of its Corda blockchain platform.

“Corda Enterprise” has been specifically optimised to meet the demands of modern day businesses. With its launch, companies would be able to select the version of Corda that is best suited to their needs.

“Traditional permissionless blockchain platforms, in which all data is shared with all parties, have issues around privacy, scalability and interoperability that render them largely unsuited for global business. This is the problem Corda was designed to solve and it is gaining adoption at a rapid pace across a range of industries. However many enterprises – especially larger ones – face unique technical constraints,” Richard Gendal Brown, CTO at R3, said. “Corda Enterprise fine tunes Corda for these firms so that they can adopt blockchain technology in a way that is straightforward and natural. The launch of the platform is a watershed moment for business blockchain technology.”

According to the official release, Corda and Corda Enterprise are fully interoperable, which means that not only companies using either can trade with each other, but also organizations would be able to run both platforms seamlessly across different divisions.

Also, to ensure data security needs, the platform includes the world’s only Blockchain Application Firewall. With this, the platform, when deployed inside corporate data centres, would be able to retain its ability to communicate securely with other nodes anywhere else in the world.

Additional features include support for Oracle and SQL Server databases; cross-distribution and cross-version wire compatibility; and optimisation for real-world corporate IT environments including 24/7 support, predictable release schedules, governance, performance and availability monitoring, enhanced security, high-availability, disaster-recovery and high-performance modes.

The applications developed by partners such as Finastra, Gemalto, Guardtime, GuildOne, TradeIX and Tradewind Markets are now live on both Corda Enterprise and Corda, serving end users in various sectors such as insurance, healthcare, shipping and financial services.