I’m sure you noticed that ReadWriteWeb recently named Zoho the Best LittleCo of 2008.

And I’m sure you also noticed that the world is going through… um, less-that-optimal financial times.

How are the two related? Well, ReadWriteWeb yesterday posted a very interesting interview with Sridhar Vembu, Zoho’s CEO, about running a startup in the current financial environment. The founders of BrightKite (a location-based social network) also recently recognized by ReadWriteWeb were also there.

If you’re reading this you already missed the live show, but you can still listen to the recorded interview.

Rodrigo

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As far as computer languages go, SQL (Structured Query Language) is a pretty old one. It came to light in the early 1970s and it is probably not too popular with the Facebook generation. But the fact remains - SQL is a pretty awesome thing. It is by far one of the easiest and most efficient ways to query and interact with structured data. That’s why it remains by far one of the most heavily used languages for business applications.

But perhaps the most important role that SQL plays is that it makes developers think with a relational model in mind - and that means thinking about the best data structures for the application at hand. That’s a good thing. When developing applications -and particularly when developing business applications- the most important things are the data and the structures the data is stored in, not the application logic. Rob Pike, one of the original creators of UNIX, came up with an elegant maxim for this:

In this era of distributed file systems and cloud computing, traditional databases are being used less and less, in favor of other data storage and retrieval methods. And that has led to improved, faster and more responsive web applications. But while there are some SQL-like approaches for cloud computing out there, they tend to be fairly limited and not as powerful as the full-blown SQL - in particular because it doesn’t take into account the intricate data relationships that SQL so elegantly describes.

The problem is, there’s a fundamental mistake people make when they think of SQL: they think of the access language and the storage mechanism as one and the same. But they can in fact be separated. SQL can be just a pure access language used to describe the data and relationships being accessed. The backend (the engine that actually handles and stores the data) can be anything.

That’s why today we’re announcing a new Zoho technology. It is a milestone for accessing data on the cloud through the familiar SQL language. We have aptly named this Zoho CloudSQL.

Zoho CloudSQL is a middleware technology that allows customers to interact with their business data stored in Zoho through the familiar SQL language. Customers are able to access Zoho cloud data using SQL on both other cloud applications as well as through traditional on-premises software.

At a high-level, Zoho CloudSQL serves as the bridge between the external application and the data stored inside Zoho. It receives the query in SQL, interprets it, delegates queries and aggregates results across the Zoho services.

There are in particular 3 things that stand out about Zoho CloudSQL:

1. It’s the first technology that allows customers to interact with their data on the cloud, from another cloud application or from an on-premises one through real SQL.
2. It supports multiple SQL dialects. We support all the major (and even some not so major) ones: ANSI, Oracle, SQL Server, IBM DB2, MySQL, PostgreSQL and Informix.
3. With our JDBC/ODBC drivers, developers can access data in the cloud just as easily as if it were stored in a local database.

The next natural question is: What Zoho services you can access through Zoho CloudSQL? Today we’re starting with Zoho Reports, our on-line reporting and business intelligence service, and soon other relevant Zoho services will follow-suit. Zoho Reports (which used to be called Zoho DB & Reports) also added a new Web API today.

Zoho CloudSQL also underscores Zoho’s commitment to never lock-in customers through the artificial retention of their data. Customers trust Zoho with their data because they know they can get it out anytime, through a variety of clearly documented and accessible means.

And just in case you were wondering - yes, Zoho CloudSQL is meant for developers, not end-users. So if this is the first time you’re hearing about SQL dialects and JDBC drivers, well, Zoho CloudSQL is probably not for you. But hey, it’s never too late to get started!

Get more details about Zoho CloudSQL.

Rodrigo Vaca

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Microsoft confirmed today a widely circulated rumor and announced, with gran fanfare, that next year they will be announcing a web-based version of their Office product. Yes, you read it right, Microsoft announced that they will be announcing… You can read the full story in PC Magazine, ComputerWorld and many other publications.

The question for many will be… what does this announcement of an announcement means for Zoho and other SaaS vendors? It’s simple: it means two things.

First, it means fantastic news. Microsoft had been pooh-poohing the whole SaaS world… even going as far as denying the inevitable and creating its own Software-plus-Services trend-of-one. But Microsoft took one big step forward today, and added some extra validation to the whole concept of productivity applications delivered using nothing but a browser.

