Zoho, the company behind the concept of Web Office, has added another feather to its cap with the launch of its latest product product Zoho DB. Zoho DB is an online database and reports application and is pitched as online and powerful version of Microsoft Office. The service piles onto Zoho’s other offerings — Spreadsheets and Creator. Spreadsheets presents data in an Excel-like format and Creator makes it easy to build database-driven applications.
With this release, Zoho has expanded its total online offerings to 15. The news has created a bit of a spark with Zoho beating other Web Office contenders to the game. So far, nor Google, Microsoft or ThinkFree have a similar offering in their basket.
I tried my hands on Zoho DB and it appears to have several advantages to users. Firstly, the dashboard design is very well done and reflects typical Zoho style. The broad functions enable users to import .XLS, .CSV files and create database from predefined templates. Typically this allows them to convert spreadsheets into online databases. Data interaction happens like a spreadsheet, similarly queries can be run on Zoho DB like a database. Zoho also offers Pivot Table Support and simplifies report creation which is at par with any of the top reporting tools. The creation of reports is simplified with an easy to use drag-and-drop interface.
Adventnet is Zoho’s parent company and has been operating for about 11 years with a base of over 150 programmers in India who develop Zoho’s products. The embedded screencast below shows its powerful interface.
