Zoho Corporation celebrated a major milestone with the inauguration of its new office in Nairobi, Kenya. This expansion marks Zoho‘s seventh office in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, highlighting the company’s commitment to catering to the demands of large organizations. Simultaneously, Zoho announced a strategic partnership with the Institute for Small Business Initiatives (ISBI), part of Strathmore Business School (SBS), and unveiled significant investments across its entire portfolio.
With a remarkable 65% three-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in the mid-market and enterprise segment, Zoho has experienced substantial success. This sector now represents one-third of the company’s business, with over 90 million users across 600,000 global businesses. To sustain this upmarket growth and adapt to evolving customer needs, Zoho has strategically allocated investments.
One notable development is the partnership between Zoho and ISBI, which primarily focuses on assisting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Kenya. ISBI helps entrepreneurs scale their businesses, streamline operations, and gain a competitive edge. The partnership aims to digitalize SME operations by empowering them with the latest enterprise technology. SMEs associated with ISBI will gain access to Zoho One, a unified platform consisting of over 50 business applications. This comprehensive solution seamlessly connects various business functions, including CRM, finance, HR, project management, collaboration, marketing, and sales. By adopting Zoho One, SMEs can quickly take their operations online, automate processes, and manage their entire business from a single console. The collaboration also offers technical support and product training to maximize the benefits for businesses in Nairobi.
Veerakumar Natarajan, Country Head of Zoho Corp Kenya, emphasized the company’s commitment to assisting large organizations while staying true to their roots in serving small and medium-sized businesses. The Nairobi office will enhance Zoho account management capabilities, enabling them to meet the specific requirements of larger organizations.
Apart from the partnership with ISBI, Zoho’s investments extend across several key areas. In terms of go-to-market strategies, Zoho aims to expand its Enterprise Business Solutions (EBS) by enhancing skills, industry depth, and regional presence. The company provides expertise to large organizations in solutions engineering, account management, and customer success. Additionally, Zoho plans to strengthen its network of system integrator (SI) partners, including renowned firms like Tata Consultancy Services, Deloitte, and Wipro. These partnerships will help develop industry-specific solutions and establish customer best practices.
Zoho’s platform investments include expanding the Zoho Marketplace, which offers over 1,800 extensions and has surpassed 1 million installations. Large organizations can create private extensions to address unique workflows and deploy them through the Marketplace. Zoho has also developed no-code and low-code capabilities, simplifying large deployments and reducing time-to-market and costs. From UX design to workflow orchestration and custom applications, Zoho’s low-code capabilities support every stage of deployment.
Furthermore, Zoho has introduced new applications and enhancements to its portfolio. Zoho Contracts is a secure contract management software that streamlines the entire contract lifecycle, including authoring, approval, negotiations, and signatures. Zoho DataPrep, deeply integrated with Zoho CRM, enables users to transform and cleanse customer data within the CRM system, simplifying data migration and improving efficiency.
In terms of security and privacy, Zoho has launched Zoho OneAuth, a comprehensive multi-factor authentication application. It includes features like Smart SignIn and Passkey Support for automated cross-device user login and account access assistance. Zoho Directory, a secure platform for workforce identity and access management, has proven its capabilities with over 100 million users from Zoho and ManageEngine. Notable enterprises such as Disney, AT&T, and Sony have benefited from Zoho Directory’s authentication and sign-on module.
With the inauguration of the Nairobi office, the strategic partnership with ISBI, and substantial investments across its portfolio, Zoho Corporation solidifies its position as a leading technology provider for organizations of all sizes. By empowering SMEs with enterprise technology and catering to the needs of large organizations, Zoho demonstrates its commitment to driving digital transformation and fostering business growth in Kenya and beyond.
