Invented by Luis Angel D. Bathen, Gabor Madl, Ramani R. Routray, Mu Qiao, International Business Machines Corp
The Market For Decentralized Change Management Based on Peer Devices Using the Blockchain
The Decentralized Change Management market, powered by peer devices on the blockchain, has seen steady growth. This emerging space offers numerous attractive benefits for both businesses and users alike.
When deciding whether to centralize or decentralize a business, several factors come into play, such as the long-term objectives and industry in which it operates. Furthermore, some firms may opt for a centralized structure due to increased job security for employees.
Cost-effectiveness
Decentralized Change Management, powered by peer devices using blockchain technology, has multiple companies providing solutions to ensure secure, dependable and cost-effective business operations. Enterprises are increasingly turning towards this technology due to its secure records of transactions that cannot be altered or falsified. At its core, blockchain acts as a decentralized database storing an immutable record of all past business dealings.
Blockchain technology has applications across numerous industries, such as healthcare, financial services, logistics and document management. Furthermore, it helps secure and control data flow between entities. While many businesses currently utilize this revolutionary new tool for operational purposes, not all have been successful.
Many organizations who switch to a decentralized structure often experience duplication of services, such as accounting and computer support. This can lead to increased costs and waste.
Particularly when an organization has multiple branches and departments that offer distinct services, a separate accounting department may be necessary for each location due to different business needs.
Similar, hospitals might need separate computer support teams for each department. While this adds cost, the advantages of more efficient processes may outweigh this additional expenditure.
One way to address this problem is by developing a single corporate strategy that guides all employees’ work. Establishing clear guidelines, objectives and key performance indicators will enable your staff to remain focused on what matters most to the business while avoiding unnecessary distractions.
Another approach is to identify change champions within units that will be affected by the changes. These individuals can serve as ambassadors for the organization and assist their teams in preparing for these adjustments.
Organizations must be prepared to deal with unexpected circumstances and emergencies that could stall progress in a centralized system. A decentralized structure enables teams to be agile during such times so they can make decisions quickly.
Flexibility
Decentralized Change Management using peer devices on the blockchain offers numerous flexibility benefits that businesses and their managers can enjoy, such as increased productivity and faster decision-making.
Traditional organizations often require leadership to wait for approval before making changes, while decentralized structures allow managers to make alterations when needed, increasing productivity and enabling businesses to respond rapidly to emerging market opportunities or unexpected issues.
For example, a restaurant may want to open up a second location in another state. By decentralizing the organization, this new location can operate as its own entity and respond more rapidly to local preferences for products.
Decentralized organizations enable managers to hold their teams accountable and focused on the company’s objectives. This enables them to make more informed decisions, avoid becoming overwhelmed with work or overstressing employees, and stay committed to the company’s success.
Another advantage of decentralized organizations is they typically require less employee training than centralized ones do. This can be especially advantageous for growing businesses, as managers have the freedom to take a more hands-on approach in helping their teams develop and become better suited for specific regional needs.
Managers can make changes more quickly when they’re free from administrative duties. This is especially useful for small companies with a lot of tasks to finish, like ordering supplies or hiring new personnel.
Finally, decentralized organizations tend to remain self-sufficient when business owners or top management must leave for an extended period. This is because team members and managers are used to working independently.
To guarantee successful implementation of decentralized change management, you need to create a common strategy for all department managers and employees. This should include guidelines, goals and key performance indicators they can follow. Having this plan in place will enable them to make informed decisions about which tasks should be prioritized and which can wait. It also allows them to check whether their efforts are meeting the company’s objectives or not.
Transparency
Transparency is essential in any organization. It helps people stay informed about what’s going on within a business and how their own actions impact it. Furthermore, transparency demonstrates an organization’s willingness to adapt and share information.
Decentralized Change Management with peer devices using blockchain technology can bring more transparency to your organization. It allows you to create and maintain a trustless ledger that records transactions securely, which can assist in managing your business more efficiently, especially if operating in volatile conditions.
You can use it to monitor your employees and their work, which is especially useful if working with contractors who may not always be honest with their employers. This becomes especially relevant when searching for new talent or expanding your company.
Decentralized Change Management with peer devices can be an ideal solution for businesses that have multiple locations or different areas of focus, as it empowers each manager to make decisions independently without waiting for approval. This helps minimize delays during the process of making important adjustments and guarantees everyone makes the best choices for the organization as a whole.
Another advantage of decentralized change management is its speedy response to unexpected circumstances. If one of your top managers suddenly gets sick and cannot work, this can cause a major disruption to the progress of your business. On the other hand, lower-level managers have more autonomy and authority to make key decisions and implement them immediately.
