Decentralized Business Process Control using Blockchain

Abstract

Many applications supported by blockchain technology are emerging in the industry. Blockchain can be used to enforce the correctness of business process execution and, consequently, increasing the trust among the stakeholders involved in complex business processes. Since few experiences in the area have been reported, more are needed to better understand the benefits and pitfalls of blockchain-based solutions for decentralized business process control. This paper is an experience report of two projects that enforce decentralized business process control using blockchain - a food supply chain and a car registration - using a Design Science Research Methodology approach. Each application follows a different business process design - DEMO and BPMN - leading to different implementations based on Hyperledger Fabric. The major lessons learned are related to the appropriateness of DEMO and BPMN as business process modelling languages in the context of blockchain applications.