User's blog

Category: Zoho

  • Forbes Reviews Zoho One’s Unification Capabilities

    As we recently announced, Zoho One has released its 21st version with many interesting and advanced updates that have caught the attention of many, including Forbes. In this article, we summarize what Forbes had to say about this unified and cloud-based suite of more than fifty integrated business applications.

    Image via Zoho

    SaaS Updates

    Forbes mentions that Zoho One has several benefits, which include offloading application management, updates to the vendor, and having a subscription model tied to resource usage. Moreover, updates in the SaaS model are instantly available to all. This means that new features are evaluated quickly, so you have nothing to download nor install. This gives calmness to customers because they know that their technology is current.

    Forbes highlights that it’s easier to deliver “superior customer engagement and operational excellence” when all the enterprise applications are in a unified platform since it reduces customization costs and complex integrations. Also, a unified platform with a single data source and reporting solution is ideal when organizations are turning to big data, AI, and machine learning applications. Greater security is another benefit that unified systems offer within a SaaS environment to enable business processes, consistent governance, approvals, and more.

    A glimpse of Zoho Lens. (Image via Zoho)

    New and pandemic-aware improvements

    Because customers depend on more on digital channels to sell products nowadays, Zoho released Zoho Commerce in Zoho One to allow customers to grow an online business. With Zoho Commerce you can build a website, take orders, process payments, track inventory, manage shipping, market your brand, and analyze data in the online store.

    Moreover, Zoho added three new applications to the Zoho One suite to make remote collaboration easier and improved: Zoho Lens (for field service technicians to help solve problems faster and reduce on-site visits with augmented reality), Zoho Learn (a knowledge and learning management platform designed to capture and retain the team’s expertise and build training programs), and Team Inbox (a shared inbox for teams that eliminates the need for cc’s and duplicate responses).

    Another new app in Zoho One is Data Prep, which is powered by AI and discovers errors in data from multiple sources.

    Zoho One’s customizable dashboard allows to view and arrange all the data your business needs, thanks to 50+ smart widgets. (Image via Zoho)

    New and better services

    Forbes also emphasizes the 1500+ pre-built reports and dashboards in Zoho One to help synthesize data. As soon as the data in the CRM system, help desk, or a third-party application, all of it is understood and brought into analytics, and then populated into the pre-built reports. Regardless of technical abilities, Zoho has made it easier for any customer to obtain reports with natural language processing.

    With that in mind, the new back-end service called Work Graph creates a graph mapping out the different connections between an individual, the contacts, projects, and conversations with others across numerous tools like email and chat.

    Meanwhile, Mobile Applications Management enables IT to manage devices remotely, and it includes the automatic assignment and installation of specific applications to certain users, updating the operating system, and mandating security policies.

    Org Dictionary is another new tool in Zoho One. It’s a unified dictionary for the organization that is used across all writing pieces and different applications that will come to be specific to the organization.

    Forbes’ Conclusion of Zoho One

    Forbes concludes their review on Zoho One by praising their unified user interface that allows to look and move around all of the suite’s applications. This is provided by unified navigation, calendar, and a dashboard with over 50 pre-built widgets that span the entire business operations, always personalized on the home screen of each user. “These changes improve the overall experience of Zoho One as more streamlined and efficient,” states Forbes. “Third-party integrations are now unified and can be brought into the Zoho One ecosystem allowing access to all applications, whether Zoho or third-party.”

    To read the full article, click here.

    Are you looking to optimize or implement Zoho One in your company? Then click here and sign up for a free trial of Zoho One.

  • Zoho One Expands and Revamps with New Technology

    Zoho One, the unified and cloud-based operating system for business, has revealed a major update in its 21st version. This one includes five new apps, three new services, and seven major platform enhancements.

    Image via Zoho

    Raju Vegesna, Chief Evangelist at Zoho, said the following statement about the new Zoho One”

    “The experience that employees, customers, partners, and suppliers get when dealing with businesses is typically a reflection of how that business and its systems are structured internally. Today, the majority of systems are disconnected as a result of siloed solutions offered by vendors. Unification of a business requires unification of the underlying systems, which can then provide a truly unified experience, internally and externally, along with unified insights. Zoho One was created with this vision and keeps expanding its unbeatable value with new additions and improvements year over year.”

