Zoho Unfurls Broad Swath of Integrated Inexpensive SaaS Applications

Given the simple fact that software is comprised of bits, the lines between where one application begins and another one ends are somewhat arbitrary. As part of a deliberate effort to drive a wave of consolidations across both the personal and business applications categories, Zoho is now making available a Zoho One suite of software-as-a-services (SaaS) applications spanning over 35 functions, at a cost of one dollar per user per day.

Raju Vegesna, chief evangelist for Zoho, says spent years developing a common operating system that tightly integrates a portfolio of personal and business applications spanning everything from spreadsheets and word processors to customer relationship management (CRM) and human resources applications.

“We’ve created applications for every department of a business,” says Vegesna.

Rather than having to establish, manage and integrate multiple SaaS applications, Vegesna says Zoho is trying to force a consolidation across the application software industry via an all-in-one suite that includes hundreds of seamless points of integration between more than 35 applications running both in the cloud and on mobile computing devices. All those applications, adds Vegesna, can be provisioned and managed via one single administration portal.

Zoho is betting that when it comes to managing SaaS applications, there’s a lot of fatigue. SaaS applications are easy to acquire. But most organizations spend far more time and money integrating multiple SaaS applications to create workflows to accomplish specific tasks. Zoho is also betting that by making a concerted effort to eliminate the need for all the effort at a low price, it could force many marginally profitable providers of SaaS applications to either close their doors or get acquired by a larger rival.