History of Croc

• Main article: Croc
• Competence Centers\" CROC\"
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2023

Only a serious relationship. Hyde CROC to find a reliable service partner for the long term

Foreign vendors left, and the systems whose performance needs to be maintained remained. The role of a service partner for business in the current conditions has grown markedly. We talked with top managers of CROC about the situation in the technical support market and the criteria for choosing a reliable service provider. Read more here.

TAdviser interview with service solutions expert Anton Lomovskikh

Since last spring, contact centers have been operating in new conditions. Foreign vendors left Russia, but migration to Russian solutions does not occur at once. Anton Lomovskikh, an expert on service solutions of the CROC IT company, told TAdviser how to support Western systems for contact centers and what to expect from the service of Russian vendors. Read more here.

Career digitalization lessons for sellers

The company CROC opens registration for the special project Sales UPgrade for sales managers who are ready to develop in b2b sales in IT. As part of the two-week program, participants will immerse themselves in the principles of sales in IT and gain knowledge that will help them start working in the field of digital technology. The best graduates will receive an offer of employment in the CROC. Read more here.

2022

The founder of "Krok" Boris Bobrovnikov sells a stake in the company and resigns as CEO

On December 29, 2022, it became known about the withdrawal of Krok co-founder Boris Bobrovnikov from the company's shareholders. He will also cease to be its CEO.

CNews told several top managers of the company about the sale of the entire controlling stake in Kroka. However, he did not disclose the details of the deal.

The company itself only told the publication that the procedures regarding the transfer of shares and reins of government by Bobrovnikov "have already been launched, and the changes will be implemented in accordance with the regulatory deadlines, approximately in the first quarter of 2023."

Elena Volkovskaya will become the new CEO of Kroka, who by December 29, 2022 holds the position of marketing director in the company. She will combine activities in two positions.

According to Bobrovnikov, his departure from the post of head and the sale of all shares are associated with steps aimed at stabilizing the company's business in the new conditions.

Our business is stable due to the distribution of expertise centers within the company, these are self-sufficient business units with strong leaders and unique teams of professionals. It is this business design that helps the company to make large-scale complex projects and be stable in turbulent times, as it became for the market in 2022, - said Boris Bobrovnikov.

According to him, CROC will continue its development as a technological leader with comprehensive expertise in the construction and development of IT infrastructure, the introduction of information systems, software development and service support.

Bobrovnikov added that he created the company "on the principle of the Shukhov Tower, where there is a certain share of mobility and self-compensation in relation to external loads."

The changes with which we are entering 2023 will only help strengthen this approach, - concluded the co-founder of Kroka[1]

Initiation of Oracle bankruptcy in Russia

On December 6, 2022, it became known that CROC was initiating the bankruptcy of Oracle in Russia. According to Interfax, citing materials on Fedresurse, CROC the Inc. CJSC intends to go to court with statements declaring Oracle Computer Equipment JSC insolvent. Read more here.

Maipu Network Equipment Testing

Maipu Communication Technology's Network Solutions Testing Laboratory is actively working in the central office of the CROC IT company. This is a Chinese developer and manufacturer of network equipment, whose product line includes routers, switches, wireless networks, SDN solutions for building campus networks, cloud services for managing active network equipment. The vendor offers the equipment necessary to build a full-fledged network infrastructure and modernize networks. Maipu's network equipment has lines of devices built on Chinese-made chipsets. Read more here.

TAdviser interview with Deputy General Director Oleg Terekhov

In October 2022, in an interview with TAdviserOleg Terekhov, Deputy General Director - Director for Work with Mining and Metallurgical Enterprises of the IT company CROC, told why the industry is switching to a service model for providing IT infrastructure. Read more here.

Main areas of activity

The main activities of CROC as of July 2022:

• comprehensive solutions for building corporate information systems
• creation of data processing and storage systems, data centers (data centers)
• building telecommunication infrastructure, call centers, multi-service networks and video conferencing systems
• Building Automated Building Utilities, including Structured Cabling, Safety, and Data Center Utilities
• implementation of IT infrastructure management and monitoring systems
• ensuring information security of all implemented systems
• IT audit
• development and implementation of business applications, including ERP and CRM
• custom software development
• special solutions for banks, energy and telecommunications companies, oil and gas sector enterprises and trade, geographically distributed medical organizations
• service and comprehensive technical support of information systems, IT outsourcing in accordance with the methodology/ ITILITSM

Building a situational portfolio

On March 22, 2022, IT company CROC announced the formation of a situational portfolio with the most current fault tolerance and efficiency scenarios, as well as a portfolio of import-substituting solutions. Their goal is to ensure the stable performance of companies regardless of the limiting market conditions. The portfolios contain comprehensive infrastructure and business solutions, engineering and multimedia systems - quick alternatives for restructuring current processes, the implementation of which in the previous format has become impossible.

The situation portfolio of CROC for March 2022 contains more than a dozen services most in demand by the market (according to the analysis of the general situation in the IT industry and business needs). Alternatives to common IT products and services are presented, the use of which has become impossible or limited and therefore does not meet all business needs. As well as proposals for anti-crisis support, services for auditing processes and systems, providing teams of specialists for software development tasks and much more. The solutions concern both the issues of rapid recovery of the IT infrastructure of the business, as well as the optimal development and integration of newly created services, as well as the maintenance of foreign equipment.

The portfolio of import-substituting solutions of CROC is presented in the format of the Competence Center and offers comprehensive import substitution services in the "single window" mode. The most practical and effective options are collected here. Specialists will help adapt the company's IT landscape, work out and implement a turnkey import substitution strategy. The proposed solutions relate to software and computing infrastructure, telephony and networks, contact centers and communications, information security, integration and management of IT, analysis and automation of business processes, consulting in the context of industrial solutions, as well as the provision of service work.

Portfolios are updated in real time.

We know the challenges our customers have faced and offer a map of proven solutions. Services are added in real time: to quickly assess the risks of the IT infrastructure, to ensure uninterrupted operation of key business processes with minimal costs, for painless import substitution of vendor solutions. Our goal is to form an understandable and simple tool for managers and CIO. This will help them find a way out in a situation where it is not just a search for a similar tool, but a deep understanding of the IT industry, "said Boris Bobrovnikov, CEO of the CROC.

Work against the background of sanctions against Russia

All key top managers and design specialists of CROC as of mid-March 2022 work from the company's office located in Moscow. Including CEO Boris Bobrovnikov, the company told TAdviser.

The work of the employees of CROC Incorporated CJSC is carried out normally, all processes operate within the framework of SLA and established regulations, with clear control over compliance with the deadlines. We continue to continuously fulfill all our obligations and guarantee high-quality performance of work. The implementation of projects and communication with clients is also carried out within the framework of contracts as usual, - told TAdviser in CROC.

IT services: what to negotiate "on the shore" with a service partner

In IT the service, the functional content of the work, the time of work and, ultimately, their quality largely depend on the level of elaboration of agreements between the customer and the service partner. provider IT services TAdviser An IT company expert helps the editors figure out how the customer can properly build communications with before and after signing the contract. CROC Read more here.

As of July 2022, CROC is a digital business partner for hundreds of organizations. Russian ITintegrator-. Together with partners and customers, the company creates a digital ecosystem of society. Continuous trend analysis, adaptability, and flexibility enable CROC IT to operate in rapidly changing markets.

2021

Opening a multi-industry Competence Center for Integrated Import Substitution

On November 2, 2021, CROC opened a multi-industry Competence Center for comprehensive import substitution, which will become a "single window" for customers focused on the implementation of domestic solutions.

