Zoho launched unified search across all of its applications today where it previously had search on individual apps. The new capability on this web conferencing platform means that people may search across all applications in one search query.

The search service makes Zoho one of the few services that can offer a search that spans multiple applications and in some respects puts Zoho into a much larger market. It provides potential customers with further incentive to use a software-as-a-service (SaaS) for productivity purposes and further distinguishes itself with Google Apps.

Zoho offers a full suite of services that in some respects mirrors Google Apps. Zoho also offers business apps for CRM; project  management; online reporting  and business intelligence; invoicing and additional services. So not only does Zoho unify search queries, but also the applications. This is compelling news for growing businesses and companies with multiple business units.

For example, a query can check:
* CRM for contact information
* An email system to view the emails you exchanged with the customer
* Document system to view agreements you have with the customer
* Other systems to get other pieces of data.

However, Zoho is not alone in offering unified search. There are a number of SaaS services, such as Sharepoint and Box.net that offer in-depth enterprise search capability.

As a partner with Google in the Google Apps Marketplace, Zoho has a history of offering services that mirror (and even complement to some degree) Google App. But they also offer a suite of services that put them more into the SaaS world of enterprise applications.

The newly launched search capability across the applications gives Zoho the opportunity to reach into a deeper market and serve existing customers with a service that makes it easier to connect and find the information they need to make fast decisions.