    The improvements to this operating system include the following:

    Unified and Real-time Insights

    • Embedded and Conversational BI: Zoho One now features embedded and conversational analytics that enables decision makers to submerge into their data and gather cross-departmental insights with natural language commands using Zia Insights. 1,500+ pre-built analytics reports and dashboards are provided for quicker and more precise critical business decisions.
    • Data Preparation: DataPrep, powered by machine learning, helps business users integrate, model, cleanse, transform, enrich, and catalog data. It also allows an integration with Zoho Analytics or a third-party app for newly discovered insights.
    • Work Graph: Zoho’s new back-end service, according to them, is “an industry-first for business software, maps interactions between people, resources, systems, and processes by studying signals and their strength across the board to build a business-wide work graph that is specific to each individual within the organization. The result of a work graph will be seen in the day-to-day productivity of users across various apps.”
    • Enterprise Search: Now powered by Zia, this actionable, organization-wide search now understands natural language requests. This will lead to more accurate data discovery across teams and functions.
    Zoho One already integrates with more than 1,000 third-party solutions on Zoho Marketplace. (Image via Zoho)

    More Efficient Operations Scalability and Management for Volatile Scenarios

    • Mobile Application Management (MAM): Zoho One now includes enterprise-grade Mobile App Management capabilities. Admins can effortlessly add and manage all of their users’ devices for improved insight, specific app permissions and policies, locking and wiping devices remotely, and more.
    • Zoho Commerce: The addition enables retailers to build online shops without hassle and with the tools needed to create a website, accept orders, track inventory, process payments, manage shipping, market their brand, and analyze data. Plus, it integrates with third-party payment gateways.

    Solid Employee Experiences Regardless of Location

    • Zoho Learn: This just-released app is a learning management tool that enables interactive training programs and assessments with Zoho’s course builder, and it was made for nurturing employee growth.
    • Zoho Lens: This app gives remote assistance and guidance to employees through augmented reality (AR) via real-time AR annotation, VoIP and text chat, and more. This ensures improved communication and collaboration in a remote-work setting.
    • TeamInbox: A shared email inbox between teams aimed to eliminate task duplication and streamline email conversations in one central place.
    • Org Dictionary: Another industry-first, this service provides a central dictionary for the entire organization. It automatically incorporates the employee name and other sources offering a central and stable diction across various Zoho applications and users.

    Unified and Personalized Experience with Context

    • Unified Console, Dashboards, and Smart-Stack UI: Employees can see their apps, services, and dashboards in one view with centralization across calendars, navigation, among others.
    • Customizable Dashboard with Pre-Built Widgets: This offers users visibility across the organization in a single view with the ability to go deeper with just one click away.

    The Zoho One platform already integrates with more than 1,000 third-party solutions on Zoho Marketplace and now expands integration with 100+ telephony providers to enable seamless communications between stakeholders. Moreover, Zoho One includes a comprehensive platform for developers and business users to create, extend, and integrate. The platform includes Canvas, Zoho Creator, and Catalyst.

    To read the full article, click here.

    Are you looking to optimize or implement Zoho One in your company? Then click here and sign up for a free trial of Zoho One.

  • InterConnecta is Featured in Zoho Partner Spotlight

    In celebration of Zoho Corporation’s 25th anniversary, Zoho Latin America has published the Zoho Partner Spotlight video series to share their partners’ testimonials about their experiences selling and implementing their popular business apps. InterConnecta had the honor to be one of the chosen partners to share their testimonial.

    Image via Zoho

    Alin Suárez, cofounder of InterConnecta, spoke with Zoho about many topics, including how they got to know Zoho, what InterConnecta has achieved by being a Zoho partner, how they feel about Zoho’s philosophy, and what impresses their customers about Zoho the most. Regarding the growth that InterConnecta has experienced by working with the India-based software company, Suárez highlighted how being partners has helped them to take their operations beyond the United States by opening offices in Perú and Puerto Rico. On this, Suárez pointed out the following:

    “[Our expansion] was a great achievement alongside Zoho’s growth. It’s inevitable that Zoho keeps growing and that we grow as partners as well. This has significantly benefited us, too.”

    Major congratulations to Zoho on their 25th anniversary! For InterConnecta, it’s an immense pride and honor to be a Zoho partner.

    Are you interested in learning more about Zoho’s applications or implementing them in your business? Then reach out to us by clicking here. We’ll be happy to help!

  • Five Tips to Thrive in eCommerce

    In today’s world, consumers invest their time and money between brick and mortar stores, online shopping with store pickup, and conventional eCommerce. According to Vijay Sundaram, Chief Strategy Officer at Zoho Corporation, consumers have transformed into ominichannel consumers. In other words, they now only make purchases and do their research before buying in various platforms. This has caused them to be more demanding, which has pushed retailers into a battle to keep their attention and loyalty.