Second -and particularly to Zoho- it means business at usual. Will there be increased competition in the on-line productivity space? You betcha. But it’s not like we had a monopoly on that market to start with. We thrive on competition. We have multiple competitors for each and every one of the 19 (and counting!) different services we provide. That only makes us better. But beyond that, our users get value from having so many tightly-integrated SaaS applications. Zoho is much more than the on-line productivity suite. We have the most comprehensive portfolio of on-line productivity and business applications.

Maybe the real question is - what will this mean for Microsoft? What will this mean for their business model and their uses?

For their business model - I wonder if they’ll charge the same for the on-line version as they charge for the old, dinosauric version? Are they still going to be able to collect the absurdly high CAL fees for office users? They surely risk loosing a grip on the desktop, as well, you don’t need Windows to run applications on a browser.

In any case, and beyond the business implications - let’s see how this works for the most important folks on earth: users. If Microsoft MSN Live Search, Microsoft MSN Live HotMail and a host of other Microsoft on-line products are a proof of Microsoft’s Internet prowess…

Microsoft, welcome to the SaaS world. See you in a year (or so).

Rodrigo Vaca

ps. I’m taking bets on the simple and elegant name the Microsoft on-line office will get. I’m betting on: Microsoft Office Live 2010 Standard Web Edition.

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We’re excited to announce the release of a brand-new service, Zoho Marketplace.

Zoho Marketplace is a service that brings users and business application developers together. It provides a growing catalog of business applications that users can try and purchase. If you like an application you can buy it from the developer (some applications are even free) and ‘Install’ it in your Zoho account. Contrary to what happens with installing old business software, the installation is really pain- and worry- free for use. Because everything is set-up, hosted and arranged by Zoho, it only takes a few minutes to start using the application.

But what if the user can’t find the *exact* application he is looking for? No worries. Customers can also post their exact requirements to the Zoho Marketplace, and get help from third-party developers in creating the application they need.

For developers, it provides a place where they can post and market the applications they have developed in Zoho Creator – free of charge. Yeah, you read that right. There is no fee a developer has to pay Zoho to list his application.

In short, just like you can buy “stuff” in Amazon or eBay, you can also get your business applications in Zoho Marketplace.

But wait! That’s not all we have in store for you.

Today we also released a major update for Zoho Creator. Zoho Creator allows regular folks like me to create power data-driven business applications that can be kept private, shared with a group or published to the world. We call those ‘Situated Software‘. But it can of course also be used by more advanced developers to add complex logic, interaction with other sites and more.

This release focuses more on the latter. We have added many new features and capabilities which make developing rich business applications even easier. These include:

• Custom HTML pages. Allows developers to create dynamic, fully customized HTML pages that are part of an application and embed forms, views, widgets, videos and more.

• Layout Customization. Makes it easy to create great-looking applications in seconds. Choose from a variety of layouts and themes. And of course, you can also create your own.

• Stateless Forms. Stateless forms allow developers to take advantage of all the Creator tools and environment, but gives them full control over where their data is stored.

And there’s of course many others – like full support for CRUD operations, the ability to share/un-share an application (or just components of it separately), easier to create mashups by fetching and processing data from other websites, creating maps on the fly and some others.

To celebrate these two releases and to give you an overview of Zoho Marketplace and Zoho Creator 3, we’ve prepared a ‘different’ kind of video for you. If there were and Oscar category for “Best Video Demo Award”, I’m sure this would get one!

In addition, there are two other videos you can check out:

• Zoho Marketplace & Zoho Creator video and demo for customers looking to buy/build business applications.
• Zoho Marketplace & Zoho Creator video and demo for software developers or people who would like to publish applications using Zoho Creator and Zoho Marketplace.

Rodrigo Vaca

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There was an era (not very long ago) when shooting videos and sharing them on the internet was an esoteric art. Then YouTube and some easy-to-use video cameras and software came along and made it easy for regular folks like you and me to shoot anything and post it on the web.

This is what some people refer to as the ‘democratization of the tools of production’. It was a concept popularized by the ‘Long Tail’, a best-seller book by Chris Anderson. Regardless of your own views of that book (there is some controversy about it), the concept of the democratization of the tools of production is evident in YouTube, blogs, music and some other cases.

Where am I going with this? Bear with me for a second.

Not long ago, ‘geeks’ were the only people who could create data-driven applications on the web. And there was a reason for that - doing so required quite a bit of training, and even years to master just one of the many components involved in creating applications - the operating system, database, application server, web server, security…

But that’s not the case anymore. Zoho Creator is another example of the democratization of the tools of production. In this case, it is about the tools for creating web, business and data-driven applications. With Zoho Creator, everyone can create applications for their own particular need.