As of November 2021, the CROC has accumulated significant project experience and expertise in the direction of import substitution. The company's strategic portfolio concentrates flagship domestic developments for all sectors of the economy. CROC cooperates with leading Russian manufacturers, affecting the class of solutions from business applications to computing resources. Based on these developments, over the past two years alone, more than 200 projects have been implemented, including a full cycle of import substitution: from auditing the existing infrastructure and finding the most suitable solutions to implementation and round-the-clock support after the completion of the project. CROC actively accumulates and systematizes experience, forms methodologies and tries different approaches in solving problems in order to find the most effective scenarios for the implementation of projects.

As a result of transformational transformations, CROC will combine the best design experience, deep industry expertise and advanced domestic developments. The center will become an entry point for companies with a request for import substitution and will focus on a comprehensive approach to solving customer problems. Will develop a strategy for the transition to Russian software and equipment with painless and seamless migration for the IT infrastructure. It will help to carry out a local replacement of architecture components with domestic analogues or completely build a new IT landscape on Russian hardware and software complexes.

It is important for us that the trasnformation of the business within the framework of import substitution not only fulfills the requirements of regulators, but also increases the efficiency of work. Industry expertise, knowledge of the legislation and understanding of the customer's business processes allow us to implement the most complex integration projects and solve non-standard problems during the transition to Russian software and equipment. In the created Center, we focus on comprehensive support for all stages of import substitution - from the development of a roadmap to technical support for established solutions after the completion of implementation, - said Natalia Sofronova, director of import substitution solutions at the IT company CROC.

CROC is one of the top 5 integrators in Russia (rating) TAdviser and is a partner of leading domestic developers ON and equipment manufacturers included in. As of Unified Register of Russian Programs for Electronic and Computer Machines and Databases November 2021, there are more than 50 vendors in the company's partner ecosystem, including manufacturers of IT equipment, computing platforms, hardware and software complexes and software storage systems developers, business applications, as well as solutions in the field of and. cyber security information protection Most of the flagship solutions are available for test drive and assembly of the pilot test site. Demo equipment will allow the customer to assess the performance and compatibility of products before their implementation. Throughout IT infrastructure the pool of partners, CROC has high statuses, the presence of which emphasizes the professional competence of experts and the scale of import substitution projects implemented.

Managed services through the eyes of customers: what the CROC survey showed Cloud services, Digital Leader and Hewlett Packard Enterprise

The managed services market in Russia is still far from saturated, but it may become one of the growth points of the industry in the future due to the need for companies to accelerate their business and the lack of professional IT personnel. These are the main conclusions obtained in October 2021 as part of a survey conducted by TAdviser analysts in conjunction with the Digital Leader networking platform supported by CROC Cloud Services and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Read more here.

TAdviser interview with Alexander Filippov, Business Development Director

In August 2021, the TAdviser bank director Alexander Filippov for business development of IT the commercial company "" answered questions about the results of the company's work in the direction CROC. banks Read more here.

Agreement with MMK-Informservice on joint promotion of EDMS Atach

The CROC IT company and the Atach document management system on June 23, 2021 announced the signing of a cooperation agreement, under which they will jointly promote the solution to the market. According to the parties, the unification of technological expertise within the framework of the partnership will allow offering a wide range of companies a product that meets the requirements of a digital enterprise. Read more here.

Cooperation agreement with the Federal Competence Center within the framework of EDMS implementation projects

On June 16, 2021, the Federal Center for Competence in the Field of Labor Productivity (FCC) and the CROC IT company announced the conclusion of a cooperation agreement. Now companies will work together to increase labor productivity in the office processes of Russian enterprises.

The cooperation of companies involves the provision of a comprehensive service for optimizing and automating processes in accordance with the concept of "paperless document management" in the implementation of projects to increase labor productivity.

"Every day, a huge amount of time and effort of employees of enterprises is spent on the creation, coordination and signing of documents. Our task is to help build effective office processes without loss of paperwork. And, accordingly, increase the productivity of employees of supporting divisions. Partners from the CROC company will help us in this, - said Nikolai Solomon, General Director of the FCC. - Refusal of paper media in favor of electronic document management will allow, for example, to reduce the time spent working with incoming correspondence by 7.5 times, by 4.5 times - with service notes. "

FCC experts and consultants of the partner company will work directly at the sites of enterprises. First of all, the introduction of electronic document management will make it possible to "unload" employees of workflow, procurement, accounting, personnel and legal services from paperwork. In particular, electronic document management will exclude duplication and re-approval of documents due to the unified rules of de-bureaucratization and will minimize errors due to the use of standard documents. Experts consider the possibility of remote consideration, coordination and signing of documents, including using an electronic signature, which is convenient, and most importantly - quickly, an important advantage.

Within each project, the FCC will be responsible for methodological and organizational support of the project, and CROC will be responsible for selecting and implementing suitable products. Partners will carry out the full range of work, including subsequent support for the system. An additional advantage for customers will be the ability to place an electronic document management system in the cloud, which will allow the client to significantly reduce the cost of maintaining his own infrastructure.

"The Federal Competence Center is experienced experts in the field of improving labor productivity, who deeply understand customer problems, have their own methodology for implementing improvements and know what to expect from IT today, including thanks to the high level of internal automation of the company," said Ivan Rubtsov, Deputy General Director for Key Customers at CROC IT company. - We have combined the expertise of the FCC team and the experience of the Krok team, which has been developing the practice of document automation for more than 15 years. Thanks to this, Russian organizations will be able to improve the efficiency of document management processes in a short time by providing users with a tool that is convenient to work with. "

Huawei assigns VAP partner status to CROC

Huawei has given IT company CROC the highest partner status - Value Added Partner (VAP). The VAP status confirms the highest competencies of the CROC team in the field of implementing solutions based on Huawei products and allows direct delivery of equipment, advice and service.

CROC continues to actively cooperate with Huawei, developing its qualifications in sales, implementation and support of vendor solutions in Russia. In addition to the existing statuses, CROC specialists have passed partner certification according to the HCPP (Huawei Certified Pre-sales Professional) standard in the field of storage systems (Storage) and network equipment (IP Network). This allowed CROC to become a VAP partner of Huawei.

In addition to VAP status, CROC also has a certificate for servicing Huawei equipment in 24×7×365 mode throughout Russia:

• Enterprise IT CSP - CSP 4 *
• Data Communication CSP - CSP 4 *
• Enterprise Cloud Communications CSP - CSP 3 *
• Network Energy CSP Program - CSP 3 *

During the cooperation, the partners implemented more than 140 complex projects on the Russian market using Huawei computing, telecommunications and engineering equipment. In 2020, CROC and Huawei completed several large-scale projects to create and modernize server and network infrastructures based on Huawei equipment for the country's largest banks, government agencies and energy companies.

In 2020, Huawei and CROC signed a memorandum on the development of a joint business, within which partners plan to bring the latest technologies to the market and conduct joint educational, practical and certification work.

"We appreciate the cooperation with Huawei primarily for the flexibility and possibility of continuous joint development. The partner's comprehensive approach to the development of its technological solutions allows us to implement the most complex integration projects and solve non-standard customer tasks. CROC regularly increases its competence in working with Huawei solutions, and confirming the status of a VAP partner guarantees our customers the highest level of technical expertise and qualified service support, "said Natalia Dyakonova, Director of the Telecommunications Department of the CROC IT company.

TAdviser interview with Alexander Donin and Natalia Sofronova

In March 2021, in an interview TAdviser , the main questions that arise for customers who decide to take the path of achieving import independence were answered by experts from IT the CROC company:, Alexander Donin head of the import substitution department, and software, Natalia Sofronova head of the import substitution department of equipment, IT company CROC. Read more here.