It is an effective way to save time on inefficient processes and put yourself ahead of the competition when it comes to innovation. Furthermore, making sure your clients are happy with the outcomes of your efforts will guarantee success.
Decentralizing your business means considering how you will communicate with team members and customers. This can be challenging, as they tend to be independent and have their own ideas about how things should be done. Having leaders on-site can help solve this issue by encouraging them to be open and honest in their communication with their teams.
Security
Decentralized change management is a method that utilizes smart contracts on the blockchain to track and verify changes made. This provides for traceable and immutable records of all modifications, while providing a secure environment for information sharing and collaboration without the need for centralized third parties or trusted entities.
Decentralized Change Management using peer devices on the blockchain is becoming increasingly popular across many industries due to its superior security and dependability. Furthermore, it offers numerous advantages such as speed and flexibility.
Decentralized Change Management offers the distinct advantage of being self-sustaining, capable of functioning independently in times of emergency. This means businesses can continue operating smoothly even if their owners or managers are away from the office. Furthermore, Decentralized Change Management enables organizations to scale up more easily.
Decentralized organizations offer another advantage over those with centralized structures: speedier decision-making. This is particularly advantageous in situations where swift action could mean the difference between winning and losing a customer.
Businesses who utilize a decentralized model can benefit from real-time alerts to improve situational awareness. This also enables them to better communicate their risk and response plans to senior leadership.
They can also create a playbook that IT teams across the company can refer to for consistency in handling incidents and to identify weak spots in the organization’s security posture. This helps bring transparency into how incidents are handled and helps identify opportunities for improvement.
This approach can be especially advantageous when making changes in a decentralized environment, where IT teams may not have full visibility into the status of devices and services. This poses an obstacle for businesses attempting to implement comprehensive changes such as adding a new server to their infrastructure or deleting data storage services.
Blockchain smart contracts enable the tracking of all modifications made to IT assets or services, such as software updates, hardware upgrades, data privacy compliance changes and more. They store a history of these modifications along with their results.
The International Business Machines Corp invention works as follows
A blockchain of transactions can be used for many purposes. It may later be accessed by interested parties to verify ledgers and retrieve information. One method of operation might include monitoring a computing server via multiple nodes on a blockchain. This would allow you to identify a change to the computing service and store the details in a smart agreement. The smart contract is then stored as a transaction in the Blockchain. You can then validate the proposed change.
Background for Decentralized Change Management based on peer devices using the blockchain
The blockchain can be used to store any type information. The blockchain is primarily used to facilitate financial transactions but it can also store assets such as products, packages and status. Any type of information can be securely stored in the blockchain’s immutable ledger. Any information can be stored in the immutable leadger.
Large-scale enterprise change management may require standard methods and procedures to manage all changes. This is to minimize the impact on change-related incidents and optimize day-today operations. Large data centers often have complex IT infrastructures that include hundreds of thousands of servers, network devices and uninterruptible energy sources (UPS), as well as other devices distributed around the world. Because of the large number of IT assets in a data center there are many changes that can occur inside it, including updating firmware or patching an operating systems. These changes can have an effect on different operations within a data center. A?change’ that was previously made to a data center can cause 80% of outages. The source of these errors is being investigated by 80% of the mean time-to-repairs (MTTR). Another example is that enterprises are increasingly deploying cloud-based applications and services due to its flexibility and elasticity. Multiple players may be involved in a single cloud service. One cloud service may include multiple players. For example, provider A can manage a running application, while B manages the storage and compute components. C manages the network component, and D manages the backup and disaster recovery services. It is possible that the change made to one IT device is not known by others, or should only have been done after all other changes have been completed. The change could also not have been authorized and may be thrown out of the change management process.
One example embodiment could include one or more of: monitoring a computing services via a plurality nodes operating on blockchains, identifying a proposed modification to the computing service, storing details about the proposed change in smart contracts, validating the transaction in the blockchain and identifying the source of the change in smart contracts.
An apparatus may also include a processor that can monitor a computing service using a plurality nodes on a blockchain. It will identify a proposed change and store details in a smart-contract. The smart-contract transaction is stored in the blockchain. Finally, it will validate the proposed change.
Another example embodiment could include a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions. These instructions, when executed, cause a processor monitor a computing service via multiple nodes on a blockchain. They also identify a proposed change to that computing service and store details about the change in a smart agreement. The smart contract is stored as a transaction on the blockchain. Validating the proposed smart contract change can be done using the smart contract.
It will be apparent that the components of the instant invention, as shown in the figures, can be placed in many different ways. The following description of the embodiments, including at least one, of a method and apparatus, non-transitory computing readable medium, and system, as illustrated in the attached figures is not intended limit the scope or claim, but it is representative of select embodiments.
