Cloud vendor says verticals most in need of help
Cloud SaaS company Zoho has introduced a Vertical Relief Plan (VRP) comprised of programs and tools to assist businesses and organisations in need across three verticals severely impacted by the crisis — education, non-profit/government, and Retail.
The Vertical Relief Plan is a way to support those people, whether they be teachers, government workers, or retailers, who are entirely committed to helping others and returning the world to solid ground, said Sridhar Vembu, Zoho co-founder and CEO.
“Beyond those on the front lines, there are workers in industries who are struggling, who are persevering, who are inventing new paths forward,” he said.
Around the world, an estimated 290 million students are out of school, according to one UNESCO survey. In response, local governments and NGOs have been stretched thin, lacking resources needed to keep people safe and economies going, said Vembu.
The VRP is a targeted effort to provide maximum assistance for businesses and organisations within these three industries that have been most critically hit during this crisis.
In addition to these programs, Zoho is encouraging small businesses, as well as finance, sales, marketing, and HR professionals within larger organisations to utilise discounts, training, and support programs that the company is offering to help them adapt to their changing roles during this time.
Key features of the Vertical Relief Plan include:
Zoho Creator COVID-19 App Program
The program helps non-profits, government bodies, and communities that are working on various programs like patient monitoring or food distribution to execute their mission more efficiently with the help of apps.
These organisations can place a request, and Zoho will build web and mobile apps for free using Zoho Creator, a low-code application development platform. Zoho can, for example, create tools to help non-profits or community groups organise shelters or distribute food or other essential services.
Since the program was piloted two weeks ago, it has received over 70 requests and has already delivered 10+ apps, including the Citizen Communication App and Medical Staff Management App for local government bodies in India.
For government agencies and departments around the world that are working on COVID-19 relief initiatives, Zoho is currently offering free software licenses of Zoho Desk, the company’s help desk software.
This offering is intended to support federal and local government bodies globally in their efforts to combat the pandemic. Zoho Desk provides teams with the tools to manage their work and communication, and support citizens as well as government agencies in this time of distress.
Increasingly, non-profits are turning to social media to drive donations and manage distribution pipelines. Governments are using social media more than ever to spread awareness and communicate breaking developments.
To aid these organisations reliant on social media, Zoho Social is opening up its advanced edition for free for six months. It is also honouring extension requests from users as well as providing educational guidance and tool improvements to aid users working remotely.
For non-profits working to provide relief during the pandemic, Zoho Checkout is available for free, enabling them to collect online donations easily.
EDUCATION
Zoho Classes, available for early access, is a new mobile application that enables educational and training institutes to serve their students online. This platform replaces the need for educators to deploy multiple, disintegrated apps including video content delivery, classroom communication apps, assignment management tools, as well as video-lesson and project-creation applications, and instead build the class on one platform.
Using Zoho Classes, teachers and institutions can upload courses, broadcast live classes, share assignments under set deadlines, and collect responses on one interface.
Zoho Classes is built with several layers of security ensuring the privacy and safety of users:
- In Zoho Classes, teachers and students log in to the same application, which means that anything being sent or received can be centrally monitored by the school principal or an administrator.
- Students can only join a group after an invitation is sent directly from their school.
- Zoho Classes, as with all Zoho products, runs on the company’s own data centers that adhere to the highest global security standards.
- Zoho Classes is completely free for government schools in India. For schools outside of India, the platform is free to up to 100 students.
Zoho ShowTime facilitates virtual collaborative learning and interactive events. It is a complementary tool to Zoho Classes aimed at more individualised and interactive learning environments including classroom breakouts or professional training. One-click access to ShowTime within Zoho Classes will be available in the coming weeks.
Zoho is offering all premium engagement features of ShowTime, from the Basic plan onwards, at no additional cost to users.
RETAIL
Retail storefronts, shuttered due to the crisis, can build out an online presence using the Zoho Commerce Starter Plan for free, up to 60 days.
For existing Zoho Commerce customers, the company is raising the transaction fee threshold to $3,000 in sales for the Starter Plan and to AUD$8,000 for the Pro Plan for the next 3 months to assist with tougher economic conditions.
Businesses providing essential services, such as retail or pharmaceuticals, can quickly set up their online presence by availing free training and rapid onboarding of Zoho Inventory, Zoho’s order management software, set up specially for them.
Additional Programs in Support of Change Management
This pandemic has created an unpredictable business landscape. While many industries and companies have been forced to furlough employees, others are hiring, including pharmacies, food service providers, and healthcare organisations. Whether growing or pivoting or simply trying to sustain business, Zoho is providing workers and companies additional support across several business categories.
