Zoho Makes Pitch For Google Apps Users
Zoho's Office Suite, including spreadsheet and word processing applications, competes head-to-head with Google Apps. But Zoho also offers more than 10 on-demand business applications that Google does not, including CRM, project management, online invoicing and Web conferencing software.
Most Zoho applications are free at the entry level and require a fee for more extensive or professional use.
The plan, according to Zoho evangelist Raju Vegesna, is to make it easy for Google Apps customers to use Zoho's business software in conjunction with Google Apps. "We believe users should be able to access the applications they want to use, in any combination they choose, regardless of the vendor," he said in a statement.
Under the plan, Google Apps users will be able to log into Zoho using their existing Google Apps accounts. Zoho's home page provides a "Sign in using Google Apps" button where users log in and grant permission for Zoho to access the Google Apps account information. The user is then directed back to the Zoho applications.