Owners

Among the owners of the CROC company for February 2021:

• Boris Leonidovich Bobrovnikov with 75% share
• Bobrovnikov Ivan Leonidovich with a share of 25%

2020

As of July 2020, CROC is one of the participants in the Russian information technology market. The IT company is creating a new digital ecosystem of society, implementing projects in 42 countries around the world. CROC provides a portfolio of IT services in the field of system integration, consulting, replicated products, managed B2B services, promising end-to-end technologies - Big Data, blockchain, artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, the Internet of Things, robotization, machine learning.

Inclusion in the rating "The largest participants in the Russian market of EDMS, ECM and CSP systems"

CROC is included in the rating "The largest participants in the Russian market for EDMS, ECM and CSP systems by revenue for 2020," prepared by TAdviser in January 2021. Read more here.

Inclusion in the TAdviser rating "The largest suppliers of Russian IT solutions"

The company CROC"" is included in the rating "The largest suppliers the Russian IT- solutions by revenue for 2020," prepared TAdviser in May 2021. More. here

Inclusion in the TAdviser rating "The largest IT suppliers in Russian retail"

The company CROC"" is included in the rating "Largest IT suppliers in" Russian retail by revenue for 2020, "prepared TAdviser in July 2021. More. here

Inclusion in the TAdviser rating "Largest IT suppliers in banks"

CROC is included in the rating "Largest IT suppliers in banks" by revenue for 2020, "prepared by TAdviser in July 2021. Read more here.

Inclusion in the TAdviser rating "The largest suppliers of BI solutions in Russia"

CROC is included in the rating "The largest suppliers of BI solutions in Russia" by revenue for 2020, "prepared by TAdviser in October 2021. Read more here.

Inclusion in the TAdviser rating "The largest suppliers of BPM systems in Russia"

CROC is included in the rating "The largest suppliers of BPM systems in Russia by revenue for 2020," prepared by TAdviser in December 2021. Read more here.

Inclusion in the TAdviser rating "IT suppliers in the Russian industry"

The company CROC"" is included in the rating "The largest IT suppliers the Russian industries in by revenue for 2020," prepared TAdviser in December 2021. More. here

Inclusion in the TAdviser rating "The largest IT outsourcers in Russia"

The company "CROC" is included in the rating "The largest IT outsourcers by revenue for 2020," prepared by TAdviser in December 2021. Read more here.

Inclusion in the TAdviser rating "Largest IT Service Providers"

The company CROC"" is included in the rating "Largest suppliers IT services Russia by revenue for 2020," prepared TAdviser in December 2021. More. here

Inclusion in the TAdviser rating "The largest IT suppliers in the Russian public sector"

The company CROC is included in the rating "Largest IT suppliers public sector Russia in by revenue for 2020," prepared TAdviser in December 2021. More. here

Opening the Avaya Oceana Solution Test Demo Center

On September 15, 2020, Avaya Holdings Corp. announced that, together with the IT company, CROC announced the launch of a joint demo center for contact center solutions based on Avaya Oceana. This is the only center in Russia designed to demonstrate and pilot solutions adapted to customer requirements.

For example, you can route calls to a customer's business unit to an Avaya Oceana system using a demo center. This will allow you to test the system in real conditions of the client contact center. The complex also allows you to simulate various scenarios for processing user calls, such as a voice request, a request through email, web chat or a site. The presence of software interfaces in the system lays the potential for implementation and more complex integrations, when the capabilities out of the box are no longer enough for customers.

The Avaya Oceana platform provides not just a set of different function modules, but allows you to assemble a solution that accurately meets various needs. Moreover, thanks to the built-in tools, such a solution can be adapted to any non-standard requirements, satisfying the wishes of the customer. We thank CROC for its cooperation and are proud that now in the demo center each client will be able to familiarize themselves with the advantages of Avaya Oceana, - comments Roman Frantov, Technical Director of Avaya in Russia and the CIS

The demand for such solutions in the corporate environment is growing, because each organization has its own business processes and the existing infrastructure, for which it is necessary to individually build the entire communication system. Standard, boxed solutions, as a rule, do not meet the requirements of customers, or force them to a significant overpayment for unclaimed functionality. The demonstration center will allow us to adapt the functionality of Avaya Oceana to the individual scenarios of the customer's use, - comments Sergey Malinovsky, Head of the United Communications Department of the CROC IT company.

For September 2020, the booth includes the following tools: Aura R8, Oceana 3.6 and Oceana Analytics 3.6. Remote access is possible both VPN for the web interface and for connections through softphones. If necessary, a connection to city lines can be configured.

CROC engineers, together with Avaya specialists, are ready to show the standard platform, as well as demonstrate its features.

TAdviser interview with the heads of computing infrastructure and power supply and climatic systems Alexander Sysoev and Sergey Makhlin

In September 2020, in an interview with TAdviser, CROC experts: Alexander Sysoev, head of computing infrastructure at CROC IT company, and Sergey Makhlin, head of power supply and climate systems, talked about how the architecture and landscape of the data center is changing today, and how you can optimize costs and resources to manage the evolving data center infrastructure. Read more here.

Expanding Microsoft Technology Consulting

IT company "CROC" announced the expansion of the consulting area for the implementation of Microsoft solutions and technologies for large and medium-sized corporate customers as part of large-scale projects in Russia.

The implementation of the initiative is aimed at meeting the wide demand for expertise on Microsoft technologies. In many companies that have evolved their IT infrastructure, there is a situation where outdated software and the lack of a strategy for implementing certain products lead to obvious or hidden problems. Because of this, not only IT systems suffer, but also business processes on which the effective functioning of the company depends: communication with customers, readiness of systems for high loads, information security. To eliminate these problems, the competencies of internal support services are not always enough, or it is absent at all. CROC certified by Microsoft helps you fundamentally approach IT infrastructure analysis, find failure sources, and optimize IT processes. In addition, CROC helps customers and partners realize their own capabilities through the conflict-free implementation of Microsoft technologies.

CROC provides comprehensive services for the development, design, implementation, support, maintenance of hardware and software solutions using Microsoft products: DBMS, SQL servers, private and hybrid clouds, internal corporate resources based on SharePoint, BPM, SCM, ERP systems. In addition, partners and customers can directly contact CROC for technical support and advice on both existing Microsoft technologies and planned implementations.

We see not only the demand for Microsoft products, but also the market's need for in-depth technical support and consulting. CROC experts are happy to help partners and customers not only introduce new technologies, but also gain business benefits from using software products, "said Elena Yakovleva, Head of Microsoft IT company CROC.

Owners

As of July 2020, among the owners of CROC:

• Boris Leonidovich Bobrovnikov with a share of 24.43%
• Bobrovnikov Ivan Leonidovich with a share of 8.14%

"CROC" tested the services of the operational transition to remote work

Coronavirus has changed a lot in our lives. In particular, a new direction has emerged in the business of IT companies - fast and trouble-free migration of corporate IT systems of clients to a state of remote work. Before offering such a set of solutions and services to its customers, the company CROC tested their performance and effectiveness on itself. Read more here.

TAdviser interview with Director of Computing Systems Valentin Gubarev

In April 2020, Director of the Department of Computing Systems KrokValentin Gubarev in an interview with TAdviser spoke about the rules for transferring employees to remote work. Read more here.

CROC MarTech Lab Division

As of April 2020, the ITCROC CROC MarTech Lab division, which specialized marketing in technology, functioned in the "" company.

