Item: Zoho Analytics
Rating: 10
Author: John Sheldon II

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Our business is a marketing, sales, operations, and installation business. We have 11 departments and all need to share data to create a single source of truth. We had data in Zoho CRM for our marketing and sales teams, and we also had data in Zoho Projects for our Operations and Installations team. By utilizing Zoho Analytics we were able to merge the data together into a single platform by using data syncing. With all the information contained within Analytics, we are able to report and visualize the front and back halves of the business model. Doing so allows us to gain deep insights into all the milestones of a customer's journey. We have been able to make smarter business decisions as a result of the information Zoho Analytics has provided which has to lead to our company making the INC 5000 list 2 years in a row.

Pros and Cons

Allowing various types of data visualizations
Creating reports and dashboards that can be easily shared and accessible online
Deliver scheduled reports via email to various email groups
Sync with 3rd party software, such as Google Drive, to pull in data tables

With so many folders in Reports, it would be nice to have a collapse all folders option
A trouble tickets tracker would be helpful to keep up with various case numbers in a central place
The support can be difficult to get a hold of at times for real time assistance

Return on Investment

Decreased days from contract signing to installation from 80 to under 50
Increased accountability for all departments as they measure key metrics
Optimized operational processes to invest marketing and sales spend wiser

Usability

Out of the box, there are many things a user can do with little to no experience. There are also AI enhancements to assist in uncovering insights. Where things can get more complex are the various settings that reports and tables can have which are not as obvious to the undertrained eye. Fortunately, there are webinars and a whole digital library of learning videos to assist with upskilling and assisting.

Scalability

Extremely easy to replicate reports, and duplicate dashboards to ensure time savings and efficiency by replicating similar tables. The integrations allow for multiple third-party sources to sync with the software and allow for interactions that visualize the data. The data is stored in the cloud and has millions of rows of storage available to grow and evolve as needed.

Alternatives Considered

Microsoft Power BI and Pixel Perfect Reporting with Tableau

Zoho has an intuitive interface with WYSIWYG interfacing so that there is little to no coding required. The other platforms we looked at are powerful and perform similar tasks as Zoho, however, the pricing of Zoho is a significant value. Additionally, there are more and more organizations choosing Zoho Analytics so the conversations are becoming more normal when discussing BI software and Zoho Analytics is a familiar topic.

Key Insights

Do you think Zoho Analytics delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Zoho Analytics's feature set?

Yes

Did Zoho Analytics live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Zoho Analytics go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Zoho Analytics again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Adobe Acrobat Sign, Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365), Mailchimp

Likelihood to Recommend

Well Suited:- Visualizing data into dashboards - Delivering reports to end-users at a pre-scheduled time, such as the end of day reports- Creating slideshows for TV displays Not Suited:- Real-time data updates (earliest automated sync is 3 hours, unless otherwise manually fetched)- Editing source data from integrated tables as it mainly displays data that is provided from external sources

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Software Version

Overall Satisfaction with Zoho Analytics (formerly Zoho Reports)