Patent Application
20220129852
Business processes today may be conducted across different entities (e.g., companies or business organizations) that join forces to work on common goals and responsibilities. Individual corporate interests and different regulations and structures may make the orchestration of such cross-company collaboration processes difficult, when can help generate a demand for clear and transparent understanding about how to collaborate e.g., which tasks must be performed, terms and conditions, deadlines, etc.). Entities may also want to document an entire collaboration into a shared and undeniable audit trail (that every entity can always trust and leverage) which could automatically trigger internal processes, actions, events, payments, etc. based on such secured and trustworthy interactions as part of a cross-company collaboration process. Also note that collaborations between different entities may be subject to frequent evolution, which cannot be easily captured at the beginning of the process. Being able to flexibility adapt to those changes (adding new organizations, creating new tasks, arranging for follow-up tasks or events, etc.) in a cross-entity collaboration process can be a time consuming and error-prone process, especially when a substantial number of entities are involved.
It would therefore be desirable to automatically provide for cross-entity collaboration using a secure, distributed transaction ledger in an efficient and accurate manner.
According to some embodiments, methods and systems may provide for cross-entity collaboration using a secure, distributed transaction ledger. A system may include a collaboration scenario template data store that contains electronic records providing entity identifiers and a set of task templates. A computer processor of a cross-entity process collaboration platform, coupled to the collaboration scenario template data store, may access information in the collaboration scenario template data store. The cross-entity process collaboration platform may then automatically create a collaboration scenario based on the entity identifiers and the set of task templates. The collaboration scenario may then be deployed by the cross-entity process collaboration platform to the secure, distributed transaction ledger.
Some embodiments comprise: means for accessing information in a collaboration scenario template data store, the collaboration scenario template data store containing electronic records that provide entity identifiers and a set of task templates; means for automatically creating, by a computer processor a cross-entity process collaboration platform, a collaboration scenario based on the entity identifiers and the set of task templates; and means for deploying the collaboration scenario via a secure, distributed transaction ledger.
Some technical advantages of some embodiments disclosed herein are improved systems and methods that provide for cross-entity collaboration using a secure, distributed transaction ledger in an efficient and accurate manner.
In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the embodiments.
One or more specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below. In an effort to provide a concise description of these embodiments, all features of an actual implementation may not be described in the specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure.
According to some embodiments, devices, including those associated with the system 100 and any other device described herein, may exchange information via any communication network which may be one or more of a Local Area Network (“LAN”), a Metropolitan Area Network (“MAN”), a Wide Area Network (“WAN”), a proprietary network, a Public Switched Telephone Network (“PSTN”), a Wireless Application Protocol (“WAP”) network, a Bluetooth network, a wireless LAN network, and/or an Internet Protocol (“IP”) network such as the Internet, an intranet, or an extranet. Note that any devices described herein may communicate via one or more such communication networks.
The elements of the system 100 may store information into and/or retrieve information from various data stores (e.g., the collaboration scenario template data store 110), which may be locally stored or reside remote from the cross-entity process collaboration platform 150. Although a single cross-entity process collaboration platform 150 is shown in
A user (e.g., an operator or administrator) may access the system 100 via a remote device (e.g., a Personal Computer (“PC”), tablet, or smartphone) to view information about and/or manage operational information in accordance with any of the embodiments described herein. In some cases, an interactive graphical user interface display may let an operator or administrator define and/or adjust certain parameters (e.g., to setup company relationships) and/or provide or receive automatically generated recommendations or results from the system 100.
At S210, a cross-entity process collaboration platform may access information in a collaboration scenario template data store (e.g., a database) that contains electronic and/or encrypted records providing entity identifiers (e.g., each being associated with an object such as a company, a business, a supplier, a buyer, a manufacturer, a distributer, an enterprise, etc.) and a set of task templates (e.g., with each risk template being a pattern or workflow that is associated with a task or process). According to some embodiments, the electronic records further include a collaboration scenario description (e.g., describing the purpose of the collaboration). Moreover, each task template may include a task or process identifier, a task or process description, a due date, a receiver identifier, a context attribute, etc.
At S220, the cross-entity process collaboration platform may automatically create a collaboration scenario (or “object state”) based on the entity identifiers and the set of task templates (e.g., after decrypting the information in the database). At S230, the system may deploy the collaboration scenario by transmitting it to a secure, distributed transaction ledger (e.g., associated with blockchain technology). In some embodiments, the information may be encrypted before being deployed via blockchain. Multiple entities can then use the collaboration scenario to work together and perform a collaborative task. As will be described, some embodiments may further include a user experience interface and/or an audit trail interface.
Note that some embodiments described herein may provide a benefit of leveraging a blockchain to orchestrate cross-company business processes. Because blockchain is a reliable, difficult-to-hack record of transactions, based on distributed ledger technology, it can securely record information across a peer-to-peer network. A distributed ledger is a database of transactions that is shared and synchronized across multiple computers and locations—without centralized control. Each party owns an identical copy of the records, which is automatically updated as soon as any additions are made resulting in a collection of “blocks” recorded in a chronological “chain” that cannot be altered, i.e. in a tamper-proof and irrevocable manner.
Leveraging blockchain to build a multi-tiered network of organizations collaborating on a common goal or responsibility can speed up collaboration in multi-party scenarios—and allow for faster transactions that aren't limited by office hours. As information in blockchains is viewable by all participants and cannot be altered, it reduces risk and fraud and creates trust between entities.