2019

Inclusion in the rating "Largest IT suppliers in the fuel and energy complex"

CROC is included in the rating "The largest IT suppliers in the fuel and energy complex by revenue in 2019," prepared by TAdviser in January 2020. Read more here.

Revenue growth of 1.2%

On May 18, 2020, the CROC IT company announced to TAdviser the results of financial and operating activities for 15 months: 2019 and the first quarter of 2020. From January to March 2020, the company increased revenue by 37% compared to the same period last year. At the end of 2019, CROC 's revenue amounted to 30,670 million rubles, which is 1.2% more than in the previous 2018. Read more here.

CROC VR is a division for the development and implementation of applied technological solutions

CROC VR (Virtual Reality Center) is an innovative division of CROC develops and implements applied technological solutions for various business tasks.

As of September 2019, CROC VR specialized in the industrial use of virtual, augmented and assistant reality technologies. The team of the division created solutions for labor protection, industrial safety, Industry 4.0: digital models of enterprises, VR simulators, AR applications, provided technology consulting services. Such tools made it possible to train employees in safe work at work, reduce the risks of incidents and production downtime.

As representatives of CROC clarified to TAdviser, this area of ​ ​ activity has been closed since 2021.

Digital Marketing and Product Analytics Practice Launch

On September 5, 2019, CROC announced that its consulting division CROC Digital Insight (a technology business partner for CROC customers) had launched the practice of digital marketing and product analytics. This area will provide digital marketing consulting services, create and offer MarTech services and analytical tools for optimizing and personalizing digital channels, mobile applications and websites based on a data-driven approach.

The CROC Digital Insight practice includes authors and developers of Retentioneering user behavior analysis technology. The technology has become one of the basic analytical tools in the portfolio of digital marketing practice products. This allows CROC customers to identify consumer insights, analyze user trajectories to assess problems with the website or application interface, optimize content delivery, personalize offers, more effectively manage advertising campaigns and, as a result, ensure profit growth for companies.

Product analytics tools allow you to identify consumer habits, increase conversion, average check and frequency of purchases, reduce user outflow, and optimize advertising budgets. For example, banks with their help increase the share of operations in digital channels, and developers effectively attract home buyers. To help businesses navigate the landscape of these solutions, we have established a digital marketing and product analytics expertise practice at CROC Digital Insight. This will allow us to enter other markets and implement business optimization projects for customers using a data-driven approach,

As of September 2019, CROC Digital Insight already has several projects based on Retentioneering user trajectory analysis tools with Svyaznoy Travel, NetPrint and other customers.

The development potential of this practice goes far beyond predictive analytics. For many projects, the team's experience shows the possibility of providing a noticeable increase in revenue for the client - from 15% to 50% after the first two months of work, when tools automatically find problem points, offer solution options to correct them and test hypotheses during A/B tests. The marketing departments of large companies are refocusing on digital tools, and we are ready to offer them the most modern technologies based on data analysis,

The CROC Digital Insight team is expanding its portfolio of off-the-shelf digital marketing solutions. Product analytics, personalization, and dynamic pricing are a huge step forward in developing customer relationships, understanding their needs, and meeting business needs.

E-Government Services

As of July 2019, CROC provided the following e-government services:

• Turnkey Conversion of Public Services 
• Developing Open Data Portals
• Connection of existing information systems  to SMEV  of state automated system "Management"
• Verification of compliance of the organizational and technical state of the government agency with modern technical and regulatory documents of the Russian Federation, formation of a list of measures to eliminate non-conformities
• Participation in the formation and interdepartmental coordination of technical documentation
• Design and refinement of the architecture of the necessary software components
• Training and training of customer personnel to work with new systems
• System Support, Technical Support

Hardware as a Service - Hardware-as-a-Service (HaaS)

According to information for April 2019, HaaS (Hardware-as-a-Service, equipment as a service) is a service for providing hardware server infrastructure from the cloud. The customer receives [1] the necessary infrastructure for rent along with its maintenance by the provider.

Unlike purchasing all the necessary hardware "for yourself," with a one-time payment, the customer, choosing HaaS, goes to the format of recurrent payments (usually monthly). This is a more flexible approach, reducing the burden on the company. Upon completion of the project (on average, three-year, according to CROC), the used equipment can be redeemed at residual value or replaced with a more modern one. For example, Croc offers flexible rec94258025 infrastructure programs. Read more here.

See also: TADetali: HaaS in Russia or the service revolution

2018

Opening of the Blockchain Competence Center for the Corporate Sector in conjunction with Bitfury

On November 30, 2018, CROC and the Bitfury Group blockchain company announced the creation of one of the first blockchain competence centers for the corporate sector in Russia. The joint project aims to increase the level of literacy of the blockchain business and expand the range of application of the technology.

The competence center was created in the interests of business - corporate customers CROC and Bitfury will have access to expert knowledge, practices and free consultations on the possibilities of solving business problems using the blockchain. Master classes and workshops in the competence center will be held with the participation of leading experts and practitioners both from the founders' companies and with the involvement of third-party speakers. Participants in the center's educational program will analyze the existing scenarios for applying blockchain in business, determine the optimal technologies for solving specific problems, and develop new solutions. The exchange of experience will take place in the format of regular meetings, including open to third-party listeners.

First of all, the competence center "CROC" and Bitfury will deal with projects from the financial sector (insurance companies and banks), industry (oil and gas complex) and retail, where the effectiveness of the distributed data register technology has already been confirmed by real cases. According to the organizers, the project will allow companies and program participants to get solutions to the following business problems based on blockchain and smart contracts: investment control, logistics optimization, product purity control, insurance risk management.

Blockchain, like any new technology, in addition to the excitement raises many questions, both technical and economic in nature. Within the framework of the competence center we created, we plan to help customers understand not only the basics of blockchain, but also the choice of the application scenario, miscalculation of economic benefits, and setting clear and achievable goals for blockchain projects. And the exchange of experience with experts and other market practices will allow both us and other players to strengthen their expertise in the field of corporate blockchain, "said Viktor Smirnov, head of integration solutions at CROC.

Bitfury launches the third blockchain competence center in Russia. Prior to that, we focused on the scientific and educational sphere, launching joint accelerators with REU im. Plekhanov and Skolkovo. We are pleased to announce the emergence of a blockchain competence center for the corporate sector. Bitfury experts have accumulated a lot of experience that we would like to convey to business by answering the main questions: when the use of blockchain is indispensable, cost-effective and promising, and when the technology cannot be fully used and is easily replaced by other, less expensive IT products, - said the head of Bitfury in Russia Dmitry Ufaev.

Cooperation between CROC and Bitfury has been ongoing since 2017, when the partners completed the first joint pilot project for a large bank to solve the problem of controlling investment activities.

TAdviser interview with CROC Integration Solutions Director Alexei Smirnov

• In March 2018, Alexey Smirnov, director of integration solutions at CROC, one of the first integrators in the blockchain market , in an interview with TAdviser shared his vision of the prospects for the development of this technology and spoke about the projects in Russia and abroad that his company has already implemented.

• In April 2018, Maxim Berezin, Director of Cloud Services Development at CROC, spoke in an interview with TAdviser about the features of this market segment, existing drivers and import substitution that Russian cloud providers are ready to implement.

2017: 20.9% drop in revenue to RUB 22.54 billion

In 2017, CROC's revenue amounted to 22.54 billion rubles, which is 20.9% lower than in 2016. The key impact on the results was the postponement of several large projects to 2018. At the same time, the company conducted an audit of the product portfolio, significantly increased revenue on managed services and cloud services and implemented projects based on all "high-profile technologies" of the year, creating the foundation for sustainable development in the context of economic turbulence. Read more here.

