Zoho is one of the few companies aiming to be not just a component of Web Office, but instead to offer a complete, integrated Web Office solution. They have many of the bits and pieces, including the large and important components, such as a blogging platform. They also have some whiz-bang interesting tools, such as an AJAX powered word-processor called Zoho Writer and a similar tool called Zoho Sheet. These tools prove that the Zoho team is capable.

However, as I have said before, I do not believe that most major companies will have much use for a web based word processor or spreadsheet. But, I think the Zoho team gets this point. Or at least, they get that Web Office is about extending the capabilities of existing tools, rather than simply replicating those tools on the web. Zoho's response is Zoho Creator. It isn't 100% ready for prime time, but Zoho Creator represents the wave of the future. With Zoho Creator, knowledge workers can easily create very simple list style applications in minutes. Keep track of the people donating blood in you blood bank (not sure about the privacy issues) or a To Do list.

The most amazing thing about Zoho Creator is that you can cut and paste your new mini application into your blog or wiki page.

Thus, Zoho Creator is an AJAX Badge that knowledge workers can use to build customized web based applications, which they can then deploy within the context of existing Web Office tools such as a Project Blog. Add a customized To Do list in one post. Add a customized Milestones list in another post.

To do this today, knowledge workers usually use Excel spreadsheets to keep track of these kinds of things. Zoho Creator changes the nature of the tools used to address the problem so significantly, that the existing MS Office tools are simply rendered irrelevant.

It is true that Zoho Creator has a long way to go. Issues like security and integrated access control need to be worked out. See Simple Cut & Paste Request for more details. However, they have made an interesting start.