Zoho’s homegrown messaging platform Arattai aims to provide alternatives to global apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram. CEO Mani Vembu tells Ojasvi Gupta during an interaction that since the company owns its tech stack, costs can be kept in check. Excerpts:

What is the thinking around a ‘Made In India’ software suite for Zoho? How does the cost dynamics remain when building an indigenous presence?

The Zoho brand was started in 2005, and with that, we became one of the first SaaS (software as a service) vendors from India–certainly the first from Chennai. Many former employees have gone on to create successful SaaS companies in Chennai, creating an ecosystem that has turned the city into a SaaS hub. We believe not just in ‘Made in India’ but ‘Made in Rural India’. Staying away from large c

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