Eager to latch onto a hot trend, Oracle Corp. today introduced a cloud blockchain service that it hopes will help it vault past existing rivals IBM Corp. and Microsoft Corp.

Blockchain is the distributed-ledger technology behind Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but it has been seized upon in many industries as a way to provide tamper-proof contracts and track transactions from purchase to delivery, among other things. Because it uses a lot of distributed computers to work, it’s potentially a natural service for cloud providers.

Frank Xiong, group vice president of product development for the Blockchain Cloud Service, said in an interview that Oracle is already working with companies in a variety of industries on early-access versions of the blockchain. Applications so far include building blockchain networks for a company’s entire supply chain, securely transferring invoices sold for cash, and helping government entities track land ownership and sales.

Oracle said its blockchain offering would be available in general release in the first half of 2018. Truth be told, Oracle could be seen as late to this party. IBM has been pushing its cloud blockchain services for more than a year, and Microsoft Corp. has offered blockchain as a service since 2015.

Oracle signaled that it planned its own blockchain offering in August, when it joined the open-source Hyperledger consortium, which also counts IBM, Microsoft, SAP SE and others as members.

One way Oracle intends to set itself apart is by helping big Oracle customers tie their supply chain, inventory and other software, whether it’s running in their own data centers or the cloud, into the blockchain-based network. Oracle would manage the infrastructure under the network, but customers would build applications and smart contracts on top of it.

“Businesses can extend their boundaries beyond their own enterprise to other businesses … in a secure and private way,” said Xiong, who added that Oracle’s blockchain will be able to integrate with other blockchain networks.

“We believe the whole world will not turn over to blockchain overnight,” he said. “So we need to coexist with existing applications in the cloud or on-premises.”

Image: Oracle