A Decision Model for the Implementation of Blockchain Solutions

Abstract

Blockchain technology is said to have a tremendous impact on business and society. As blockchain is currently on top of the famous Gartner’s hype cycle, many organizations are beginning to experiment with the technology. However, the majority of these projects fail or are abandoned. Existing decision models that could help to counteract this problem lack important aspects. Therefore, we provide a comprehensive decision model for the implementation of blockchain solutions. Our decision model highlights prerequisites, business and technical considerations, and discusses design decisions of blockchain solutions. Besides the advantages, we show that blockchain technology has limitations that may restrict its application such as a lack of standards. Scholars can apply the decision model for future research, while practitioners can use it to assess and design a potential blockchain implementation.