    With the objective of helping businesses to be successful in the era of the omnichannel consumer, we have summarized the following tips from Sundaram:

    Image by Nataliya Vaitkevich via Pexels

    Create In-store Points of Sale and Orders

    This will allow your customers to interact with your brand, try products, explore, and buy in innovative ways. A PDV system can offer personalized services, like order history, etc. This has the capability of offering suggestions that allow comparisons and convenient reordering, which will tell your customers that your business knows their preferences.

    Offer Multiple Payment Options

    Customers need payment options: credit and debit cards, “cash-based” cards, among others. It’s essential to ensure that each option is secure and trustworthy (with encoding, among others). It’s also recommended to use VPN to block cybercriminals from accessing the website and stealing sensitive information, including credit cards.

    Other Shipping Options

    You can do this through an integration with multiple shipping providers. Provide your customers options that go from free shipping (which can take some additional time) to express shipping (to an additional cost). Varied options will help satisfy the different needs that your customers have.

    Be Clear About Your Sales Channels

    You must configure your online store to sell through the channels that your business requires. Among those are the integration of your eCommerce platform, third-party marketplaces (Etsy, Amazon, etc.), and physical sales channels —even if they’re only used to create brand awareness—

    Use Artificial Intelligence Tools

    AI has become more present in businesses’ commercial processes and analytics, so it’s no longer a complex topic or a ghost from the future. Now, many software providers are integrating AI in their solutions, since it provides a quick and efficient way of analyzing their customers’ navigation and purchase behaviors.

    AI offers information about the buying experience from start to finish: it discovers and solves problems, it helps to understand why visitors abandon the website and don’t finalize their purchases, and it detects shipping and return problems.

    Sundaram concludes that it’s crucial to create an eCommerce store according to present standards and everchanging trends. So, it’s important to keep up to date with industry news and trends, and technological advances that could be integrated to your business. In addition, it’s advisable to maintain the habit of following websites that offer an excellent customer experience, which is described by Sundaram as “the heart of every business.”

    To read the full article (in Spanish), click here.

    Are you looking to implement or improve your online store? Click here to learn about Zoho Commerce and other business applications from Zoho to optimize your sales processes.

  • Zoho MarketingHub Gets Rebranded as Zoho Marketing Automation

    Zoho Corporation has taken the decision to rebrand Zoho MarketingHub, one of their most popular applications, as Zoho Marketing Automation, for “better global recognition and connection.”

    Image via Zoho

    In a written statement, Zoho highlighted that their marketing app’s stance will remain unchanged by keeping the “same vision, mission, and values.” They also stated the following:

    “Zoho Marketing Automation is still an all-in-one marketing automation software with the functionalities of distinct marketing tools providing a seamless multichannel experience.”

    Zoho also assures their customers that their quality and functionality will not be affected, and they advise anyone who is using the Zoho Marketing Automation WordPress plugin to update it. Meanwhile, all other automations and integrations will be intact.

    However, this one is just the first one of big changes that will occur to the product, which includes “new and refined features” that will be announced soon.

    To read the full article, click here.

    Are you looking to implement Zoho Marketing Automation or other tools that can help your marketing efforts? Then click here to learn more.

  • Zoho is Named a Leader in Nucleus Research CRM Technology Value Matrix 2021

    Just a few months after being named in all four Gartner Magic Quadrants, Zoho achieves another prestigious recognition by being named a Leader in the Nucleus Research CRM Technology Value Matrix 2021.

    Image via Nucleus Research

    Nucleus Research, a global provider of ROI-focused technology research and advisory services, generates their Value Matrix based on in-depth interviews with end users and customers, vendor participation, and extensive ROI assessments of technology deployments. The vendors’ assessment is based on usability and functionality, two of the key factors that give impulse to long-term value.

    In their Value Matrix report, Nucleus Research stated the following:

    “With the breadth and customizability of the Zoho platform, customers can truly run their entire businesses with Zoho. This puts Zoho into a league of behemoth technology vendors like Microsoft, Salesforce, and Oracle. We have consistently seen Zoho move upmarket as the platform has increased in breadth and capability, to where now it is a viable platform for enterprise-size organizations around the world.”

    The Miami-based technology research company also mentioned that “two increasingly compelling reasons” to partner with Zoho are its unified data model and private cloud approach, both of which separate Zoho from its competitors. Nucleus Research explains that the unified data model enables cross-departmental visibility and process integration, something that has become crucial during pandemic times as more work is done from distributed settings. “The ability to integrate data and unify business areas on a single platform will come increasingly into demand”, reveals the report.

