When Blockchain Meets CRM: An Evaluation of Enterprise CRM Vendor Blockchain Capabilities

The emergence of Blockchain technology has begun to manifest in various business and technical domains. Despite the transformative potential of Blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies, the distributed paradigm is markedly different than the relational database model underlying prototypical CRM systems, presenting a novel integration challenge. Resolving CRM-Blockchain integration challenges is a precondition to realizing the emergent paradigm known as CRM 4.0. The top 6 CRM vendors are identified, and their Blockchain capabilities are investigated. We conclude that while many of these vendors once implemented Blockchain capabilities, such capabilities have since largely been deprioritized, obfuscated, or outright abandoned. This paper extends the existing literature on CRM and Blockchain through the lens of industry.