2016

Virtual Reality and Consulting

Among the activities of CROC in 2016 are IT consulting and virtual reality.

CROC sees virtual reality services and solutions as a very promising line of business in the corporate sector. The company began implementing projects in this area in 2012. More details - at the link.

Administrative cases for countering the investigation of the FAS

On December 30, 2016, the FAS announced the initiation of four administrative cases against CROC and its employees for opposing the antimonopoly investigation of the case on the supply of computers and software for state needs^[2]. In particular, they tried to prevent the inspection of the FAS on the territory and premises of the company. Antitrust officers were able to get to the inspected facility only after the arrival of police officers. Two cases of administrative offense were initiated in this regard.

In addition, the company delays the provision of the requested documents (information) within the established time frame or provides incomplete information, the FAS said. In this regard, two more administrative cases were initiated.

Details of the case under investigation by the FAS - in a separate article:

• Delivery of computers to the Federal Center for Informatization at the CEC of Russia

CROC triumphantly returned to Sberbank

Three years after the scandalous break, CROC"" returned to the number of largest contractors. Sberbank On December 16, 2016, Sberbank and CROC Incorporated signed an annual contract worth 1.3 billion. rubles Read more in a separate article.

"CROC" is trying to make a business on virtual reality

In November 2016 "Croc" , he announced that he had joined the first in Russia. virtual reality consortium It was formed in August 2016 by a group, "Digital Television" animation studio, "Steam Locomotive" television graphics studio, Vizart Lab mobile app developer and. "Interactive Mult" Institute of Modern Media Among the priority tasks of the consortium is the development of uniform industry standards for equipment software and content for virtual reality systems. Within the framework of it, CROC will be responsible for the development of an examination of the industrial application of virtual reality technologies.

CROC sees virtual reality services and solutions as a very promising line of business in the corporate sector. The company said that the first projects in this area began to be implemented in 2012. CROC has formed several areas of services and solutions, starting from the scope of their application: design, training, sales, advertising and art. As an integrator, CROC creates solutions using hardware and software from various developers, including open source software.

One of the services in the field of design, for example, is the creation of custom-made architectural 3D models that can be viewed on virtual holography tables in virtual reality glasses. In this case, they serve as a replacement for architectural layouts.

In the field of training, one of the services is the creation of models of a space in which the user, using virtual reality glasses, can move and perform various training tasks. An example of this is the CROC model of its own data center, which the company uses to train its employees. Immersed in virtual reality, an employee can move around the premises and learn to handle certain equipment in the data center, work out abnormal situations, etc.

In sales, for example, you can create interactive models of goods in virtual or augmented reality. They demonstrate different angles of products, their structure and functioning in dynamics, which allows you to speed up the decision to buy even technically complex devices. Such models can be displayed in systems of any form factor.

Among the projects that the company carried out was the conduct of research and development to create a simulator for ISS astronauts under a contract with the Cosmonaut Training Center. For real learning, however, it is not yet used, because the technology still needs to be improved. CROC also equipped the Smart City laboratory with a 3D visualization system for buildings, structures and their systems for NRU MGSU. Another project is the creation of a 3D content laboratory for the Moscow Energy Institute.

The share of services related to virtual reality in the CROC business is still small, Boris Bobrovnikov told TAdviser in November 2016. But the technology itself is still only a few years old, he noted. According to Bobrovnikov, the revolution in IT means that at least seven years should pass from the moment a new breakthrough technology appears.

For example, in 1997, "CROC" brought a video conference to Russia - they paid $140 thousand and brought it. Most of our customers at that time did not see any special prospects in it. However, we continued to invest in this area, investing until 2003-2004, when we began to receive enough revenue from it to cover previous costs. In 2006-2008, this became a full-scale business area with a good margin, "Bobrovnikov told TAdviser.

Boris Bobrovnikov noted that the idea of ​ ​ such services lies in the content, and this is what customers need. For example, one state is going to "have all of itself in 3D," he says. This is a large project worth several tens of millions of dollars, and the vast majority of the work in it falls on content. "CROC" participated in the competition for this project.

The CEO of CROC is confident that the demand for virtual reality technology will grow.

Our dear customers are not yet fully ready, but we are a technology company, and for several years we have been telling them that we are doing it best. And it really is: "CROC" first began to develop this direction. At the moment when this "dam" breaks through, when many will need it, which is already starting to happen, this will lead to decent money, - said Boris Bobrovnikov.

Of the Russian integrators, CROC shows the greatest interest in virtual reality, developing this direction as a business. Some of the integrators use the technology for their own purposes. IBS, for example, told TAdviser that the company uses virtual reality to demonstrate to customers its own developments in the field of converged IT infrastructure. In particular, IBS uses virtual reality glasses to demonstrate the Skala-R platform. This makes it easier to explain how the solution works and enhances the effect of the demonstration, the company noted. IBS does not plan to allocate virtual reality technology into a separate business area.

Business prospects for virtual reality are seen in SAP CIS. SAP Labs CEO at SNGAndray Bivetsky told TAdviser that the company drew attention to this technology, as well as augmented reality technology, about three years ago, seeing great prospects in the future. When it came, SAP Labs in the CIS was more than ready to start working with these technologies in terms of business solutions. Bivetsky noted that companies in the CIS are cooler to meet virtual and augmented reality than in Europe, because they are waiting for the results and "best practices" from colleagues from abroad. At the same time, it was the sphere of virtual reality that "shot" for SAP CIS customers in 2016, which almost coincided with a similar surge in activity in other countries, says Andrei Bivetsky. This in itself is a very positive indicator, he said.

Two areas are of greatest interest to SAP CIS. One of them is training. The company integrates its systems with virtual reality environments to completely immerse the repair staff or users in the workflow and thus speeds up the learning process at times. The second direction is analytics. SAP has developed a continuation of the Digital Boardroom product to transfer analytical reports to a virtual environment. Any amount of data, any visualization and presentation forms can be implemented in an unlimited space and provide an instant understanding of the situation based on Big Data. There is a demo version in the public domain in mobile app stores.

In Russia, we met a very keen interest both in technology as a whole and in our developments in this area. Therefore, even SAP demo prototypes have Russian localization. Also last year, we already developed a prototype of a small client solution based on virtual reality technologies based on our innovative SAP D-shop laboratory, "Andrei Bivetsky told TAdviser.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin visited the office complex of CROC

On June 9, 2016, Sergei Sobyanin visited the Green Office, a new building located on the territory of the CROC office complex. During the visit, the mayor was demonstrated the technology of the future - Information Modeling of Buildings (BIM), its demonstration was held in the largest virtual reality center in Russia CROC. Energy-saving intelligent solutions used in the building were also presented.

The brain and heart of the building is the control room, which monitors the current parameters of the state of engineering systems: ventilation, air conditioning, heat and water supply, power supply and lighting, fire automation. Such control allows you to prevent accidents and minimize their consequences. The floors of the office are equipped with intelligent lighting and climate control systems. In public areas, motion sensors automatically adjust the light.

Energy-saving technologies in the new office are used everywhere. To save water, an automated "Green Station" was built, which collects rainwater and uses it in the sewers and for summer irrigation of the territory. To save electricity, an intelligent recovery system is used, which allows you to save heat in both winter and summer by heating or cooling the outside air. Thus, even when urban heat is turned off in the offseason, the air still retains a comfortable temperature, while energy savings can range from 40 to 60%. The central air conditioning system provides a comfortable temperature in the premises, however, employees can also adjust the microclimate in their offices individually, using built-in consoles.

