David Abouhaidar (Secure Agility)
Sydney-based security provider, Secure Agility has made a play in blockchain technology through establishing a partnership with Block8.
Block8 specialises in building blockchain applications, usually in the form of blockchain companies.
The start-up was incorporated two years ago through its four founders including CEO, Tim Bass, Alan Burt (chairperson); Kim Bartlett (COO) and Phil Vadala (CIO), before expanding to 32 people across two offices.
“We’re continuing to grow very quickly,” Bass said. “Our approach is to partner with subject matter experts.
"We bring that expertise in-house, building a business around this idea and we use blockchain technology to take it to market. We do a small portfolio of projects - about five to seven on an annual basis."
Secure Agility CEO, David Abouhaidar, said the provider sees blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) as an important security pillar in data and value transfer for enterprise and government that will be adopted over the next decade.
“The capability that Block8 has assembled is without doubt the best in country," Abouhaidar said. "Combined with the capabilities Secure Agility and SlicedTech possess in infrastructure and cyber security, we will be the best partner for projects in this space."
Meanwhile, Secure Agility technology director, Charlie Tannous, acknowledged a gap in the software offerings of the provider, with the new technology standing up against internal data analytics and engineering capabilities.
Having Block8 on board, according to Tannous, helps provides a dedicated team.
"It allows us to have an end-to-end discussion with the customer and deliver the total package in providing visibility and control, and this partnership allows us to do that,” he said.
The two companies are currently engaged in a project with financial services start-up Australian Mortgage Marketplace.
"We’re using DLT based on Corda, to build them a next generation mortgage lending platform,” Bass explained.
“We’re working with Secure Agility to support that infrastructure, using Amazon Web Services (AWS), so it’s more robust and scalable, and we’re also looking at number of other opportunities inside the customer’s environment."
Bass pointed out the endless opportunities in the market for blockchain and DLT technologies, stressing the importance of making the distinction between the two technologies, in addition to crypto currency.
“We’ve got a number of new projects coming through the pipeline in Sydney, and we’re hiring one new person almost every month,” Bass said.
“The opportunities are everywhere and CIOs are having discussions about what this can do for their businesses. I’m seeing a much more sophisticated customer come through our door. Blockchain technologies, distributed ledgers, are a lot more sophisticated than crypto currency.
"We can use the right technology for the right jobs, and in this current landscape, DLT has the most universal use case in traditional companies, so it’s always important to make that distinction."
