Baseline Protocol launched integrations for Google Sheets and Microsoft Dynamics 365.
The new feature enables consistent and verifiable record keeping using spreadsheets in conjunction with an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution.
The company released a proof of concept on June 7, demonstrating how the baseline data in a spreadsheet works to verify that several independent private databases maintain the same records.
The protocol was launched in March and developed through collaboration between Microsoft, EY and ConsenSys.
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The concept used the „baselining“ technique to verify that records maintained by separate entity databases were verifiable, allowing company information to „stay in the traditional databases.
The initiative was developed and executed in collaboration with blockchain companies LimeChain and Bitcoin Method to demonstrate that the new protocol can be used by large and small businesses, including those that do not rely on complex information systems to manage their records.
The evidence showed that the technique does not require data to be stored in a blockchain, but rather uses distributed accounting technology (DLT) to „strengthen the consistency of separate records.
The protocol uses the Ethereum’s core network as middleware
The solution also uses the Ethereum core network as middleware for data verification without confidential or unwanted information being made public on the network:
„Using this and the Google Sheets API, the team was able to connect the spreadsheet to any other ‚baselined‘ system and ensure consistency record by record, line by line.“
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„Our perception is that many small businesses still use spreadsheets to keep track of their contracts and purchase orders,“ said LimeChain co-founder George Spasov.
„With the help of Provide we discovered how to create a baseline for a spreadsheet in a much more sophisticated system like Microsoft’s Dynamics 365,“ Spasov added.
Blockchains are „digital nudist colonies“
Speaking with Cointelegraph, ConsenSys developer and co-founder of the Baseline Protocol, John Wolpert, described how the new technique is different from traditional blockchain-based logs.
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„Instead of one source being the only database full of information from around the world, which is certainly a bad idea for business, we will use [blockchain] skills in business processes and data and a state service to maintain consistency among databases.
Comparing blockchains to „digital nudist colonies,“ Wolpert adds that Baseline „allows them to wear clothes.
Wolpert pointed out that the integrations of Google Sheets and 365 were the result of the development of the decentralization of the companies that participate in the Baseline protocol, apart from Microsoft, EY, ConsenSys or Google.