The building is also a demonstration platform for the company's most innovative solutions. For example, it houses the largest virtual reality center in Russia. This is a demosal with two dozen unique visualization systems for architects and builders, a virtual reality content creation laboratory for designers of industrial products and construction projects, and a school for developers of 3D content.

During the tour, CROC experts spoke about the world's most advanced technology for information modeling of construction projects (BIM). The result of the BIM application is a 1.5-2-fold reduction in construction costs and terms at all stages of the facility life cycle - construction design, operation. This effect is achieved through the formation of a unified information model of the object with all communications and a complete map of the engineering infrastructure, changes to which are made online and are immediately available to all construction participants.

2015

Customs proceedings over IBM servers

FCS checks: import of IBM servers using fake documents

In January 2015 Federal Customs Service () FCS reported that she conducted 11 office checks on the legality of importing into the territory of the Russian Federation several dozen high-end servers IBM installed in. Sberbank The checks were carried out in connection with materials received by the FCS from the Office for Counterintelligence Support of the Credit and Financial Sphere. FSB

The customs authorities found that the declarant of the goods was the company "Servers and Components," which shortly after the customs declaration of the goods was reorganized by joining the Kalmykia company "Summer." Customs officers found out that the servers were imported into Russia using forged documents through a fake Singapore company with an underestimation of the customs value several times. This led to the underpayment of customs payments to the country's budget in the amount of more than 257, 9 million rubles.

The Moscow Regional Customs issued a demand to Leto for customs payments totaling more than 319, 9 million rubles, including penalties. The former general director and employee of "Servers and Components" by a court verdict were prosecuted under article 194 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Evasion of customs payments) in connection with the revealed violations of customs legislation in August 2014.

Demand for customs payments from CROC

The customs authorities also checked the former IBM business partner in Russia, CROC, which was the final supplier of servers to Sberbank. She showed that in August 2011, CROC entered into a general agreement with Sberbank on the supply of IBM equipment specially made for the bank.

According to the FCS, IBM sold its high-end servers to the British firm Info-System Ltd to the logistics operator CROC, which, according to the documents, accepted the equipment in the interests of IBM's business partner for its supply to Sberbank. However, the servers were imported into Russia not according to the scheme established by business partners, but using one-day firms, one of which is Servers and Components, the FCS said.

Further, the equipment was already "officially" acquired by "CROC" in the domestic market of Russia and reached the final buyer - Sberbank, but at prices significantly higher than the manufacturer's prices. The entire batch cost the bank four times the price of IBM - $31.47 million.

Based on inspections in the FCS, it is believed that CROC, which acted under a partnership agreement with IBM when supplying servers to Sberbank, should have known about the illegality of their import, which, in accordance with customs legislation, entails a joint obligation to pay customs payments.

"Trying to get away from this duty, CROC submitted a letter to the customs authorities, according to which he allegedly terminated the business partnership agreement with IBM in 2008. At the same time, "CROC" was not even embarrassed by the fact that IBM repeatedly awarded him for his successful activities as a business partner, including in 2010, 2011, 2012 with the issuance of award certificates, "the FCS says

.

The FCS claims on the basis of the audit data that in 2008 the agreement between IBM and CROC was not terminated. This happened only in 2014 at the initiative of IBM, after an audit of documents on the supply of servers to Sberbank. The audit showed that the entire package of documents that CROC submitted to IBM was falsified. The manufacturer, having learned that its products were delivered to Sberbank at prices several times higher than the agreement, unilaterally terminated its relationship with the integrator, the FCS states.

According to the results of the customs inspection, the Moscow Regional Customs issued a joint agreement with the Leto company (successor to Servers and Components) to pay customs payments.

"CROC" lost the court with customs in three instances

In December 2015, the Arbitration Court of the Moscow District published the Decision^[3] with the refusal to satisfy the cassation appeal of CROC against the demand for customs payments from the FCS in the amount of 248 509 723 rubles, of which 55,970,417 rubles. - penalties for failure to comply with the requirement. Earlier, the company lost to customs in this case in the first and appellate instances.

The customs put the demand for payments as joint liability "Kroka" with "Leto" - the legal successor of the company "Servers and Components," which imported servers IBM into. Russia Customs claims, and the court, having examined the case file, agrees with it that "CROC" was aware of the illegality of such import.

In turn, CROC does not agree with what it should pay customs: according to the company, the audit materials lack evidence that their company knew or should have known about the illegal import.

In addition, he cites the arguments of "CROC," the company is not a subject of customs legal relations, and, therefore, is not responsible for the duties of persons directly involved in the movement of goods across the customs border.

According to CROC, the conclusions set out by the customs authorities in the contested decision and the act of cameral inspection do not correspond to the case file, customs distorted the meaning of the materials studied, and its decision on payments is based on unacceptable evidence obtained in violation of the law. Moreover, according to Croc, the customs authorities ignored some evidence of significance.

CROC CEO Boris Bobrovnikov told TAdviser that his company continues the appeal process, as it is confident in the erroneity of judicial acts: "We have the right to appeal to a higher authority, which we will use."

EMS audit completed in CROC

On October 23, 2015, CROC announced the completion of an audit of the environmental management system (EMS) in the company for compliance with the requirements of GOST R ISO 14001-2007.

The audit confirmed the high environmental performance of CROC and compliance with the environmental policy declared by the company. CROC was praised for modern engineering solutions and developments aimed at preventing the negative impact of technogenic factors on the environment, as well as for the company's active participation in the implementation of environmental programs. The audit was carried out by VNIIS, an institute for certification of management systems.

During the audit, the auditors noted that CROC develops environmental solutions for customers, implements, and uses them for its own purposes. The company's technical solutions help customers to prevent and minimize negative impacts on the environment as a result of failures in their engineering systems, if any. For example, prevent working liquids and refrigerants from entering the soil in the event of a leak in power plants or in emergency situations in the air conditioning and ventilation system.

CROC performs diagnostics of customer equipment, preventing possible emergency situations. The company has also developed technical solutions for autonomous power supply based on alternative energy sources, which reduces the amount of harmful emissions from diesel generator plants and reduces the power consumption of the facility.

The auditors noted an innovative infrastructure information modeling (BIM) solution used to improve the efficiency of the design, construction and operation of CROC customer facilities, which helps to take into account and comply with environmental safety standards at each stage.

"The

company first received a certificate for the environmental management system in 2012. We never stop and constantly improve our environmental management system, which confirms the recertification of this year. It is nice that the principles of "green business" are finding more and more supporters among Russian companies. Over the past three years, the availability of ISO 14001 is one of the main requirements when participating in tenders of electric power and oil and gas companies, "said Elena Bakanova, head of the quality service of CROC

.

"CROC has once again proved its commitment to environmental business. Not many Russian companies really pay attention to saving natural resources when operating their buildings. It is especially gratifying that both management and CROC employees participate in the implementation of environmental programs, including together with Greenpeace, "said the Zinaida Kolesnikova chief expert of the OJSC. VNIIS

Environmental programs of the CROC aimed at promoting the ideas of "green business" became factors of assessment during the audit process:

• For 5 years, the company has been participating in the Earth Hour campaign,
• company - laureate of the All-Russian competition "Best" Green "office,"
• employees of the company actively participate in the programs "Green bicycles," "Day of abandonment of the car."

The CROC office housed special "green" bins for paper garbage, containers for collecting used packages "Tetra Pak," in 2015 the company took part in the program for collecting and recycling used batteries.

2014

Boris Bobrovnikov has been abroad for a long time

From the end of 2013 to the first half of 2014, the head of Krok, Boris Bobrovnikov, is abroad. For the first time in years, he was absent from the New Year's corporate party, congratulating employees via video link from London. In "Kroka" they say that during this time Bobrovnikov visited 15 cities in the world, where he met with partners.