    Nucleus Research also praises Zoho’s quick innovation pace and product development, which results in being well positioned to gain market share from customers who seek a lower-risk approach to heighten CRM sophistication, as well as the modernization of legacy deployments. All these elements plus a functionality that’s complete and competitive, fast deployment times, and endless customization and process digitization potential, are the qualifications that make Zoho a Leader in 2021’s Value Matrix.

    To read the full article, click here.

    Are you interested in learning more about Zoho’s applications or implementing them in your business? Then reach out to us by clicking here. We’ll be happy to help!

  • Zoho Releases Qntrl for Low Code Workflow Automation

    2021 has been a great year for workflow automation, which has been strongly trending since last year. Now, Zoho Corporation has launched a new low code workflow product called Qntrl (pronounced control) to supply the demand in this area.

    Image via Qntrl

    According to Rodrigo Vaca, Qntrl’s Chief Marketing Orchestrator, most of the workflow automation solutions out there have been built for larger enterprise customers. With Qntrl, Zoho targets the mid-market with a product that demands less technical expertise than conventional business process management tools.

    “We enable customers to design their workflows visually without the need for any particular kind of prior knowledge of business process management notation or any kind of that esoteric modeling or discipline,” stated Vaca.

    Though Qntrl, according to Vaca, might require some technical help to connect to a workflow to more complex backend systems like CRM or ERP, it gives a less technical end user the option to drag and drop components and get help later to complete the rest. Vaca also mentioned that Qntrl puts this type of tool in reach of companies that may have been left out of the workflow automation, or have been using spreadsheets or other tools for crude workflow creation. Qntrl allows to drag and drop components, and then choose each one and configure what happens before, during, and after each step.

    Also, Qntrl offers a central place to process and comprehend what happens within each workflow at any moment and the person responsible of its completion.

    Over the last year, low code workflow automation has acquired a bigger role in businesses. Large companies like Microsoft, ServiceNow, SAP, and others have been providing this functionality in 2020. This necessity has grown during the pandemic when many workers couldn’t be in the office, which made more compulsory to shift work in a more automated workflow.

    To read the full article, click here.

    Are you interested in learning more about Zoho’s applications or implementing them in your business? Then reach out to us by clicking here. We’ll be happy to help!

  • Zoho and Mastercard Form Alliance to Support Businesses in Latin America and the Caribbean

    Zoho Corporation and Mastercard have announced a partnership that joins the latter’s Digital Allies (Aliados Digitales) —a digital acceleration platform— to promote common actions to push the technological development of small and midsize enterprises in Latin America and the Caribbean.

    Image by Christina Morillo via Pexels

    With this alliance, small and midsize enterprises can set up and increase their online presence, use digital tools, provide security to their electronic transactions, and market products in online stores. Also, the enterprises will have access to tutorials, trainings, and additional free resources. Several tech-related organizations are behind this initiative and will offer exclusive benefits and discounts to Mastercard customers.

    Raju Vegesna, chief evangelist for Zoho, said the following about their alliance with Mastercard:

    “Being part of Mastercard’s Digital Allies is an effective way for small businesses—who have been hit hard during the pandemic—to learn about specific digital tools that can support them in their recovery. As long as these companies support their proposals in cloud technologies, they will be able to undertake new projects with controlled costs, and without exposing the privacy and security of their data.”

    Meanwhile, Daniel Acosta, VP of Commercial Products for Mastercard LAC, explained that while the pandemic evolves, Mastercard explores other ways to leverage their assets and partnerships. According to him, this is done “to enrich the Digital Allies platform further, and support SMEs [small and midsize enterprises] as they grow their online presence. We are proud to partner with Zoho to help SMEs take the digital leap through cutting-edge technologies and educational content.”

    Another benefit that comes with this partnership is that Zoho will offer exclusively a 25% discount on all its products to new users in Latin America. That discount will apply when making the purchase with a Mastercard business credit card. That includes all of Zoho’s specialized applications and packages during the first year, regardless of how many licenses are purchased.

    To help small and midsize enterprises in Latin America properly enter the digital world, Zoho and Mastercard will offer digital resources, like secure electronic payment alternatives to their customers. (Image by Pixabay via Pexels.)

    To help small and midsize enterprises in Latin America properly enter the digital world, Zoho and Mastercard will be offering specialized contents and digital resources. This will help them in many areas, such as marketing their products, increasing productivity, and offering secure electronic payment alternatives to their customers.

    These initiatives are due to Zoho’s plan to mitigate the damages caused by the pandemic in Latin America. The Indian-based company goal is to safely guide companies into the digital world by using their business tools.