But the question is – what kind of applications? There are many kinds of applications out there, and while Zoho Creator can certainly be used by professional developers looking to commercialize their applications, but right now I want to focus on the kind of applications that everyone can create on their own, for themselves and their own consumption.

Let me explain with a simple 2-by-2 matrix.

On the horizontal axis we have the ‘Complexity of the Application’ - how advanced they are in terms of their logic, the formulas and algorithms they use. On the other vertical axis we have ‘Uniqueness of the Requirements’. Lower in the scale means more people share those same requirements. And these two axes are a continuum, but for the sake of this discussion, we’ll imagine just two scenarios for each axis.

So in the high-complexity/common-requirements quadrant we have those applications like ERP and CRM. They are complex applications which required a lot of logic, but millions and millions of people share the same basic requirements. Sure, people spend a lot of time (and money) customizing their ERP system, but most of that has to do with the underlying business process than with the software itself.

In the high-complexity/unique-requirements quadrant we have those applications that land rockets on the moon. Don’t expect to just ‘buy and install’ those applications.

Then there are those applications which are low-complexity and share common requirements - that everybody needs. Say, a calendar or calculator application. Pick one, they all yield pretty much the same result and are used pretty much the same way.

But then there are those applications that are not quite as complex as a rocket-launching system, but they are so unique to a particular situation that you can’t readily get them off the shelf either. What should we call these? Luckily, Clay Shirky already came up with a name for them - “Situated Software“.

Situated Software is the kind of applications people need to collect, share, keep track and report on a variety of data. But they are not long projects that warrant the formal involvement of your IT department, formal methodology and end-less meetings. They might be short-lived projects, almost bordering on disposable software, or they may be applications created to be used for a long while.

In a business environment it might mean keeping track of their IT assets, people registering for an event, managing contacts in a simplified way, tracking bugs, issues or customer requests/comments, etc. For a school, situated software might be about keeping track of student information and their parents, or a simple library records app. There are as many examples as unique ‘situations’ for people – that is, too many to list.

How many? Well, there are already more than 100,000 applications created with Zoho Creator. Zoho Creator makes ‘Situated Software’ possible for everyone. No, we’re not all turning into Star-Wars-and-Star-Trek-loving software developers. We can continue to be regular folks, but we can write our own (situated) software every once in a while.

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Call them the technology equivalent of old religious wars: Mac vs Windows, Mainframes vs PCs, Blackberries vs. iPhones, Open vs Proprietary… they all have passionate people on both sides of the issue.

The latest one is the Software-as-a-Service or Software-plus-Services debate. The Software-as-a-Service camp argues that every single piece of software can be delivered over the internet. The Software-plus-Services crowd argues that the user is served best when there is local software installed on their machines is complemented with internet services.

Well, it just dawned on me that this battle is over. Done. C’est Fini.

The clear winner is the Software-plus-Services camp. Let me explain.

To access the on-line services you need a browser - and that is software. The browser needs an operating system - and that is software too. So really, we all need software to access internet services like Zoho or Google search. But that’s about everything the Software+Services camps has gotten right.

On the other hand, of course you don’t need bloated, expensive, buggy, updated-every-once-in-a-blue-moon software to access the services you need and care about. The Software side of the S+S equation can be made of Linux+Firefox, Windows+Firefox, MacOs+Firefox or, as of lately, Safari on your iPhone or Opera Mini in some other mobile phones.

As for me, I use Windows Vista. Certainly not because I wanted to, but because Microsoft forced me to get Vista on my new Dell machine. So I’m stuck with it. I was apprehensive about using Vista … but after a few days I got used to it. Wanna know why? No, it’s not because Vista is good - it’s because it doesn’t matter. The underlying operating system you use is irrelevant. 99% of the time I’m at a computer, I’m inside the browser, and I keep about 15 local files on my machine. The rest of the local applications I access are applications every single operating system has… since about 1994. Traditional software is not dead, it’s just that for the vast majority of users it just doesn’t matter anymore.

Why do I bring this topic up today? Today marks the start of Office 2.0, a conference about new technologies in the workplace that Zoho is sponsoring.

So in that spirit, I thought I’d do a quick recap of some of the things businesses can do without installing any software… not in the server room neither on their local machines (other than their operating system and Firefox browser):

Businesses can do all of that on-line, with just their browser (and yes, businesses can do most of it at a single destination, Zoho.com). Office 2.0 will help to remind us and highlight how the world is changing no matter what the dinosaurs of yore keep saying. Yes, you do need software: your browser… everything else businesses can get on-line, we hope at Zoho.

See you at the Office 2.0 conference!

Rodrigo

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