Sberbank sharply reduces cooperation with Krok

Herman Gref himself did not publicly comment on the story of the supply of IBM servers. The facts are as follows. In January 2013, Victor Orlovsky ceased to be a member of the board and curator of the IT block. He was replaced by Vadim Kulik, who was previously responsible for the Risks block. All year in the IT division of Sberbank there were personnel changes. Orlovsky remained senior vice president, but is now responsible for digital business like Internet banking.

Krok's share in Sberbank's orders has seriously decreased. According to the bank, in 2008, CROC accounted for 50% of the IT budget, in mid-2014 - no more than 10%. Although there are still enough projects - the costs of informatization of Sberbank in 2013 amounted to 50.6 billion rubles, according to its reports.

Boris Bobrovnikov returned to Russia in the spring. At this time, he is not trying to restore partnership with IBM - as one of the market participants, who knows it well, explains, CROC collects as much evidence as possible that the law enforcement agencies have no complaints about the company.

Envision, which attacked Krok, did not have large new contracts at Sberbank either. 'We don't comment on rumours. However, we have not had a sharp increase in Sberbank's share in revenues lately, "the representative of NVision officially responded to Forbes' request about the possible initiator of Kroka's problems. The company accounts for only 6% of total revenue for financial clients, while Sberbank is not the largest customer (the main money is brought Rostelecom MTS by,,,,, and VimpelCom RUSSIAN RAILWAY FGC UES). Gazprombank

But German Gref in a few months managed to do what he had been seeking from his vice president for IT for many years: Sberbank switched to a new scheme of working with vendors - direct contracts.

Gref's idea of ​ ​ direct purchases was born as soon as he came to the state bank, but, according to Orlovsky, it did not work out in any way - the vendors asked to wait 3-4 years.

One of the first swallows was just IBM, which already delivered a batch of equipment worth $77.8 million in the winter of 2014, Merlion helped to resolve logistics issues, which is often accessed by system integrators. The representative of the bank says that 95% of deliveries now go under direct contracts, they are also concluded with HP, Oracle, Avaya, EMC. Only in the fourth quarter of 2013, due to the new scheme, Gref managed to save 5 billion rubles, or 10% of the annual IT budget, follows from the reporting of the bank^[4]

Since September 2013, Mikhail Ehrenburg, who used to work at Rusal and in the Asteros system integrator, has been responsible for all purchases in the team of the new vice president for IT Vadim Kulik.

"Ehrenburg is good to" push "the supplier. He is only interested in price. For her sake, you can completely squeeze your partner, because instead of him a new one will always come - it is always a queue for large customers, "says the head of one of the IT companies

.

In 2014, Sberbank is designing another data center. As soon as the data center is built (according to the plan, the first stage will be launched in 2016), Sberbank may refuse to lease space for backup servers on the territory of the Kroka office - according to the public procurement register, in January 2014 the bank entered into another contract for 344 million rubles.

Performance on the stage of the cinema "Russia"

The artificial intelligence system developed by the IT corporation commissioned by the Ministry of Defense fails on the eve of the transfer to the client. The sales manager decides to imitate her work, a programmer in love with him is trying to help, as a result, confidential information from all iPhones is in the public domain, which helps to expose a British spy in the representative of the Ministry of Defense. This is not a script for a new series, but the plot of a performance staged for the 22nd anniversary of the CROC company on the stage of the Rossiya cinema, in which only its employees are involved. The general director of one of the country's largest system integrators, Boris Bobrovnikov, in a shiny suit with a huge collar, plays himself - the boss.

Shooting a movie based on the book "Monday begins on Saturday"

At the end of 2014, Boris Bobrovnikov announced plans to "CROC" finance the shooting of a film based on the story of the Strugatsky brothers "Monday begins on Saturday."

As of September 2015, filming is at the stage of working out a narrative plan by two groups of scriptwriters, Veronika Taraba, deputy general director of CROC, told TAdviser.

"Each group is moving according to its own scenario, moreover, if another synopsis worthy of development appears, then we will work it out," she added.

From the synopsis (this is the very first short version of the future script, on which 98% of potential scenario ideas disappear) to the finished script - a huge path:

• short synopsis,
• extended synopsis,
• a sub-ideological plan,
• the first draft of the script,
• second draft scenario.

At each stage out of five, the script can become unusable, uninteresting, Taraba explains: "And three times at each stage we are still finalizing the version with script groups. How many versions of different scenes we have already read and either eliminated or sent for revision, I can't even tell you. Although the person who is responsible for the scripts at the producer read them much more from a much larger number of writers. "

The shooting itself, according to Veronika Taraba estimates, will take six months, and the longest (moreover, unpredictably long) stage in the process of filming the film is just the script.

"At the very moment when some of the scripts will go to the finish line, the producer and I can start looking for sponsors (this first wave of sponsors - those companies that will be able to implement their product placement in the film - in other words, their brand or their product will be "implanted" in the script), select actors, select sites for on-site filming, prepare computer graphics, and so on, "she says

.

One of the teams of scriptwriters as of September 2015 is at the stage of finalizing the narrative plan (prescribed the "bible of heroes" - that each main character is what the development of his image is, what is the artistic task), and the second has already sent the first draft script.

The first team offers to shoot a film about the history of an American of Russian origin, a young IT specialist who came to visit his grandmother and, by coincidence, got into NIICHAVO.

"She handles the texture of the book very neatly," Taraba says.

The second is "a completely modern, brazen, lively, development of events in time, about the grandchildren of the heroes of the book of the 60s of the last century and the film of the 80s of the last century."

"The producer still does not stop the reception and consideration of new options for a short synopsis, if there is something breakthrough, then we will immediately take this/these options into consideration," she adds.

Cloud Security Service - Security-as-a-Service (SecaaS)

In October 2014, CROC announced a cloud-based information security service - Security-as-a-Service (SecaaS) - based on certified information protection tools . To provide a new service in the "cloud," CROC has created a centralized security node (CUB), on the basis of which the protection of the personal data information system can be built in accordance with the individual model of customer threats. Renting a cloud service will allow Russian companies to remove a number of issues on the creation and operation of a protection system, protecting the business from fines and stops through minimal time and financial costs. You can deploy the required information security services in the CROC CUB within 1-2 days.

"Many of our customers, in accordance with regulatory requirements, must use only certified information security tools to protect their systems. These are, first of all, commercial companies working with personal data. Therefore, even when the cloud consumption model was convenient for them, they could not use it. Now certified protective equipment can be used not only when placing the system in the CROC cloud data center, but also in the case of renting resources in one of our data centers. The first customers from the branches of insurance and medicine have already become interested in this service, "comments Mikhail Bashlykov, head of information security at CROC.

Technically, the new service is a secure virtual environment with information security services built on the basis of tools certified by the FSTEC and the FSB of Russia. These include firewall, cryptographic link protection (IPSec VPN), and intrusion prevention (IPS).

2013

Turkey market entry: agreement with NGN

On November 25, 2013, CROC announced that it had established partnerships with Turkish integrator NGN. The goal of the partnership is to increase the technical expertise of the Turkish side in the development of complex IT solutions and the joint implementation of large IT infrastructure projects in Turkey.

For 2013, the key areas of its activity are the creation of data centers and outsourcing computing power in its own data centers (the total area of ​ ​ which is 6,000 square meters, and the total capacity is 11 MW), the sale of cloud services, the creation of telecommunications infrastructure and audio-video services based on it, software development and implementation of business applications, infrastructure software solutions, information security, industrial automation, engineering infrastructure of buildings and data centers, IT support for all implemented systems, computing, telecommunications and engineering equipment, outsourcing IT processes.