    In November 2020, Zoho presented a study titled “Appropriation of New Technologies in Latin American Companies during COVID-19 and Perspectives for 2021.” Its results show that 72% of companies purchased new technological tools during the pandemic. This came out of the necessity of maintaining their activities in the cloud in a regular manner, remote work implementation, and assuring the employees’ safety when they needed to work onsite.

    Another interesting finding from Zoho’s study is that companies have a solid preference for cloud applications for document collaboration (37%), project management (21%), and human resources management (13%).

    To read the full article, click here.

    Are you looking for a Zoho Consultant for your project? At InterConnecta, we are Top Zoho Partners with Zoho Certified Consultants who can help you with Zoho implementation, training, maintenance, and support. Click here to contact us!

  • What Should you Expect in a Zoho Consultant?

    Whether it’s about a first-time Zoho implementation or continuing work in an existing Zoho system, it’s always best to hire an experienced Zoho Consultant. Having an expert at your side will save you time and will allow you to move forward with a Zoho implementation or solve existing problems. That said, there are certain qualities to look for when choosing a Zoho Consultant to be assured of leaving your Zoho system in good hands. Check out the suggestions below!

    (Image by Anna Shvets via Pexels)

    A Zoho Consultant from a Zoho Partner Program

    The best way to receive the most benefits of Zoho’s softwares and a smooth implementation process is by working with a consultant from a company that is a Zoho Partner. Zoho Partners are trained by Zoho to sell, manage, and implement Zoho solutions, as well as provide training and ongoing support. You can ask the Zoho Consultant to offer you a detailed blueprint of how they would implement your Zoho system. If you already have a Zoho system, you can request that as well to identify the cause of any problems you are experiencing and propose solutions. This type of analysis will help you to reach the desired results.

    Also, ask the Zoho Consultant if their Zoho Partner company offers a Maintenance and Support Program (like us!) once the implementation and training processes have been completed. A program like this is very useful for Zoho users, since a Zoho Partner company can be there for to provide continuous support, training and maintenance for proper system functioning. This can save lots of time because you will be working with someone who already knows your customized solutions, and it has other fruitful benefits for your business as well.

    Your Zoho Consultant Must Learn About Your Business

    Even though you might be initially looking for just one Zoho system like, for example, Zoho CRM, your business might have other needs that are not being fulfilled. Therefore, that might be affecting your services and productivity. Find a Zoho Consultant who knows all your business’ departments and identifies their needs. The consultant can recommend you the implementation of other useful and customizable Zoho solutions to address those issues and integrate them with your current Zoho system(s), without leaving a hole in your pocket. Zoho has over 50 applications for finance, sales, marketing, human resources, IT & help desk, customer service, business intelligence, collaboration, and email.

    Try to avoid obstacles: Your Zoho Consultant should give you a training plan for all departments that can address and resolve possible obstacles that may arise. (Image by Andrea Piacquadio via Pexels.)

    Your Zoho Consultant Must Identify Potential Obstacles

    When implementing a Zoho solution, you may have concerns like your sales team being reluctant at first to get used to the newly implemented system. Or perhaps you are not certain if your technical team is ready or not to support the Zoho app(s). Whichever your concerns, you can talk about them with your Zoho Consultant, who should give you a training plan for all departments that can address and resolve the obstacles that may arise. Moreover, and as previously mentioned, the Zoho Partner company should give continuous technical support.

    Undoubtedly, doing your own research and asking all the questions you have can help you learn if a Zoho Consultant will go according to expectations and to choose the right Zoho Consultant for your business. Being open to the full potential of your Zoho system can result in getting the best ROI on the consulting services and software.

    To read the full article, click here.

    Are you looking for a Zoho Consultant for your project? At InterConnecta, we are top Zoho Partners with Zoho Certified Consultants who can help you with Zoho implementation, training, maintenance, and support. Click here to contact us!

  • Zoho CRM Unveils Their Most Popular Integrations in 2020

    One of Zoho CRM’s features is its ability to easily integrate with other sales tools, which is why they recently revealed a list of the most requested Zoho CRM integrations throughout last year.

    Image via Zoho

    The integrations included in the list cover many bases like chats, SMS, social media, email marketing, ecommerce, cloud storage, and digital signatures. Some of them are WhatsApp Web, Shopify, Google Drive, Facebook Ads Manager, Mailchimp, Dropbox, and DocuSign. These match the most talked about and used sales tools, so it’s no surprise that they all made it into the list.

    To read which other Zoho CRM integrations made it to the list, click here read the full article in Zoho’s blog.

    Are you considering implementing Zoho CRM in your business? Then click here and sign up for a free trial of Zoho CRM.

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