Zoho has announced a strategic alliance with KPMG India. KPMG will support the digital transformation of Indian organisations through the deployment of Zoho’s 60+ applications. KPMG delivers a platform approach to customers using the integrated suite of Zoho Apps.
Zoho signed an agreement with PwC in July 2023, marking its first major global SI alliance in India. In recent months, Zoho has achieved significant growth in India. Especially in the Indian government, for whom it now supports over 1.2 million email accounts. This new alliance will see it accelerate growth in India.
The alliance will focus on mid-sized and enterprise clients, supporting them through the transformation lifecycle. KPMG in India and Zoho plan to work together across the transformation lifecycle, from advisory and strategy to implementation and managed services. The alliance gives enterprises a coordinated way to modernise operations while strengthening governance, scalability, and long-term value.
The collaboration will use a flexible structure spanning alliance, managed services, and reseller models, allowing the firms to tailor client engagement and solution delivery.
Unaise Urfi, Partner, Digital Solutions and Strategy, KPMG in India, said “Our alliance with Zoho marks a significant milestone in enhancing collaboration with technology partners, reflecting KPMG in India’s focus on supporting clients as they navigate the evolving landscape of business and technology.
“By bringing together our advisory-led driven expertise with Zoho’s scalable cloud solutions, the collaboration is intended to help organisations explore a more integrated approach to transformation initiatives.
“This collaboration creates an opportunity to support enterprises in aligning technology adoption with their broader strategic objectives. Ultimately, the alliance underscores a commitment to leveraging complementary strengths, with the aim of helping both organizations address a broader range of transformation opportunities for clients.”
How will KPMG India and Zoho work together
The announcement revealed a set of six areas where the two companies will work together.
- Joint Go-To-Market (GTM): Collaboration on marketing strategies and identification of potential opportunities
- Co-selling and co-delivery: Coordinated pursuit and execution of engagements with defined delivery roles
- Managed services offerings: Use of Zoho solutions within KPMG-led service delivery models
- Reseller enablement: Integration of Zoho services with consulting-led offerings
- Joint marketing and promotion: Participation in events, co-branded initiatives, and industry engagement
- Solution development: Development of industry-specific and use-case-driven offerings aligned to market needs
The list is impressive in its breadth and scope, though KPMG has not provided details about the investment into any India Zoho practice. KPMG already uses several Zoho applications internally, including Zoho CRM, Zoho One, Zoho Creator and Zoho Desk.
Bishan Singh, Director, Global Partner Program at Zoho, said “Businesses in India are sitting on enormous potential to scale digitally. But disparate tools, siloed data, and integration hassles hold most of them back. This broken digital foundation also limits how far AI initiatives can scale.
“Our alliance with KPMG in India allows enterprises to leverage Zoho’s technology stack together with KPMG in India’s advisory expertise to build integrated cloud solutions for elevated experiences, intelligent automation, seamless collaboration, and data-driven decision making.”
“Today, with data protection and residency regulations tightening across India, Zoho owning the entire technology stack, including the AI layer built into it, means enterprises won’t have to compromise on privacy, data residency, or governance.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
KPMG in India and Zoho aim to combine advisory expertise with Zoho’s cloud portfolio to address evolving technology needs across industries. For KPMG, this alliance provides access to a vendor with a significant presence in the Indian public and private sectors. As the Indian government promotes the Swadeshi movement (buy local), this partnership aligns with the country’s shift toward proven local vendors like Zoho.
For Zoho, this is a significant step in forging alliances with Global SIs. While this agreement currently applies only to India, its success will likely influence other regions where Zoho is growing. Regions such as Europe, the Middle East, and the US, potentially driving further SI alliances.
