Reviewed in Last 12 Months How Alternatives Are Selected Zoho One is sold as a suite, but in my view it does not appear to be configured a fully integrated suite. Manual configuration, such as adding custom fields, is often needed to connect different parts of the "suite".
For example, Zoho CRM has a quote module. Zoho Books has a quote module. Yet they are separate pieces of software, with significantly different capabilities. There is no automatic synchronization between them.
Our use case requires the CIS (Construction Industry Scheme) tax capability of Zoho Books, which is not available in Zoho CRM. To build a workflow from lead to invoice, Zoho support recommended we use the Quote module in Zoho Books and integrate that with Zoho CRM by adding the Finance module to the CRM. We should then remove access to the native Zoho CRM Quote module.
Enabling this integration required manual configuration of custom fields in Zoho CRM to match the fields used in Zoho Books and Zoho Inventory.
Having completed the steps to set up fields, synchronization between all the parts, and allocate permissions to users, we thought we were finished. We were not.
Testing this basic integration between parts of the "suite" we discovered that the UI and functionality for Quotes in Zoho CRM (bizarrely labeled Estimates once integrated) is totally different to that of native Quotes in Zoho Books - which is where the functionality originates. The crucial CIS tax treatment option available in Zoho Books Quotes is not accessible in Zoho Books Quotes when initiated via the CRM integration. Zoho support was unable to provide an immediate fix. Our requirement for functions to be consistent within a single module is a developer level support issue. Response awaited - the 8 hour support SLA is not going to be met.
Configuring Zoho Campaigns and Zoho Landing pages had similarly needed manual configurations such as field matching to connect these Zoho products within the "suite" to Zoho CRM.
When evaluating Zoho One, ask probing questions, then test, to confirm if the integrations you need functionally exist without needing manual addition of fields and that they work coherently for your use case. Don't assume that just because it Zoho One is sold as a suite that it is fully pre-integrated.
Read all insights and reviews for Zoho One
Top Alternatives to MIP Fund Accounting
