The world demands data. It is used to steer today's challenges such as globalization, urbanization, immigration, climate change and the demand for increasing personalization. Governments use data to decide on policies, doctors use it to prescribe medicines, marketers use it to personalize offerings and athletes use it to decide when to eat and sleep. Data is the economic fuel of the next century. The need for effective data management technologies is therefore unparalleled and will continue to grow in the decades to come. Distributed ledger technologies, of which the best known example is blockchain, is one of the data management technologies that will enable a secure and interconnected world.

In the past, though, organizations tried to use blockchain in unsuitable applications and underestimated the barriers to its implementation. Delayed blockchain projects and cryptocurrency price slumps became symptoms of a new sense of caution.

To overcome this gridlock, we must begin to look at blockchain simply as a form of database technology and not as some miraculous invention that can solve any problem an organization may face.

Roland Berger and the FIR at RWTH Aachen University have therefore jointly developed a five-step approach to help harness blockchain's potential while avoiding the common pitfalls and managing the implementation hurdles on the way.

• In the first step you have to define what you and your partners actually require from your data management system. Based on a simple framework you can then decide whether to apply blockchain or divert to another data management technology.
• After deciding to go forward with blockchain, you need to identify the most suitable settings for your blockchain. Questions to consider include: what kind of data is stored, who has access to the data and how is consensus ensured?
• Besides doing the technological groundwork, you must also adapt your organization and its processes to cope with the opportunities and challenges of a blockchain project.
• A blockchain project is not an end in itself. After figuring out all the technological and organizational foundations, in other words the costs of the project, you should go back to the calculator and reevaluate the business case.
• Only when you reach the last step do you actually begin to build your blockchain, starting with a proof of concept and ending up with a distributed data management system between you and your fellow partners.

During the blockchain journey, you will repeatedly face implementation hurdles. It is important to understand that such challenges are not unique – they are a normal part of any blockchain project. There is no need for discouragement. Our guide aims to help you overcome these hurdles more quickly and easily.