Out of full disclosure I must tell you that, "Yes, I use Zoho One for certain modules", and two, "Zoho has consistently been a sponsor of the 'Top Advisor' Program over the years", but neither of those factors has any bearing on what I am writing in this article.
With that said, I will tell you that, in my opinion, "Zoho One is not an ERP as most ERP users would think of an ERP." But Zoho One is a great collection of more than 45 individual, interconnected business modules (you might want to call them 'Apps').
From a financial standpoint, Zoho Books is a great accounting software for small to medium-size businesses. If your business actively sells products (or services) the Zoho offers a CRM that plugs right into your Zoho Books. For the most part, all of the Zoho modules share a centralized database and unified data.
So, while Zoho One covers a broad range of business needs like finance, sales, marketing, eCommerce, procurement, project management, inventory, and Human Resources including Payroll, it does not provide the deep capabilities of multi-level bills of materials (BOMs), complex or batch manufacturing, nor shop-floor controls associated with traditional ERP systems. And, while it is true that some Zoho partners have been able to use 'Zoho Creator' to build customized features into Zoho One to make it more ERP-like, that doesn't make it an ERP either.
Now, at this point, some of you who read my recent article about Odoo may be asking, "But Murph, why did you consider Odoo and its collection of modules an ERP, yet you don't consider Zoho One an ERP?"
My answer is simple, "Odoo considers itself and ERP, but Zoho does not consider Zoho One an ERP!" And how do I know this? Not only have I had Zoho representatives tell me that, but more importantly, Zoho has already built a new Zoho ERP. Yes, that's what I said, "Zoho has already built a new ERP, from the ground up." In fact, I even told you about it six months ago.
Right now, in India, Zoho has been offering their new 'Zoho ERP' to significant success. In fact, it's been so successful that they are planning to offer it in the United States sometime in the near future. Now I don't expect the near future to be next week, or next month, but I would not be surprised that you see it either later this year, or early next.
Not only will Zoho ERP offer core financial features but sales (with CRM), omnichannel commerce, order management, sourcing and supply chain management, procurement and inventory, manufacturing and quality control, distribution and warehouse management, shipping & logistics, retail operations, subscription management and revenue recognition, project management, non-profit and fund accounting, HR and much more. And yes, it will offer multi-location, multi-entity, multi-currency capabilities, and reporting/analytics across the spectrum of functionality, location, entity and currency.
As I said, the new Zoho ERP is not just a collection of Zoho One modules plugged together, it's an entirely new product designed to be a true ERP.
So, while Zoho One is 'not an ERP', Zoho ERP is most certainly an ERP!
I, for one, am excited to see it in action once we have it available in the US, and that's why, even though this article is being covered by Insightful Accountant, The ERP Update will be covering Zoho ERP in greater depth as we get closer to the US release date.
Disclosures:
This feature (including graphics) was adapted (in part) from Zoho media source content including supporting materials from various Zoho websites. The article is provided solely for informational and educational purposes. Its publication does not represent an endorsement by Insightful Accountant or the author.
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