The Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated supply-chain challenges for companies around the world. Microsoft's cloud supply chain group had developed sophisticated risk management practices over the years but nevertheless was challenged by the global supply-chain issues resulting from Covid.

Microsoft's cloud supply chain includes millions of servers in more than 200 data centers around the world. Each server, in turn, consists of a range of components sourced by Microsoft's supply-chain team. Microsoft had excellent visibility into purchases from its direct suppliers, as that data resided in the company's internal systems. However, like many other companies, Microsoft struggled to gain visibility into transactions between direct suppliers and their vendors.

"The scale of the Microsoft supply chain is just tremendous," explains Mohamad Masri, senior program manager, blockchain. "Six years ago, we realized that traditional methods used in our supply chain no longer met the needs of our rapidly growing business. We needed a new way to handle supply-chain risk management."