Microsoft recently introduced Enterprise Smart Contracts to make it easier for enterprises to build powerful blockchain applications.
Two years back, the company launched Azure “Blockchain-as-a-Service.” The goal was to give developers an environment to build useful apps using blockchain.
Blockchain is a technology that stores bitcoin or other cryptocurrency transactions and acts as a digital ledger. It interests the banking and finance sectors, who can use it for secure and private transactions.
Since the launch of Blockchain as a service, Microsoft was trying to understand what else customers needed to build applications.
In a blog, Marley Gray, Principal Program Manager, Azure Blockchain Engineering said, “Our customers and partners often say to us – Ok, you’ve made it easy for me to stand up these blockchain networks, but what do I do now?”
With Enterprise Smart Contract, Microsoft aims to help enterprises analyze what to build on top of blockchain platform.
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The framework provides the tools and infrastructure required to build on the given platform. Through this, enterprises can make use of the existing investment on enterprise development skills.
The Enterprise Smart Contract framework includes four important components. (See the graphic below)
Image Credit: Microsoft
The framework’s ability to execute terms and conditions off-chain is one of the distinguishing feature, per Microsoft.
It gives it improved flexibility, scalability, privacy and an architecture and development environment that is enterprise friendly.
The logics can be kept private within the framework. The results can be encrypted before being posted on the ledger for improved privacy.
The Enterprise Smart Contract will be an added privacy and trust model, above the blockchain platform.
Image Credit: Microsoft
Microsoft also launched a technical whitepaper for those seeking in-depth information.
The company launched Project Bletchley last year as an additional layer to its Blockchain-as-a-Service.
Microsoft believes that such innovations will help enterprises unlock the power of blockchain-based applications, with the flexibility of cloud.
