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Tag: Global technology company

  • Zoho Corporation Unveils Nathu La, a Designed-in-House Server, in a Move Towards Technological Sovereignty

    Zoho Corporation Unveils Nathu La, a Designed-in-House Server, in a Move Towards Technological Sovereignty

    …The server will help the company bring down the total cost of ownership by 20-30% and power consumption by 12-18%, in turn reducing inference cost.

    Zoho Corporation, a global technology company and parent company of Zoho and ManageEngine, announced the launch of Nathu La, a designed-in-house server and a pivotal step in the company’s journey towards building its full technology stack, from the hardware layer to software applications.

    With Nathu La, Zoho has achieved equivalent performance with 12-18% lower power consumption and 20-30% lower total cost of ownership (TCO), thereby reducing inference costs. The Nathu La server, comprising Intel® Xeon® 6 processors, was developed collaboratively with Intel, leveraging their enablement capabilities and technical expertise.

    “Zoho Corporation has invested in building its own technology stack from the ground up over the last three decades. The Nathu La server launch is in line with that goal,” said Kehinde Ogundare, Country Head, Zoho Nigeria. “With our strategy of using contextual, right-sized models, running on our own platform, on our own servers, in our own data centres, we are compounding the benefits accrued from owning and operating our entire technology stack. This ensures that our solutions are more sustainable and accessible for businesses. These long-term R&D investments we are making at every layer of the stack are aimed at delivering customer value.”

    Building the Full Technology Stack

    The design philosophy behind Nathu La is rooted in the Open Compute Project (OCP), emphasising modularity, thermal efficiency, and ease of maintenance. This enables Zoho’s data centres to significantly reduce total cost of ownership and power consumption.

    Zoho plans to host its applications on the Nathu La server platform, enabling the company to optimise the full software-hardware stack for its specific workloads, reduce costs, improve performance, and strengthen data governance for its global customers. This will also help bring down inference costs for Zoho’s AI usage.

    Developed Hardware Engineering Talent

    In 2020, Zoho established a small R&D team in Nagpur, a Tier 2 town in India, focused on projects such as server design and systems engineering. Members of the Nathu La R&D team include hires from SETU – short for Student’s Engagement for Transformative Upskilling – an initiative designed to build a pipeline of industry-ready engineers, with a focus on advanced learning in Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM).

    The initiative directly addresses the growing need for stronger foundational engineering skills in an era increasingly influenced by AI-assisted development. By prioritising hands-on innovation and first-principles problem-solving, SETU helps cultivate deeper research capabilities, creativity, and applied engineering expertise. To date, over 300 students have been trained through the programme, some of whom have joined Zoho.

    What’s Inside

    The Nathu La server motherboard and chassis platform is the result of five years of R&D across hardware, firmware, and systems management. Based on Intel® Xeon® 6 Processors, the server is designed to optimise performance for virtualisation (VM), High Performance Computing (HPC), AI inference, and storage applications. This results in improved performance of Zoho applications for end users.

    The server features customised power delivery subsystems, an in-house DC-SCM (Data Centre Secure Control Module) design, and modular chassis options compatible with diverse end-user environments, offering flexibility across deployment types.

    All modular components – including the DC-SCM and NIC (Network Interface Card) – were designed in-house by Zoho’s hardware engineering team and assembled through electronics manufacturing partners, enabling tighter integration and quality control across the platform. Over five patents have been filed covering advanced thermal management and cost-optimised server architecture designs.

    Moving Towards Technological Sovereignty

    Nathu La is engineered with hardware-rooted security at every layer of the stack. The platform’s indigenous IP-driven approach reduces dependency on external entities for security audits, firmware updates, and licensing continuity.

    The solution aligns with open-source software principles and reflects Zoho’s broader commitment to building sustainable, secure, and scalable digital infrastructure. It also supports the growing global focus on digital sovereignty, local innovation ecosystems, and high-performance computing capabilities.

  • Zoho One Introduces a Unified and Intelligent Platform Experience for Modern Workplaces

    Zoho One Introduces a Unified and Intelligent Platform Experience for Modern Workplaces

     Zoho Corporation, a global technology company has announced numerous enhancements to Zoho One, its all-in-one business software platform. The latest update introduces a reimagined user experience designed to make collaboration easier, improve security, and deliver deeper intelligence across all 50+ applications. With this release, Zoho One offers a more connected and context-aware environment for organisations of all sizes.

    “The Zoho One update reflects how work has evolved from using individual applications to operating within a unified platform,” said Kehinde Ogundare, Country Head, Zoho Nigeria. “Zoho One customers are not simply licensing apps; they are choosing a solution that allows Zoho to handle the technology while they focus on productivity. The enhancements announced today deliver a cohesive experience built on unified integrations, context, and data.”

