ZOHO: Software as a Service

The future of Software would be in offering Software as a Web Service. This would allow Users to use Web based tools to edit, write, collect and publish online. Most of Internet Users has only seen a glimpse of this new reality via increased use of search engines, web-based social networking tools, image archives, blogs and online collaboration tools. But a lot more is coming in form of web applications offering flexibility, increased availability & affordability, less dependency, more usability and heaps of other rich features. In this Blog, I am going to discuss about the most popular web based Project from ZOHO.

Introduction

ZOHO is one of the brands from AdventNet, a software company started in 1996 focusing on building affordable software for businesses. ZOHO Services hosts wide array of online WEB based Office Productivity Suite and Collaboration Applications that runs in almost any Web Browser and can be accessed from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. Zoho believes in offering Software as a service (SaaS) which would have huge productivity benefits to individuals and businesses.

Technology Used

ZOHO requires nothing but a bare browser. To accomplish this, it uses AJAX and Javascript on the front end. This means it works with any web browser. On the backend it uses MySQl and Java. The Operating System used is Linux. The infrastructure is designed such that Services are always up and data is always backed up, secured and protected.

ZOHO Application Suite

ZOHO provides a complete suite of applications, not just for documents and spreadsheets. Its office type offerings include Zoho Writer(Word Processor), Zoho Sheet (Spreadsheet), Zoho Show (Presentation), Zoho Wiki (WYSIWYG wiki), Zoho Meeting (Web Conferencing), Zoho Notebook, Zoho Creator (to Create Online Database & Web Applications).

Zoho also offers web based Business tools such as Zoho CRM (Elegant & Affordable On-Demand CRM Solution), Zoho Planner (an online organizer with todo, reminders, and notes) and Zoho Chat (a group chat tool), Zoho Mail that includes an email client, shared documents, calendars and more. It also offers Utilities like Zoho Polls (for Surveys, Rating, Polling) and Website Monitoring Service.

ZOHO Application Features

• Zoho based Applications are Cross Platform, always up-to-date, require no physical purchase, no download, no installation and no setup.
• Zoho Applications have a polished AJAX (WEB 2) interface and are faster to respond.
• Zoho Applications are born with built-in collaboration abilities and with the potential to do many things not possible on the desktop.
• Zoho Applications are easily affordable (most of them are free), available all the time from anywhere in the world with an internet connection and a browser.
  
• Zoho Application supports Document Sharing (TAG), features are easy to find and readily exposed.
• Zoho Office supports keyboard shortcuts as you would expect in an offline application.

Is ZOHO Free?
So, how much does it cost? Like Google Apps, Zoho offers FREE Versions of its most of the web based services but hopes to tempt Business Users and Volume Buyers with subscription plans that sharply undercut Microsoft.

Conclusion

Despite of competitive services from Google Docs, Thinkfree and other players, ZOHO continues to dominate the web based application market. ZOHO has experience of five years in developing web based applications. With their expertise in this area, they are not only developing useful web-based services but continues to improve on what they already offer.

So What are you waiting for? Just visit zoho.com and establish a sign-in name and a password. Zoho recently allowed users to sign on to the Suite's various services with a single ID.

SIW - System Information for Windows

I wanted to upgrade the Physical Memory (RAM) on one of the Windows Server and wanted to know the make/model/type of the RAM installed. I couldn't find any command or tool in Windows Operating System which could give me this information. I also didn't want to go to the Data Center and shutdown the server to get these details by physically looking at the Hardware.

There are several occasions when you want a central place where you can get all the information related to your hardware, software and network. Unfortunately, Windows System Properties & Device Manager doesn't help. Many other third party softwares also doesn't serve the purpose to a greater extent and moreover you have to pay for it.

I came across a very good software called System Information for Windows SIW . The software utility builds a detailed profile of your installed software, hardware and network and can create report in various formats.

SIW is very fast in retrieving both the constant information (OS Version, Software installed, Hardware Manufacturers, Models etc) the dynamic information (Opened files, running processes, network connections, hardware sensors etc).

The other advantages are that its a standalone utility and doesn't need to be installed. You can even run the utility from USB Flash drive or a floppy/network drive. Also, its supported on all Windows Platform. Moreover, the software is absolutely free.

This software utility could be very handy and useful in managing Software & Hardware Inventory, Asset Management, PC Auditing and for Compliance reasons. Its a great and must have tool for Administrators. You can find a complete review of the software here at Softpedia.

You can download the latest version of the software from here