Blockchain for Business: IT Principles into Practice

This book discusses the up-and-coming blockchain technology in a structured way from the conceptual, technological, and business perspectives, thereby providing the integrated insight that is essential for truly understanding blockchain applications and their impact. While most people may know about blockchain from Bitcoin and news about its price in the financial markets, blockchain is a technology that increasingly permeates the way in which modern businesses operate. However, its dynamics and functioning remain obscure for most people. This book gives readers the tools to understand the full extent to which blockchain technology is or can be used in business. First, the book focuses on the functioning of blockchain systems, introducing basic concepts such as transactions, consensus mechanisms, and smart contracts, as well as giving a smooth introduction to the basic features of cryptography that underpin blockchain technology, e.g., digital signatures and hashing. Then, the book focuses on specific blockchain platforms (Bitcoin, Ethereum, private blockchain platforms) currently used for the implementation of cryptocurrencies and other blockchain systems. Finally, it introduces a set of tools to understand and analyze the suitability of blockchain technology in different business scenarios from the business model, and business operation perspectives. Examples and case studies of blockchain applications currently in production are discussed extensively across the book. This book targets students and educators with an interest in blockchain technology providing a one-stop shop to obtain a deep and complete insight in blockchain technology and its applicability in different business scenarios. The textbook is designed primarily for third and fourth year undergraduate students in industrial engineering, business and management, and information systems. However, it can be adopted also in the computer science majors, since it does not strictly require any specific pre-requisite knowledge. At the graduate level, this book can be used in courses for industrial engineering, information systems, and management students. Finally, the book is also of interest to practitioners, like business analysts, process analysts, and information system architects, to understand the enabling and transformative potential of blockchain in a given business scenario.