MANAMA: Bahrain is a frontrunner in the race to host cloud-based business software provider Zoho’s first regional data centre, a top official has said.
Zoho’s Middle East and Africa president Hyther Nizam said it is planning to set up a regional data centre and an office in the kingdom, which is one of the fastest growing markets for it, having logged 250 per cent growth in customer numbers till date.
Mr Nizam said the “impressive growth” in Bahrain in the last 12 months includes 100pc jump in partners and 85pc spurt in revenues.
He was speaking on sidelines of Zoholics, its debut user conference in Bahrain held at Crowne Plaza as part of the Global Entrepreneur Week 2019.
During the event, the company launched the Arabic version of its low-code development platform, Zoho Creator, which enables business owners who do not have any coding experience to “easily create custom apps using a simple drag-and-drop interface”, said Mr Nizam.
In the Arabic version, the orientation of the user interface is reversed, allowing businesses to build fully Arabic apps with easier to use UI and right-to-left data entry capabilities.
For businesses who do not wish to keep their data in the cloud, or would like to opt for third-party public clouds, the company has also launched an on-premise version of Zoho Creator. With the on-premise version, businesses will be able to create and deploy applications on their own servers, or other public clouds such as AWS.
“With the low-code platforms, an organisation can provide all the departments access to technology, thereby empowering them,” said Mr Nizam.
“Teams need not rely on their IT department for each and every app requirement, and the IT department is free to concentrate on mission critical issues. This enables businesses to bring down their IT cost. While the Arabic version of Zoho Creator removes any language barrier, its on-premise version removes any technological barriers for Bahraini businesses to adopt this digitally transformational technology.”
According to Gartner, by 2024, low-code application development will be responsible for more than 65pc of application development activity.
Also present was Zoho Middle East and Africa regional director Ali Shabdar, who said, “With the simple drag-and-drop interface, even managers with no programming knowledge can create custom applications to streamline their business processes”.
For example, an HR manager can create an application to track employee requests or a marketing head can create an application to track event registrations and even use AI-enabled fields that can tell how many of the registered people will actually attend the event, he added.
Experienced programmers, on the other hand, can add their own custom code to create more complex applications.
The apps built on Zoho Creator are available on mobile devices without additional effort, said the official.
“They can also be white-labelled and pushed to App Store or Play Store, bringing massive efficiencies to the app building and deployment process.”
In 2018, it launched the VAT-compliant version of its accounting software, Zoho Books in Bahrain.
The company’s most popular offering is Zoho One, the operating system for business, that comprises over 45 applications, along with several built-in services like AI, business intelligence, messaging and search. Zoho One is a customisable, extendable and integratable platform.
Zoho has over 50 million users in over 180 countries.
avinash@gdn.com.bh
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