Why Pace Digitek chose Zoho Creator over SAP B1

The company

Founded in 2003, Pace Digitek plays a pivotal role in developing telecom infrastructure across Asia and Africa, with a turnover of Rs. 2,500 crores (approx $ 296M). Their operations include laying fiber optic cable, providing power management solutions, and maintaining telecom towers. Over the years, Pace Digitek has even expanded into solar and renewable energy solutions, alongside infrastructure services in regions like Africa, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka.

The challenge

Pace Digitek initially used SAP Business One (SAP B1) to manage their operations, but the system wasn’t able to support the company’s growing needs, especially in handling large volumes of data, reports, and workflow management. The existing system lacked efficiency and scalability to manage complex processes like document management, financial transactions, and real-time approvals across their many projects.

Why Zoho Creator?

After evaluating various platforms, the organization chose Zoho Creator for its low-code capabilities and flexibility. With the help of LaYa Solutions, a Zoho Partner based out of Chennai, the company started by developing a document management system (DMS), but soon realized the platform could handle much more. Zoho Creator allowed them to create customized workflows and manage large amounts of data efficiently, all while reducing operational costs and improving performance tracking.

The solution

Initially designed as a small add-on to their existing processes, the DMS quickly became essential to their operations, making processes faster and more organized across all regions. With Zoho Creator, employees in different states and regions—including Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Leh Ladakh, Uttarakhand, and Andaman & Nicobar—can now upload documents digitally and track approvals in real time. This has cut their document processing time from 45 days down to hours, allowing them to catch and fix errors quickly, all without needing to send physical copies. The result is a smoother workflow, faster approvals, and immediate responses to issues that used to take considerable time to address.

Pace Digitek also developed applications for financial transactions, which have significantly sped up their payment process. Previously, it took days for invoices to travel from one office to another, delaying payments. Now, vendors across states upload invoices directly to the system, enabling faster verification, approval, and payment—all from a single platform.

In addition, Pace Digitek created custom applications for inventory management, manufacturing ERP, and tower erection tracking. These tools have made it easy to track supplies, monitor production progress, and oversee their large telecom projects—BSNL 4G saturation project, for example—in real time. The ticketing system for service requests also ensures that maintenance issues are addressed promptly, keeping their telecom infrastructure running smoothly.

Each application works together to provide employees and teams with real-time data and insights, helping Pace Digitek meet their goals with greater efficiency and transparency. Zoho Creator has become a critical tool that helps Pace Digitek manage projects, improve performance, and move quickly on key initiatives.

Here are the applications Pace Digitek built with Creator:

Document management system (DMS)

Employees across continents can upload, review, and approve documents digitally through this application, eliminating delays from physical document transfers. With Zoho Creator, the process time for document verification and approval was cut drastically.

Manufacturing ERP

This custom ERP system oversees Pace Digitek’s manufacturing processes, from assembly to inventory management. The ERP ensures that production runs smoothly and that supplies are tracked accurately, supporting the delivery of telecom power solutions and components.

Tower erection tracker

The organization manages their telecom projects through this solution, which helps them track each stage of tower erection.

Battery manufacturing monitor

This tool helps Pace Digitek organize inventory, track production stages, and manage dispatches for telecom batteries. The application ensures availability of critical components, supporting Pace Digitek’s infrastructure projects without delays.

Financial transactions and invoicing app

With this application, Pace Digitek streamlined their invoicing process. Vendors from different regions upload invoices directly, which speeds up approvals and payments. Previously, document transfer and verification took up to 45 days; now this is completed in hours.

Ticketing system

This application organizes service requests and tracks their status, helping Pace Digitek provide high-quality support across their telecom infrastructure. By managing tickets efficiently, they can ensure faster issue resolution.

Benefits and ROI

Zoho Creator transformed Pace Digitek’s operations by drastically reducing project timelines, improving data transparency, and ensuring smooth approval processes across multiple locations. This migration helped the company save time and money while maintaining high-quality standards in telecom infrastructure..

Looking forward

Pace Digitek is now expanding their use of Zoho Creator into more areas of their business, including the development of a comprehensive manufacturing ERP system to manage all telecom-related projects. With their next phase focusing on end-to-end telecom solutions, the company expects to see continued success and scalability through Zoho Creator.