PLEASANTON, Calif., Dec. 2 -- Zoho today announced Zoho CloudSQL, a middleware service that uses the familiar SQL (Structured Query Language) to connect business data stored in Zoho with traditional, on-premises applications as well as other SaaS offerings.

Zoho Reports, the company's online reporting and business intelligence service previously known as Zoho DB & Reports, is the first to support Zoho CloudSQL. In addition, Zoho Reports also added an HTTP-based API that lets users interact with their data programmatically.

"Zoho CloudSQL demonstrates Zoho's commitment to enable our customers to easily access and extend our services to suit their business needs," said Rodrigo Vaca, director of marketing at Zoho. "Customers can use this new technology to seamlessly blend the data and applications they have on-site with the data and applications they have in the cloud."

Zoho CloudSQL Debut

The Zoho CloudSQL middleware technology makes Zoho the first company to let users store and interact with business data stored in the cloud via SQL. While Zoho Reports is the first service to adopt Zoho CloudSQL, other Zoho services, including Zoho CRM, are planning to adopt the technology in the near future.

Programmatically accessing data in the cloud is not new, but most services require developers to learn yet another language or access method to be able to interact with it. "SQL is a very useful, powerful and widely used language -- there's no need to reinvent the wheel," said Vaca.

Zoho CloudSQL makes it easier for customers to access their data in the cloud because it leverages skills that most business application developers have. In addition, Zoho CloudSQL supports all major SQL dialects, including ANSI, Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, IBM DB2, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Informix database dialects. With Zoho CloudSQL, developers don't need to worry about using the "right" SQL dialect; they can continue using what they already know.

Zoho also provides a JDBC (Java Database Connectivity) driver for Zoho CloudSQL. An ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) driver will also be available shortly. Support for these database connectivity standards means that developers do not need to master web APIs in order to extend their services with Zoho. They can just continue using SQL drivers and statements as they already regularly interact with their premises-based databases using JDBC or ODBC drivers.

For more information on Zoho CloudSQL, visit http://cloudsql.zoho.com.

Zoho Reports API

The new HTTP-based API for Zoho Reports can be accessed through any application that supports HTTP requests. To help developers use the new service, Zoho is providing wrappers for Java, Python, and Google AppEngine. Wrappers for other popular languages will follow soon. The new API is ideal for developers to be able to easily complement their applications with reporting and analytics functionality without having to do the heavy-lifting themselves. For more information on Zoho Reports, visit http://reports.zoho.com.

About Zoho

Zoho is a comprehensive suite of award-winning on-line business applications. Customers use Zoho to run their business processes, manage their information and be more productive while at the office or on the go, without having to worry about expensive or outdated hardware or software. To date, Zoho has launched 19 different applications -- from CRM to Mail, Reports, and Wikis. Zoho has received numerous awards, including a 2008 PC World "25 Most Innovative Products Award" and a 2007 TechCrunch "Best Enterprise Start-up." Zoho is a division of AdventNet, a privately-held and profitable company. With headquarters in Pleasanton, Calif., and offices in Austin, New Jersey, London, Tokyo, and Beijing, AdventNet serves the technology needs of more than 40,000 customers worldwide. For more information about Zoho, visit http://www.zoho.com/.