The instant features and structures or characteristics described in this specification can be combined in any way that suits the purposes of one or more embodiments. The usage of phrases like “example embodiments”, “some embodiments”, or similar language throughout this specification indicates that an embodiment could include a specific feature, structure, or characteristic related to the embodiment. The phrases “example embodiments”, “in some embodiments?”, “in other embodiments?”, or any other similar language throughout this specification don’t necessarily refer to the same group. Furthermore, the features, structures, and characteristics described in this specification may be combined in any way that suits the needs of one or more embodiments.
In addition, the term’message’ may be used in the description of embodiments. While the term?message? may have been used to describe embodiments, the application can be applied to any type of network data such as packet, frame, or datagram. The term “message” can also be used. The term “message” can also refer to packet, frame, or datagram. While certain types of signals and messages may be shown in certain embodiments, they are not limited by a particular type of message and the application does not limit itself to that type of signaling.
The instant application refers to peer device monitoring using blockchain technology. In another embodiment, peer devices can make the best changes to requests/proposals that are monitored via blockchain transactions.
Example embodiments include: a system, device, and/or a way to decentralize change management based on smart contracts technology in a Blockchain. A graph may be used to model the targeted management objects such as cloud services and data center IT infrastructure. Based on the graph structure, you can further divide the graph into sub-graphs. Each sub-graph is assigned a set blockchain nodes to monitor. A network of blockchain nodes manages the management object. The application manages all changes in a distributed trustless manner, as opposed to traditional centralized change management. The smart contract is a change proposal that includes all parties, including the change management authority. This authority approves or disapproves the proposal. The contract outlines in detail the conditions that the change will be implemented and the steps to take. The contract is published as an transaction. After validation, the transaction is executed by mining nodes. The execution results and contracts are stored in an offchain distributed hash-table (or DHT), with references stored in the Blockchain. These references are immutable, traceable, and permanent. It is impossible to alter or alter records. The blockchain allows administrators to trace all changes and can track the origin of any problems.
The decentralization of change management can be based on smart contracts in a blockchain. This ensures that all executed changes are authorized and that the entire state is visible to the public. All change records are secure and immutable. All the history and changes made to any IT asset or service are recorded and immutable. This aids in diagnosis. A change and configuration management database (CCMDB) may be used to manage change. This database stores details about assets and their relationships as well as records and tracks any changes.
FIG. 1. illustrates a network that is segregated into subnetworks, which are managed by peer nodes using blockchain according to examples. Referring to FIG. FIG. 1 shows how the different network 100 sub-networks can be distinguished by the availability and monitoring of certain blockchain peer nosdes that are available to identify network faults and make necessary changes for optimization and implementation strategies. Sub-networks 110 to 130, 130 and 140 could be used as samples 150 of different applications 112, nodes 122, routers 133 and servers 142. These devices can be tracked and monitored by the blockchain nodes 122. Each blockchain node monitors IT assets within the sub-network. This may be done based on a subgraph of the network’s graph. The monitoring of change requests/proposals made by clients/service administrators may be done by the blockchain peer nodes.
If a change request is identified and collected, the smart contract will be created by the blockchain node. It will describe all parties involved, including the change management authority, dependent assets, the conditions for execution, and what to do. The change management authority is responsible for approving the submitted proposal. Only after the authority has approved the change, can the change be implemented. One example is that the smart contract may also include additional conditions related to dependent assets. The proposed change cannot be made until the assets have been changed.
Proposed changes include software and hardware updates such as upgrades to more recent versions, data privacy compliance changes such as adding a more stringent privacy requirement to a storage service, removing/adding services, such adding a backup service, or changing the data storage service. To determine whether the contract is in the blockchain, a check can be made. If the contract is already in the blockchain and the execution result shows success, then the change has been processed successfully and stored. A new transaction will be created with the contract if it is not. All nodes on the network are notified of new transactions. The blockchain nodes are primarily responsible for monitoring and collecting changes proposals from their sub-network. However, they can also be used to mine blocks for the blockchain. Each node records new transactions and adds them to a block. If conditions are met, the mining nodes validate the transaction and check them. The execution result is the status of the change being executed, such as?success?? or ?failure?. Once a mining node has executed and validated the contract, it broadcasts it to all other nodes. Nodes can accept the block and work together to create the next block on the blockchain. They will use the hash from the previously accepted block as their hash for creating new blocks. Nodes will continue to work on expanding the chain, as they always consider the longest chain the correct one. The blockchain can only refer to an off-chain distributed haveh-table (or DHT), which stores the actual data about the changes. The infrastructure can be monitored continuously and in real time because there are many blockchain nodes that work independently and simultaneously. Only authorized changes can be made. The public can see the entire contract status. The immutability of all stored changes prevents any malicious record tempering. Through the blockchain, all changes to any asset can be traced.