Some embodiments may bring a structure for collaborative activities across multiple organizations. A cross-company collaboration process may, for example, take place when corporate bodies or offices from different organizations (supplier, manufacturer, engineer, etc.) join forces to work on a common goal, project, or responsibility. Although every organization will represent individual corporate interests, these collaborative activities (as well as their common goals or responsibilities and the consequences regarding their fulfilment) should be clear and transparent to everyone involved.
Storing cross-company collaboration scenario templates 350 via blockchain 3440 may make it easier to get the companies 310, 320, 330 to be part of a multi-tiered blockchain network to trust and verify what happened in collaboration scenarios based on such templates (as they refer to the same single point of truth). As the cross-company collaboration process progresses, every collaborative task that an organization completes may be stored on the blockchain as well (as part of the actual situation of the collaboration process) resulting in the audit trail (e.g., a trustworthy and undeniable end-to-end documentation of the cross-company interactions that span across the multi-tiered network of process participants).
Having the target situation stored on the collaboration template and the actual one stored on the audit trail, it is easy for all involved organizations to verify the completion of activities according to the agreed deadline and any required cross-company confirmations. Defining such collaborative activities in this way may increase the visibility and transparency of the whole collaboration process, creating a single point of truth that everyone can leverage to verify the completion of activities and their cross-company confirmations and, based on this, automatically trigger internal specific follow-up activities (e.g., payment, shipment, follow-up tasks, etc.).
In this way, embodiments may provide a new blockchain-secured cross-company workflow collaboration service on a cloud platform. Some embodiments utilize a business integration service leveraging blockchain to provide organizations with:
Such a blockchain-based service may establish a bridge between collaborating organizations to orchestrate different internal processes involved on one side and provide flexibility when adapting collaboration scenarios to accommodate changing conditions on the other side.
Some embodiments may maintain collaboration scenario templates and an audit trail. For example, as part of a cloud service embodiments may provide a user experience application that lets collaborating organizations work as part of a multi-tiered blockchain network to easily maintain cross-company collaboration templates. Also, the adaptation of such templates may allow for future process changes (e.g., new members, contexts, task templates, confirmation requests, etc.). To give each party involved in a collaboration necessary transparency, every change on the collaboration template may also be protocoled to the blockchain.
One target group of collaborators are customers who already use a cloud platform workflow for business processes but need cross-company workflow capabilities to extend their scenarios. For example, embodiments may complement an intelligent Business Process Management (“BPM”) strategy enabling business process experts with a flexible and easy-to-adapt integration of cross-company collaborative tasks in complex processes. For example,
Note that the embodiments described herein may be implemented using any number of different hardware configurations. For example,
The processor 1110 also communicates with a storage device 1130. The storage device 1130 can be implemented as a single database or the different components of the storage device 1130 can be distributed using multiple databases (that is, different deployment information storage options are possible). The storage device 1130 may comprise any appropriate information storage device, including combinations of magnetic storage devices (e.g., a hard disk drive), optical storage devices, mobile telephones, and/or semiconductor memory devices. The storage device 1130 stores a program 1112 and/or cross-entity collaboration engine 1114 for controlling the processor 1110. The processor 1110 performs instructions of the programs 1112, 1114, and thereby operates in accordance with any of the embodiments described herein. For example, the processor 1110 may access information in a collaboration scenario template data store. The processor 1110 may then automatically create a collaboration scenario based on entity identifiers and a set of task templates. The collaboration scenario may then be deployed by the processor 1110 to a secure, distributed transaction ledger.
The programs 1112, 1114 may be stored in a compressed, uncompiled and/or encrypted format. The programs 1112, 1114 may furthermore include other program elements, such as an operating system, clipboard application, a database management system, and/or device drivers used by the processor 1110 to interface with peripheral devices.
As used herein, information may be “received” by or “transmitted” to, for example: (i) the platform 1100 from another device; or (ii) a software application or module within the platform 1100 from another software application, module, or any other source.
In some embodiments (such as the one shown in
Referring to
The smart contact identifier 1202 identifier 1202 might be a unique alphanumeric label or link that is associated with a particular collaboration scenario that utilizes blockchain in accordance with any of the embodiments described herein. The description 1204 may describe and/or define the collaboration. The entity identifiers 1206 might comprise the set of companies who will participate in the collaboration. The tasks 1208 might be associated with a set or sequence of tasks to be performed during the collaboration. The status 1210 might indicate that the collaboration is complete, pending, a task is confirmed or rejected, etc.
In this way, embodiments may provide for cross-entity collaboration using a secure, distributed transaction ledger in an efficient and accurate manner. According to some embodiments, an increase in business may be provided (e.g., because of increase collaborations) along with a reduced time to implement changes to business processes (that is, intelligent collaborations may be deployed and used more quickly).
The following illustrates various additional embodiments of the invention. These do not constitute a definition of all possible embodiments, and those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention is applicable to many other embodiments. Further, although the following embodiments are briefly described for clarity, those skilled in the art will understand how to make any changes, if necessary, to the above-described apparatus and methods to accommodate these and other embodiments and applications.
Although specific hardware and data configurations have been described herein, note that any number of other configurations may be provided in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention (e.g., some of the information associated with the databases described herein may be combined or stored in external systems). Moreover, although some embodiments are focused on particular types of blockchain transactions, any of the embodiments described herein could be applied to other types of business functions. Moreover, the displays shown herein are provided only as examples, and any other type of user interface could be implemented. For example,
The present invention has been described in terms of several embodiments solely for the purpose of illustration. Persons skilled in the art will recognize from this description that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described, but may be practiced with modifications and alterations limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