    Since its launch in 2017, Zoho One has grown to support more than 75,000 organisations worldwide, with customers using an average of 22 applications within the suite. The platform’s extensive integrations, privacy-focused architecture, and consolidated technology stack ensure reliability and consistency for businesses looking to streamline operations.

    A Reimagined User Experience

    Zoho One’s new interface places context at the centre of the user journey and removes traditional boundaries between applications. Spaces now organise tools by purpose—such as Personal, Organisation, and Department-specific groups—enabling employees to access what they need without switching between apps. A centralised search bar spans the entire ecosystem, allowing users to find information or trigger workflows instantly.

    An enhanced Action Panel provides a full view of upcoming meetings, unread messages, pending tasks, and other key updates, helping employees remain informed regardless of which app they are using. The updated Dashboard consolidates data from Zoho and third-party apps into one central hub that can be customised using pre-existing or bespoke widgets.

    The platform also introduces Vani, a new visual-first collaboration space that supports brainstorming, planning, and creation through diagrams, whiteboards, mind maps, and integrated video calling.

    Native Integrations for Better Security and Efficiency

    Zoho One continues to strengthen its position as a unified business operating system by offering native integrations across Zoho’s suite and with third-party applications. This reduces external entry points and supports faster anomaly detection. With Zoho Directory included, administrators also gain a secure platform for managing workforce identity and access within the same unified system.

    A central integrations panel enables administrators to monitor and configure all connections. Foundational integrations bring application-specific portals—Zoho or third-party—into a single unified portal. Practical tasks such as domain verification and authentication can now be configured more easily.

    The new Smart Offboarding feature introduces outcome-based integrations, allowing organisations to transfer department ownership, manage employee device data, and determine data access rights within a single workflow, ensuring smooth transitions.

    Contextual Intelligence Powered by Zia

    Zia, Zoho’s AI assistant, is now accessible throughout Zoho One, providing unified intelligence that supports decision-making and improves productivity. Zia can aggregate and contextualise information from various platforms, including third-party systems such as Google Workspace, and present it as clear, actionable insight.

    Zia Hubs, the platform’s intelligent content management system, now has a dedicated space where contracts, meeting recordings, and other important assets are automatically organised. Through Zia Search, employees can quickly surface relevant information without navigating multiple locations.

    Ask Zia, available from the bottom toolbar, enables prompt-based searches across Zoho One, providing quick visibility into schedules, tasks, recent interactions, and other key details.

  • Zoho Partners with Babcock University to Empower and Upskill the Youth Through the Young Creators Program

    Zoho Partners with Babcock University to Empower and Upskill the Youth Through the Young Creators Program

    Zoho, a global technology company, has partnered with Babcock University through the Babcock Centre for Executive Development (BCED) to empower students with hands-on digital skills in low-code application development. Through the Young Creators Program, Zoho trained over 50 students across disciplines—including Computer Science, Business, and Information Technology—to build business-ready applications using Zoho Creator, the company’s low-code development platform.

    The three day workshop introduced students to practical problem-solving using the latest advancements in cloud technology, enabling them to design and develop custom business solutions without advanced programming knowledge. The program also fostered a deeper understanding of how low-code tools can support entrepreneurship and digital transformation.

    “As part of our commitment to supporting local talent development in Nigeria, we are excited to collaborate with Babcock University to equip students with future-ready digital skills,” said Kehinde Ogundare, Country Head, Zoho Nigeria. ” Through the Young Creators Program, we aim to empower young innovators to build solutions that solve real business challenges while strengthening the local technology ecosystem.”

    This initiative also marks the beginning of a broader strategic collaboration between Zoho and BCED. Both organisations will continue to work together to deliver additional training programs, interactive workshops and innovation-focused events. Discussions are also underway to add Zoho’s apps to BCED’s entrepreneurship curriculum, ensuring that students learn how they can apply digital solutions for various business problems.

    “We are committed to preparing our students for leadership in a rapidly evolving digital economy,” said Dr. Ayodeji Ajibade is the Director of the Babcock Entrepreneurship Development Centre (BEDC) at Babcock University in Nigeria. “Partnering with Zoho strengthens our mission by providing students with access to industry-standard tools and practical learning experiences that bridge the gap between classroom knowledge and real-world application.”

    The Young Creators Program forms part of Zoho’s global effort to promote digital literacy and support innovation among young people. Launched in 2022, the program has trained more than 2000+ students around the world, providing them with the tools and confidence to pursue careers and entrepreneurial ventures in the technology space.

