Zoho has announced early access to its reimagined customer relationship management (CRM) solution, CRM for Everyone. This innovative offering introduces a novel suite of capabilities designed to democratise CRM for MENA businesses by empowering all teams engaged in customer-centric operations. The company also revealed a new addition to its developer offerings with early access to the company’s pro-code full-stack development platform, Catalyst, and a suite of new development tools like Signals and Slate. Additionally, Zoho unveiled Apptics, a comprehensive analytics platform offering real-time user insights and multi-platform support, that aims to empower both seasoned coders and development teams to streamline workflows and accelerate high-quality app delivery.

“Businesses today prioritise modern technology that enables them to optimise for value, maximise their competitive advantages, and tap into new market opportunities amid tough economic conditions,” said Hyther Nizam, President, MEA, Zoho Corp. “At Zoho, we’re focused on continuously deepening our current offerings and expanding others to serve business needs. Zoho CRM for Everyone, for instance, is the first true democratisation of the CRM paradigm and helps unify all customer operations teams onto the CRM to deliver better customer experiences. Likewise, the upgraded Catalyst and the privacy-focused Apptics solution work hand-in-hand to deliver an unmatched developer experience from concept to code, and deployment to analytics.”

Zoho CRM has been a top choice for businesses across the MENA, and one of the company’s best-selling products, both regionally and globally. In 2023, Zoho CRM recorded 43 per cent year-on-year growth in the UAE. Zoho CRM for Everyone allows sales teams, the primary custodians of customer relationships, to communicate and coordinate with other customer-facing teams from a single place—the CRM application—instead of holding fragmented discussions. It enables account managers, for example, to pull in a solutions engineer to coordinate a product demonstration for a customer.

A marketer can perform win-loss analysis for specific deals. A community specialist can manage advocacy engagements like case studies. They may all use different core applications for deep work but can now converge on the CRM for managing shared responsibilities towards the customer. Besides opening up CRM access cross-functionally, Zoho CRM for Everyone also empowers every team to manage their own workflows autonomously within the corporate IT framework. The new capabilities stand to improve visibility for every stakeholder in the customer journey, mitigate gaps in coordination, reduce turnaround time, and improve the quality of the customer experience.

To make CRM for Everyone possible, the following capabilities have come together in Zoho CRM:

1. Team Modules and Requesters: Zoho CRM now lets teams create custom data sections (modules) to manage their specific needs. These “Team Modules” are controlled by IT but allow teams to add fields, set permissions, and automate workflows. Additionally, a new “Requester” user type lets anyone easily request deliverables from other teams and track progress within the relevant module.
2. Refreshed User Experience: This includes a new data organisation system with customisable modules and “Team Spaces,” allowing for quick switching and simplified workflow management through no-code or low-code options. Additionally, Zoho CRM prioritises accessibility in this release, incorporating features that cater to users with visual, motor, and interaction-based needs.

Building custom solutions out of a disparate mix of tools has consistently been a source of frustration for developers. Catalyst unifies pro-code development efforts and streamlines the entire lifecycle by abstracting away complexities, providing pre-built components, and offering a comprehensive suite of developer tools.
Catalyst’s newest offerings, available under early access, expand on developer logic, design, and delivery:
Signals: Routes events from sources like Zoho services, third-party sources, or custom applications to handlers (such as Catalyst Functions, Circuits, and so on.) using topics and subscriptions.

1. NoSQL Database: Allows users to store structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data while supporting diverse data types and scaling dynamically with high performance.
2. Slate: A fully managed frontend platform that lets developers easily build highly customised interfaces that leverage frameworks such as React.js, Next.js, Sveltekit, etc.
3. CI/CD Pipeline: Automates tests and builds for continuous delivery pipelines, streamlining development workflows for faster time-to-market.

Catalyst seamlessly integrates with the Zoho ecosystem and third-party applications, enabling developers to leverage existing infrastructure and data sources. The platform stands out with its transparent and cost-effective pricing model, empowering organisations of all sizes by eliminating hidden fees and offering predictable, scalable pricing.

Zoho Apptics offers a comprehensive application analytics platform for development and management teams. It unifies usage, performance, engagement, and growth data into actionable insights on a centralised console, empowering informed decision-making. The solution provides a unique feature to request in-app ratings and updates, simplifying user feedback management. Prioritising data privacy, Zoho Apptics exceeds industry standards and ensures responsible use of insights. Apptics supports multiple platforms covering Android, iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, iPadOS, Windows, React Native, Flutter, and Unity, with web analytics capabilities coming soon.