Zoho - Affordable software for individuals, small & medium business
I just came across Zoho today, and they have assembled an impressive list of Web 2.0 apps, most of which appear to be free or low-cost. The first application that I have used is Zoho Projects, which is a free project management tool that seems pretty decent (you sure can't beat the price). I was able to create a project plan for a demo platform that I'm working on in less than five minutes--try *that* in MS Project! Curiously, Zoho Projects does not appear in the list of Zoho apps--perhaps it's in beta and they're limiting access to people who come across it (like me).
Upon further investigation, I discovered that Zoho is actually a product of AdventNet, whom I worked with quite a bit as an industry analyst. AdventNet has quite a collection of enterprise management, security, database, software testing, and now collaboration/CRM (Zoho suite) products--they have been very busy! AdventNet got their start years ago by creating an SNMP toolkit that is embedded in many systems management products today.
I plan to try out the other online Zoho tools, which include an office suite (replete with a word processor, spreadsheet, collaboration software (email client, calendar, etc), chat client, presenter, planner, and even a CRM tool--quite an impressive list. Virtually all of them are 100% free with the exception of Zoho Virtual Office (the Outlook-like app), which is free for up to 10 users, and Zoho CRM, which is free for up to 3 users. I have not been able to find pricing for Zoho Project, but my guess is that it is free for up to a certain number of users.
In addition to the office tools, Zoho also includes a set of management tools, including a Website monitoring service (100% free!), a survey tool, and a tool for evaluating candidates--the latter is free for up to 25 candidates. Incredible.
This is by far the most complete set of apps that I've found in one place--rivaling what Google is trying to assemble with Writely, et al. Kudos to the AdventNet team for creating all of these apps, and for making most of them completely free!