  • Zoho Expands AI Access with Free Agentic Tools for Businesses

    Zoho Expands AI Access with Free Agentic Tools for Businesses

    Zoho, a global technology company, today announced the launch of new agentic AI features across three key product categories—collaboration, customer experience, and human resources. These new capabilities are designed to help businesses enhance productivity, automate routine tasks, and focus on higher-value work. The features are available immediately at no additional cost across Zoho’s suite of business applications.

    The announcement builds on Zoho’s broader AI strategy, which includes Zia Hubs, a system that enables AI access to unstructured company data, and Zia LLM, Zoho’s proprietary large language model developed specifically for business use. Alongside Zia, Zoho’s long-standing AI assistant, these innovations form the foundation of the company’s agentic AI approach—helping businesses gain deeper insights and efficiency from their data across Zoho’s platform of more than 55 integrated applications.

    “Businesses are increasingly eager to leverage AI but often face obstacles such as high implementation costs, data readiness challenges, and fragmented systems,” said Kehinde Ogundare, Country Head, Zoho Nigeria. “Zoho’s unified, homegrown technology stack eliminates these barriers by allowing advanced AI features to be deployed automatically and at no extra cost. Our customers don’t need to invest in third-party integrations or additional tools—the technology simply arrives and works. This approach makes AI adoption practical, affordable, and impactful for businesses across the continent.”

    The new agentic features build on Zoho’s existing AI ecosystem, which already includes Zia Agents, Zia Agent Studio, and Agent Marketplace. These intelligent tools allow users to perform complex, cross-functional actions such as creating contracts from multiple files, checking team availability before scheduling meetings, or automatically converting sales queries from Zoho Mail into CRM leads without manual effort.

    Within Zoho Workplace, the company’s collaboration suite, AI upgrades have been introduced across Mail, Cliq, Sheet, and Tables. The enhanced Ask Zia assistant can now process multi-step commands spanning multiple applications, while Zoho Tables introduces AI Base Creation to help users instantly generate complete data structures from a short prompt. Additional AI-powered features such as Keyword Extraction, Sentiment Analysis, and Language Detection simplify data management and analysis.

    In the customer experience category, Zoho Desk, used by over 100,000 businesses globally, now includes pre-built Zia Agents like the Resolution Expert, which records and learns from support ticket resolutions to improve future service. Meanwhile, Zoho Sign, a secure digital signature platform, now offers Agreement Intelligence, enabling users to draft and query contracts using Ask Zia without relying on third-party tools.

    In human resources, Zoho Recruit introduces new agentic AI features that improve candidate matching and assessment creation. Zia’s Candidate and Job Match features analyse CVs and job descriptions to ensure better hiring outcomes, while AI-Assisted Assessment Generation automatically creates complete tests tailored to each role—saving time and ensuring fair, efficient evaluations.

  • Not Using Unified Collaboration Platform Resulting in Productivity Loss for Nigerian Businesses, Reveals Zoho’s Survey

    Not Using Unified Collaboration Platform Resulting in Productivity Loss for Nigerian Businesses, Reveals Zoho’s Survey

    Zoho, a leading global technology company, has unveiled the results of its study, “The State of Productivity and Collaboration in Nigeria, 2024”, which surveyed over 500 organisations with more than 50 employees across the country. The findings reveal critical workplace productivity challenges, including the overwhelming impact of data silos resulting from fragmented systems and inefficient app usage. The survey study also highlights the growing demand for unified platforms, which can help businesses streamline employee collaboration.

    “Nigerian businesses have adopted a variety of cloud tools over the years to support their digital transformation journey. However, they are beginning to recognise that these disconnected tools often lack integration with their existing technology stack, creating silos that hinder collaboration and lead to productivity losses. As this issue gains attention, the demand for unified collaboration platforms with advanced AI capabilities has surged, as corroborated by the survey findings. In Nigeria, we’ve observed a notable increase in the adoption of Zoho Workplace, reflecting this trend. Zoho Workplace set the standard for a unified experience as early as 2017, well ahead of the industry giants. It offers not just a unified interface, but brings contextual data to the forefront, saving time, and enabling users to focus on what truly matters,” said Kehinde Ogundare, Country Head, Zoho Nigeria.

    Key Findings from the Study

    The study shows that 55% of Nigerian businesses have adopted a fully on-site work model, while 31% operate in a hybrid setup, and the remaining 14% were in completely remote roles. Most remote roles are held by individual contributors with limited collaboration requirements, while hybrid workers face significant barriers in maintaining effective communication.

