This year Gordon Mankelow celebrates 25 years of being in business with his company Relativity. He describes himself as a Business Technology specialist and for the past 12 years he has been a Zoho Authorised partner. He was drawn to this private company because it is driven by the needs of its customers. Coincidentally, Zoho’s roots date back to 1996 with the creation of Advent Inc. with the name change to Zoho in 2005 when Zoho CRM was released. Zoho ticked a lot of the boxes for Gordon, particularly with its cloud-based applications and today the company has 40+ enterprise-level systems. In March 2006, Zoho Creator was launched, described by Zoho as its most powerful application and today almost 1m apps have been built using this custom-application builder. Writing and Blogging caught up with Gordon and asked him to give his personal insight into Zoho Creator.
Briefly describe what Zoho Creator is?
It’s a rapid applications development system which is easy to set up as relatively complex applications can be developed by just dragging and dropping without the use of any advanced code. Apps can subsequently be created to run any business.
What types of businesses would benefit from Zoho Creator?
Zoho Creator is suitable for all sizes of business with SMEs being able to use it without any expert coding knowledge. It can be used for organising finances, events and training and will run on all devices, which is a must today.
What benefits does Zoho Creator have and what problems does it solve?
You don’t have to worry about an infrastructure, as there are no servers. It’s scalable and being cloud-based it’s totally secure and is continually being updated. Zoho products are very popular in the UK and have a good following, so there’s lots of help around and it can be customised to your requirements. You decide how many licences you need and there’s lots of flexibility particularly if you have a fluctuating number of users, as you can just pay for what you need.
Why use Zoho Creator?
It automates your processes so that you have a single system, which can be shared and everyone you want to can see the data. You can work from anywhere in the world and because of its customisation, simple systems can be set up to help your business in an ancillary way such as organising transportation, entertainment and hospitality.
Although it is an easy-to-use low code development tool, it requires use of proprietary scripting language to unlock its full customisation and automation power?
This only really applies if your company is expanding and when you reach this point, you’ll need more expert programming, a bit more than dragging and dropping to create the bespoke system that will fulfil your requirements.
It has a wide selection of pre-built app templates and fields. Describe these in more detail?
A record template for a form allows you to present the data in each of its records in a structured way. These can be used to create estimates, brochures, certificates, newsletters, campaign emails and visiting cards and can be downloaded and customised as required.
How would you sum up Zoho Creator?
The future of work is digital, and businesses of all sizes need to transform fast. Zoho Creator is a low-code platform that gives you the power to make the shift quickly, securely and seamlessly—regardless of the complexity of your requirements and coding expertise.
How can Relativity help me if I want to know more about Zoho Creator and the other Zoho apps?
Relativity will be able to give you constructive advice on the best route for your business helping you to find the best applications for your needs. You’ll get ongoing support and our knowledge and expertise so that your business can grow and move forwards in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible.
You have recently become a "Zoho Creator Certified Developer - Professional" and are actually one of the first Professional level developers in the UK. Can you tell us more about this achievement?
We had to submit 3-4 video case studies showing our level of programming, systems design, and integrations to other systems as well as including customer details for testimonial purposes. Incidentally, the Professional level is a new level and the highest level you can be awarded by Zoho. Previously, it was the Associate level, which I held. I’m delighted to have achieved this certification as it does verify my expertise in what I do.
Congratulations Gordon Mankelow on 25 years in business with Relativity and on your certification as a "Zoho Creator Certified Developer - Professional". I personally wish you many more years of success in your business.
Thank you for the interview.
