Global technology giant Zoho has revealed that since the beginning of its operations in the United Arab Emirates, it has grown ten times.
Sridhar Vembu, CEO and co-founder of Zoho, announced this on the sidelines of Zoholics Dubai, the company’s annual user conference. He also announced an investment of AED 100 million for expansion in the nation.
In an interview, Sridhar Vembu stated that Zoho prioritises client satisfaction. He recommended entrepreneurs conduct a reality check and return to business fundamentals. He also concentrated on the moral implications of personalising technology for organic, long-term growth.
The significant products driving Zoho’s growth in the UAE include Zoho One, a platform that unifies over 50 products; Zoho Books, an accounting programme that is FTA-approved and VAT-compliant; Zoho Workplace, an enterprise collaboration platform; and Zoho Create (low-code development platform). The IT services, wellness/fitness, real estate, manufacturing, and retail sectors have the highest demand.
In the UAE, Zoho expanded by 45% in 2022. In the past year, it has hired locally by its “transnational localism” concept, which aims to be locally rooted while remaining internationally linked. As a result, its staff base in the UAE and around the MEA region has quadrupled. In 2022, the country’s partner network expanded by 50%, enabling Zoho to serve its clients better.
“When we expand into a region, as part of our global localism strategy, we want to give back to the local community and get ingrained in the local culture as we grow,” Sridhar Vembu said.
“In order to adapt our solutions for the local market, we have invested over the past five years in local hiring, expanding our partner network, including Arabic support in our products, and connecting with regional payment gateways. Through hiring, training programmes, localising goods, integrating our solutions with local vendors, and collaborating with organisations to support local businesses in their digitalisation initiatives, we will continue to invest in expanding our footprint in the nation,” he stated further.
To make enterprise technology accessible to companies of all sizes, Zoho has partnered with several organisations, including the Department of Economics and Tourism (DET) and Dubai Culture.
It has partnered with educational institutions like the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) and Emirates Academy of Hotel Management (EAHM) to provide upskilling courses. Since 2020, Zoho has invested AED 20 million in wallet credits to assist over 3500 SMBs accessing its cloud technology. Also, it spent AED 4.5 million on projects to upskill more than 200 students and 300 businesses in digital literacy.
“Due to the current state of the world economy, an increasing number of businesses are embracing digitalisation and opting for unified platforms that enable them to break down data silos and produce contextual real-time insights that allow them to act quickly and react to shifting market conditions. After 26 years of constant R&D, Zoho has created its own technological stack from the bottom up. With our apps being customisable, integrable, and extendable, we provide a unified platform for all business needs, from customer experience and marketing to finance and enterprise collaboration. Because of this, Zoho is a great option for enterprises of all sizes,” Sridhar Vembu reiterated.