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Runtime verification for business processes utilizing the Bitcoin blockchain

Published: 01 June 2020 Publication History

Abstract

The usage of process choreographies and decentralized Business Process Management Systems has been named as an alternative to centralized business process orchestration. In choreographies, control over a process instance is shared between independent parties, and no party has full control or knowledge during process runtime. Nevertheless, it is necessary to monitor and verify process instances during runtime for purposes of documentation, accounting, or compensation.
To achieve business process runtime verification, this work explores the suitability of the Bitcoin blockchain to create a novel solution for choreographies. The resulting approach is realized in a fully-functional software prototype. This software solution is evaluated in a qualitative comparison. Findings show that our blockchain-based approach enables a seamless execution monitoring and verification of choreographies, while at the same time preserving anonymity and independence of the process participants. Furthermore, the prototype is evaluated in a performance analysis.

Highlights

Usage of the (Bitcoin) blockchain to establish trust in processes.
Development of a blockchain-based runtime verification approach.
Evaluation of the prototype in a qualitative comparison and a performance analysis.

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    Information & Contributors

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    Published In

    cover image Future Generation Computer Systems
    Future Generation Computer Systems  Volume 107, Issue C
    Jun 2020
    1155 pages

    Publisher

    Elsevier Science Publishers B. V.

    Netherlands

    Publication History

    Published: 01 June 2020

    Author Tags

    1. Choreographies
    2. Blockchain
    3. Business process management
    4. Runtime verification

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