FIG. 2. This is an example flow diagram for a smart contract proposal creation and execution procedure, according to some examples. Referring to FIG. FIG. 2 shows the initial operations to monitor and propose change management for one or several network enterprise resources. Monitoring and collecting data could include the identification of items that need to be changed. These items can then be added to a file or list. 212. This information could include the device ID or asset ID, name of component, change conditions and proposed change description 214. It may also contain a list containing the devices that were affected by the change. Network name, sub-network names, and other relevant information. Upgrades, software installations, modifications to device statuses and commissioning of new devices, decommissioning devices, cloud application porting are all examples of changes.
The information could be stored in a smart-contract and recorded in the blockchain ledger as transaction. The person responsible for reviewing the changes can vote, reach consensus, or approve them 216. In this case, the contract 218 could be created and stored in the blockchain 240. The contract can be stored on the blockchain. A decision 220 could decide if it has been deemed successful 222. If so, it may be discarded or made without further modifications. The transaction 224 that has not been implemented may be created as transactions 226 into blocks to allow miners to validate it and make the necessary changes 228. If all transactions are valid, the block can be broadcast along with the results to all nodes on the blockchain 232. A consensus may be reached if all transactions have been validated 234. While the blockchain can log some parts of the smart contracts, it may also store other information, such as the results of smart contract executions, such as changes or any other processed information.
In order to manage the IT infrastructure or cloud service, it can be broken down into sub-networks. Each sub-network is assigned a set blockchain nodes. This ensures that all management efforts are monitored by a network unique to each sub-network associated with each blockchain node. A smart contract is used to create a change proposal. It includes all parties involved, the conditions that must be met, and the actions to take. The smart contract is published in the form of a transaction and is then automatically validated. The contract and execution results are stored in an offchain distributed hashtable (DHT). All changes are traceable and immutable.
One approach is to model the entire network infrastructure or data center as a graph. Each IT asset is represented as a node, and relationships (e.g. dependencies, network connections) are represented as edges. The graph can be sub-divided using graph partitioning and community detection operations such as spectral clustering. The firewalls that are installed between IT assets can help to determine how the infrastructure can split. Each sub-graph is assigned a set of blockchain nodes. The sub-graph size determines the number of nodes. There are more sub-graphs with more nodes. Each node monitors IT assets and detects any changes in sub-graphs. Distributed blockchain nodes manage the change management process.
FIG. “FIG. Referring to FIG. FIG. 3 shows the configuration 300. It includes the peer-to-peer blockchain nodes (310), the blockchain 320, and a smartcontract 330. These are created and stored in blockchain 320. Each of the 312 network divisions and sub-networks that each blockchain node monitors will be monitored during operation. The necessary and proposed changes can be identified and submitted 314 as suggestions for a smart contract 333. Smart contract 316 could be created to contain all information related to changes and entities. Based on the information provided, a new transaction could be created and placed in a smart transaction transaction 322. All nodes that are available to review the transaction may be notified by broadcast 324 with any proposed contract changes. So that the proposed contract changes can be finalized and validated, the transaction 326 may be verified. All records regarding changes, proposed changes and new proposed changes, entities, and other information, may be stored at 328 for access and recordation purposes.
FIG. 4A shows a flow diagram showing an example of how to create a change proposal in a blockchain network according to certain embodiments. Referring to FIG. Referring to FIG. 4A, the method 400 could include monitoring a computing services via a plurality or nodes on a blockchain 412 and identifying a proposed modification to the computing service 414. The smart contract 416 stores details of the proposed changes in a smart agreement 416. Finally, the smart contract is stored as a transaction on the blockchain 418. Finally, the smart contract can be validated for the proposed change to the smart contract 422. One or more cloud services, network services, or data center services could be used as the computing service. Details of the proposed changes may include details about all parties involved, the conditions necessary to execute the change, and the items that will be executed during the change. This method could also include execution of the proposed smart contract change, and storage of execution results in a distributed hashtable that is separate to the blockchain. The transaction will be broadcast to the plurality on the blockchain. Authorization for the proposed change can be done via any one or more of these nodes. This method could also include creating blocks with the execution results of the smart contract’s proposed change, and broadcasting those execution results to the plurality. If the transaction is valid, the method can also include accepting one or more blocks.
FIG. “FIG. This example method 450 could include monitoring the use of resources via a plurality nodes on a blockchain 452, identifying an optimization goal 454, and storing details about the proposed change in smart contracts 456, 458, and 458, as well as validating the change.
