Blockchain (Part 1): What is a blockchain and why should you care?

Spend Matters begins a series of investigations into how blockchain technology can be used in the procurement process. Blockchain has the potential to be extremely useful to companies during the entire source-to-pay process if applied in the right way, from preventing risk in invoices, POs and contracts to tracking products in the supply chain. Three increasingly important themes that have emerged in supply chain networks are sustainability, risk prevention and agility. In this series of four articles, we’ll explore current and theoretical use cases of blockchain technology, some of the challenges related to its implementation and the risks/concerns it raises.

In the first part of the series, Spend Matters analysts detail exactly how a blockchain works, the benefits its adherents believe it brings and the high-level vision of how it may impact the source-to-pay process.