October 3rd, 2007
Zoho adds database to office suite
Zoho is filling out it on demand suite with a database and reporting application. Zoho DB can convert spreadsheets into databases and supports pivot tables. It also supports SQL queries (Oracle, SQL Server, DB2, Sybase, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Informix and ANSI SQL dialects). ZohoDB has a rich drag and drop AJAX interface for creating reports and manipulating data. Along with Zoho Sheet and Zoho Creator, ZohoDB gives the company set of integrated business tools to go along with the usual office suite elements.
Databases, tables and views can be shared as read-only or read-write files. Tables, charts and views can be embedded within Web pages. ZohoDB currently supports tables of up to 25,000 rows.
At this point, Zoho has the lead in the completeness of its suite versus the other online suite makers–Google, Think Free and now Adobe.
It seems that Zoho is ripe for an acquisition by a bigger player who wanted a huge jumpstart in online productivity software. Zoho is funded by parent company AdventNet, which develops networking, security and management tools, and it would seem likely that it would spin off Zoho or sell it. Currently, Zoho is focused on gaining users rather than generating revenue.
Dan Farber, editor-in-chief of CNET News.com, has more than 20 years of experience as an editor and journalist covering technology. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
