Zoho Picks Blue Ocean for MENA Training and Certification

In Short

Zoho has named Blue Ocean Corporation its authorised training partner and certifier for the Middle East and North Africa. The move expands access to Zoho training and official certifications across the region.

What Happened

Zoho, a global software company, has signed a partnership with Blue Ocean Corporation in Dubai. Under the agreement, Blue Ocean will run Zoho training programmes and issue official Zoho certifications.

The training is open to a wide range of participants across the MENA region, with no stated eligibility requirements. Zoho said it is targeting students, partners, and working professionals.

The programme covers common business software functions, including sales and marketing, finance, human resources, customer support, productivity, and developer tools. In practical terms, this means learners can get structured training on how to use Zoho apps to run day-to-day work, like tracking customers in a CRM (customer relationship management system, which is a database for sales and support interactions) or managing invoices and books.

Zoho’s Middle East and Africa CEO Hyther Nizam said demand for Zoho skills is rising as more organisations adopt digital platforms. Blue Ocean chairman and managing director Dr. Sathya Menon framed the partnership as workforce development tied to workplace needs.

Blue Ocean said it previously used Zoho products in its own operations, including Zoho One, Zoho CRM, and Zoho Books, and that experience informed the partnership.

Why It Matters

For employers, vendor-led certification programmes can make hiring easier by creating a clearer skills signal. A certificate does not guarantee experience, but it can standardise what “Zoho-ready” means for roles in sales ops, finance ops, HR, and support.

For professionals across Africa and the Middle East, this kind of training can reduce the learning curve for common SaaS tools (subscription software used via the internet). That matters as more SMEs and mid-market firms shift workflows from spreadsheets and email to integrated systems.

For Zoho, authorised training partners help scale adoption without building large in-house training teams in every market. It also strengthens its ecosystem of implementers and developers who can deploy, customise, and support Zoho deployments.