4 ms·

Zoho is hugely underrated. They have a massive suite of capabilities, so much so a SMB (most of the worlds businesses) could run their entire company off of Zo

Zoho is hugely underrated. They have a massive suite of capabilities, so much so a SMB (most of the worlds businesses) could run their entire company off of Zoho. Because it isn't a Bay Area company, or making exciting products - makes them overlooked far too much. For those who use Zoho, they love it because it-just-works.

santoshalper 3y ago
I'm a fan of Zoho, but you do need to be clear eyed. You're not going to find a huge ecosystem like you will with Salesforce, 365 or other platforms. The UX can also be fairly clunky, and their approach to features is definitely "me too". On the other hand, you can't beat the price and convenience of being able to sign up for just about anything with a credit card.
alephnerd 3y ago
> it isn't a Bay Area company They started off in Pleasanton and still have a massive presence there. Zoho ads are very common on Bart as well.
- tiffanyh 3y ago
  > They started off in Pleasanton That's not correct. "In the 1990s, in a small apartment located in the suburbs of Chennai in southern India" https://www.zoho.com/ourstory.html#:~:text=In%20the%201990s,southern%20India https://www.zoho.com/ourstory.html#:~:text=In%20the%201990s,...
  - alephnerd 3y ago
    He lived in Palo Alto and Pleasanton for several years and still has a ranch/mansion in Tassajara.
    - sangnoir 3y ago
      Be that as it may - it wasn't started in Palo Alto or Pleasanton. Their about page[1] mentions the predecessor company was founded in New Jersey (1996), before moving to San Jose (1998), then Pleasanton (2000) 1. https://www.zoho.com/aboutus.html https://www.zoho.com/aboutus.html
      - hosh 3y ago
        I don't see that information on that link. On this link "Our Story" (https://www.zoho.com/ourstory.html?ireft=nhome&src=aboutus-dd https://www.zoho.com/ourstory.html?ireft=nhome&src=aboutus-d...) I see: "In the 1990s, in a small apartment located in the suburbs of Chennai in southern India, a simple, yet revolutionary idea was born: "Build smart technology to help businesses work better." This idea evolved to become the world-class technology company we're known as today." According to Wikipedia: "From 1996 to 2011, the company was known as AdventNet, Inc. and initially provided network management software.[8][9] AdventNet expanded operations into Japan in 2001 and shifted focus to small and medium businesses (SMBs).[9] Zoho CRM was released in 2005, along with Zoho Writer, the company's first Office suite product.[9] Zoho Projects, Creator, Sheet, and Show were released in 2006.[9] Zoho expanded into the collaboration space with the release of Zoho Docs and Zoho Meeting in 2007. In 2008, the company added invoicing and mail applications, reaching one million users by August of that year." So they were not providing SMB office software until 2005. It's weird to me that there are these two narratives. Are we talking about the same Zoho, or is there more to it to either of these stories? Was it a case of shifting origin stories? One of the 2009 articles announcing the change in name from AdventNet to Zoho included mentioning the corporate HQ in Pleasanton.
        alephnerd 3y ago
        > It's weird to me that there are these two narratives. Company narratives are often crafted by marketing teams.
        sangnoir 3y ago
        > I don't see that information on that link. I may have been overzealous is removing what I thought were tracking parameters. If you click on "about us" in the footer and scroll all the way to the bottom or click on 1996 - you'll find the text about AdventNet, which I suppose is the source for Wikipedia https://www.zoho.com/aboutus.html?ireft=nhome&src=ourstory-footer https://www.zoho.com/aboutus.html?ireft=nhome&src=ourstory-f...
- infecto 3y ago
  But it still isn’t a Bay Area company.
kkukshtel 3y ago
I built some backend CRM stuff at a previous job on Zoho and was consistently amazed at how great it was. Everything "just worked" and was surprisingly well thought out. It lacks some of the polish that can make it feels fully "complete" but my experience with it was generally very positive.

santoshalper 3y ago

I'm a fan of Zoho, but you do need to be clear eyed. You're not going to find a huge ecosystem like you will with Salesforce, 365 or other platforms. The UX can also be fairly clunky, and their approach to features is definitely "me too". On the other hand, you can't beat the price and convenience of being able to sign up for just about anything with a credit card.

alephnerd 3y ago

> it isn't a Bay Area company They started off in Pleasanton and still have a massive presence there. Zoho ads are very common on Bart as well.

tiffanyh 3y ago
> They started off in Pleasanton That's not correct. "In the 1990s, in a small apartment located in the suburbs of Chennai in southern India" https://www.zoho.com/ourstory.html#:~:text=In%20the%201990s,southern%20India https://www.zoho.com/ourstory.html#:~:text=In%20the%201990s,...
- alephnerd 3y ago
  He lived in Palo Alto and Pleasanton for several years and still has a ranch/mansion in Tassajara.
  - sangnoir 3y ago
    Be that as it may - it wasn't started in Palo Alto or Pleasanton. Their about page[1] mentions the predecessor company was founded in New Jersey (1996), before moving to San Jose (1998), then Pleasanton (2000) 1. https://www.zoho.com/aboutus.html https://www.zoho.com/aboutus.html
    - hosh 3y ago
      I don't see that information on that link. On this link "Our Story" (https://www.zoho.com/ourstory.html?ireft=nhome&src=aboutus-dd https://www.zoho.com/ourstory.html?ireft=nhome&src=aboutus-d...) I see: "In the 1990s, in a small apartment located in the suburbs of Chennai in southern India, a simple, yet revolutionary idea was born: "Build smart technology to help businesses work better." This idea evolved to become the world-class technology company we're known as today." According to Wikipedia: "From 1996 to 2011, the company was known as AdventNet, Inc. and initially provided network management software.[8][9] AdventNet expanded operations into Japan in 2001 and shifted focus to small and medium businesses (SMBs).[9] Zoho CRM was released in 2005, along with Zoho Writer, the company's first Office suite product.[9] Zoho Projects, Creator, Sheet, and Show were released in 2006.[9] Zoho expanded into the collaboration space with the release of Zoho Docs and Zoho Meeting in 2007. In 2008, the company added invoicing and mail applications, reaching one million users by August of that year." So they were not providing SMB office software until 2005. It's weird to me that there are these two narratives. Are we talking about the same Zoho, or is there more to it to either of these stories? Was it a case of shifting origin stories? One of the 2009 articles announcing the change in name from AdventNet to Zoho included mentioning the corporate HQ in Pleasanton.
      - alephnerd 3y ago
        > It's weird to me that there are these two narratives. Company narratives are often crafted by marketing teams.
      - sangnoir 3y ago
        > I don't see that information on that link. I may have been overzealous is removing what I thought were tracking parameters. If you click on "about us" in the footer and scroll all the way to the bottom or click on 1996 - you'll find the text about AdventNet, which I suppose is the source for Wikipedia https://www.zoho.com/aboutus.html?ireft=nhome&src=ourstory-footer https://www.zoho.com/aboutus.html?ireft=nhome&src=ourstory-f...
infecto 3y ago
But it still isn’t a Bay Area company.

kkukshtel 3y ago

I built some backend CRM stuff at a previous job on Zoho and was consistently amazed at how great it was. Everything "just worked" and was surprisingly well thought out. It lacks some of the polish that can make it feels fully "complete" but my experience with it was generally very positive.