    The survey also revealed that 51% of employees use 1–5 apps daily, 35% use 6-10 apps, while 14% rely on more than 10 apps. App usage is higher among senior executives, with 81% of the C-Suite employees using more than 10 apps, while 72% of junior employees use 1-5 apps. The most commonly used tools are for productivity and collaboration (68%), followed by project management (47%), business intelligence (47%), and accounting (43%). Despite widespread app usage, only 50% of the respondents track their tasks in a unified view, with higher adoption rates among the C-Suite (78%) and senior leadership (63%).

    Productivity Challenges and Opportunities

    For the Nigerian workforce, the biggest collaboration challenge is poor WiFi/data connectivity (80%), across demographics. This indicates the need for solutions that have an offline mode and can work in lower data connectivity.

    Other collaboration challenges are digital fatigue (54%), and information spread across too many apps (45%). For middle managers, the second biggest challenge, after poor WiFi, is communication with employees in a remote or hybrid setup. According to the respondents, the most effective way to improve productivity in Nigerian workplaces is to enable quick access to necessary information from different apps (78%), followed by adoption of new technologies like AI (72%), and the ability to communicate from within business apps (55%).

    There is a clear demand for unified collaboration platforms bolstered with AI capabilities that can be integrated into existing software ecosystems. Such solutions will not only help in reducing the time taken to do the job, but can also reduce digital fatigue as one will not have to juggle multiple apps.

    The Economic Outlook

    As per the survey, 51% of the respondents said their organisation had adopted new technology to prepare themselves for the economic challenges. Those who said their companies had adopted new technology were more positive about the ability of their company to deal with the competition (rating 4 out of 5) than those who said their company had not adopted new technology (rating a little over 3 out of 5). However, largely, respondents feel their companies are adequately prepared to face economic challenges (57%).

    In fact, according to the findings, slow adoption of emerging technologies like AI emerged as the most significant factor hindering their ability to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving market, cited by 46% of the respondents. Other reasons cited as causing competitive disadvantages were low adoption of digital tools (45%), and employees switching between too many apps (41%).

    Zoho Workplace

    Zoho Workplace is a unified collaboration platform that brings together communication, collaboration, and productivity applications, showing all relevant information and tasks in a single view. It comprises email, chat, online meeting, webinar, office suite (word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation), file storage, and social intranet.

  • SLB Opens New Regional Office in Lagos

    SLB Opens New Regional Office in Lagos

    Global technology company, SLB (formerly known as Schlumberger), officially opened its new West Africa regional office in Lagos, Nigeria. In October 2022, the company launched a new identity focusing on energy innovation and decarbonization to address today’s world’s energy needs and forge the road ahead for the energy transition. The new West Africa office reflects this new identity and will optimize employee experience and create a sustainable business environment for all stakeholders.

    Its modern design embodies the company’s bold sustainability roadmap through daylight harvesting, interactive and collaborative hotspots for employees, disability access and other exciting features that bring forward the company’s evolved identity and culture.

    Delivering his speech at the opening in Lagos, Sopiribo Ideriah, managing director for SLB in West Africa countries, said,” As a technology leader, our unmatched market breadth, differentiated performance, and unique portfolio of products and service, has always positioned us for growth and advancement in the energy industry. All of this is owed to our people, who are the backbone of our organization. I want to thank all SLB staff – past and present – for their commitment and passion in delivering high quality services to our customers.”

    The ceremony coincided with the celebration of the 70th Anniversary of SLB’s presence in Nigeria. “For seven decades, SLB has worked in Nigeria as a local company.  In 1952, SLB logged Nigeria’s first commercial oil well in Oloibiri, Bayelsa State, and has since logged several other historic wells in the country.  Our ability to continuously drive technology innovation has led to the development of new oilfield technologies that enhance our customers’ operational performance, while maintaining the highest standards in HSE, ultimately delivering value to all our stakeholders. Investing in local socio-economic projects and developing local talent through our borderless career culture, we have significantly contributed to the capacity development of Nigeria and are confident that we will continue to do business in ways that benefit our people, society, and the country.” Ideriah added.

    Also speaking at the event, Wallace Pescarini, president of the Offshore Atlantic Basin at SLB, said “I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to our various stakeholders for their support over the years, including our clients, suppliers, contractors, and other business partners. We are thrilled to live our purpose of creating amazing technology to unlock access to energy for the benefit of all and could not have achieved this without your trust. As we look to the future and its evolving energy landscape, we remain committed to creating value for our customers and key stakeholders in Nigeria.”

    Following the opening of its regional head office, SLB hosted key stakeholders at a dinner ceremony where the company’s historic past and innovative present were recognized and celebrated.