At the time of signing the agreement, CROC cooperates with more than 180 ICT industry manufacturers, is a leading Russian partner of IBM, HP, EMC, Dell, Fujitsu, Cisco Systems, Avaya, Microsoft, Oracle. This allows the company to create comprehensive solutions that combine the infrastructure part with the automation of business processes.

Next Generation Networks (NGN, or Bilgive İletişim Hizmetleri A.Ş.), Founded in 2005, attracted CROC with similarities in its lines of business, a set of key vendors and industries, which include customers of both companies.

NGN is a prominent player in Turkey's IT industry in data backup and archiving, information and network security, data center creation and cloud, networking solutions, IT consulting and outsourcing. NGN has established partnerships with the world's largest manufacturers: Microsoft, EMC, IBM, HP, Dell, Cisco, Avaya, Fujitsu, Symantec, VMware, Veeam, Imperva, etc. NGN customers are known not only in the Turkish market organizations of the financial and telecommunications sector, retail, power, various industries, healthcare: Societe General, Morgan Stanley, HSBC, Aegon, Turkcell, Vodafone, Roche, etc.

"Already upon acquaintance, NGN reminded me of the young CROC - the same well-coordinated team with good ambitions, active behavior in the market, high growth rate: over the past three years, NGN's revenue has increased annually by 80%. The company is interested in development, with interest it is mastering and introducing new technologies. All this is very close to us, so it is not surprising that CROC specialists are comfortable interacting with colleagues from NGN, we literally immediately found a common language and will soon start implementing the first joint projects on the Turkish market, "says Boris Bobrovnikov, CEO of CROC.

First of all, CROC and NGN plan to implement large projects in the field of computing and storage systems in Turkey.

The volume of the Turkish IT market is about $8 billion, which is four times less than the Russian market, and the share of services is almost six times less, the market is very promising. In the coming years, the Turkish IT market will grow on average by more than 10% per year, and the share of IT services will remain at the level of 16%.

"According to the results of the study, we can say with confidence that modern Turkey is a promising economic system. Now it is the 17th largest economy in the world, by 2023 (the 100th anniversary of the Republic) Turkey plans to become the 10th. The market is very promising for the construction of a data center, since at the moment there is a shortage of high-reliability sites. In addition, high-quality service is extremely in demand in the corporate sector, "experts from the HeadWork Analytics analytical center say

.

CROC notes that the company has regional offices in Samara and Nizhny Novgorod, Khabarovsk and Vladivostok, and there are also companies with which we conducted projects in the CIS, but going beyond the countries of the former Soviet Union is its first such experience.

Regarding the possible entry into other foreign markets, Boris Bobrovnikov told TAdviser that the current economic situation in Russia is largely restraining the growth of the IT market, so CROC is studying the situation, including the markets of Southeast Asia and North Africa, whose economy is developing.

"At the same time, they are less competitive than in the USA, Europe or the CIS. So there is a good local partner - we'll see, "he says

.

"CROC" accused "ATI" of plagiarizing corporate identity

On July 22, 2013, the CROC press service issued a statement accusing its competitors, the iT system integrator, of plagiarizing individual elements of the corporate identity used by the company since 2008.

The corporate identity of "CROC" was developed by the advertising company Leo Burnett Worldwide. The author of the concept is Veronika Taraba, Deputy General Director of CROC. The concept is based on the idea of ​ ​ four elements that correspond to the technological departments of the company: the fire of data-filled data centers, the air of telecommunications, the water of information systems common in companies, and the basis is the land of engineering systems. The fifth backbone element of the company is the intelligence of CROC employees, the statement said.

Fragments of the corporate identity of CROC and iT, which, according to CROC, indicate intellectual borrowing

As Veronika Taraba explained to TAdviser, iT borrowed the idea: the connection of the company's main activities with four elements, as well as the analogy "employees are the fifth element." This idea is used, according to her, in all elements of corporate identity: calendars, advertising modules, registration of corporate accounts on social networks, and so on.

"In our 21 years in the market, we have faced more than once illegal borrowing of our intellectual property. Our legal department has extensive experience in countering this type of fraud, "Taraba added

.

However, according to her, "CROC" has no plans to start litigation with "ATI." "I believe they will take measures not to look like an unsuccessful parody of the CROC company in the new business season," she added.

Attack against CROC by AFK Sistema

In November 2013, CROC CEO Boris Bobrovnikov wrote a letter to the director of the FSBAlexander Bortnikov:

"The company does not exclude attempts at a power raider seizure in the very near future."

Bobrovnikov recalls that on the territory of the CROC office center there is part of the servers that ensure the uninterrupted operation of the Sberbank data center.

An acquaintance of Bobrovnikov claimed in an interview with a Forbes correspondent that someone threw the Department of "K," a unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for combating crimes in the IT field, the idea of ​ ​ "poking around customs about" Kroka^[4]."

In a letter to the head of the FSB, the owner of Krok indicates a possible initiator of his problems - the company NVision, co-owned by AFK Sistema of billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov in 2012.

In "Envision" they could well know the weaknesses of "Kroka." In 2001, the company was created by two former top managers Bobrovnikov Dmitry Taraba and Anton Sushkevich. Among the founders are several of their partners, in particular Maxim Ponomarenko. According to one of Forbes' interlocutors, this is the son of FSB General Boris Ponomarenko.

After Vladimir Yevtushenkov gained control of the Envizhn company and merged it with Sitronics, he persistently demanded that managers appear financial customers, and Sberbank, in particular, recalls the former top manager of the company.

NVision collaborated with Sberbank earlier, fulfilled contracts for the implementation of software. As, however, and "Sitronics." But the share of both companies in the total volume of orders was comparable to most other integrators. "Up to a certain point, Yevtushenkov was satisfied with this," says Forbes interlocutor. "But when he tried to find more space for his companies, it turned out that everything was occupied by Krok. Contracts with Sberbank were one of the main income items of the integrator, and Bobrovnikov was not going to abandon such a customer.

"You come to Gref's meeting, somewhere in the end you tell him that Sberbank does not want to work with your company," explains the principle of negotiations with the head of Sberbank, the owner of a large IT company. Gref refers to Orlovsky. "In Gref's eyes, it probably looks like this: I asked, and then you yourself - if it didn't work out, then you can't work with you." Probably, the same thing happened with "Envision," the interlocutor of Forbes believes.

The former manager of Sitronics adds that Gref himself welcomed the emergence of new suppliers, but it was almost impossible to formally bypass CROC at tenders, which worked with Sberbank for 10 years and knew which software was already used, which hardware was purchased and what problems with it arise: "When submitting an application, it is very important to properly draw up documents. We were not able to fully familiarize ourselves with the IT infrastructure in order to make the best offer. "

Yevtushenkov has repeatedly proved that he knows how to defend the business interests of his companies. In addition, he has long been familiar and friendly with Gref. And the billionaire's daughter Tatyana Yevtushenkova was listed for some time as Gref's adviser to Sberbank.

Bobrovnikov was directly told not to participate in Sberbank tenders anymore, one of the system integrators said. "But Boris is a fighter, started to fight back." This struggle, according to the interlocutor of Forbes, caused the troubles of "Kroka."

"The claims were conceptual. "CROC" just wanted to cheat on lawlessness, "says Bobrovnikov's acquaintance.

Criminal case on non-payment of customs duties for servers for Sberbank

After the November holidays of 2013, Yulia Trukhacheva, head of the Kroka logistics department, did not go to work: in the morning people in uniform called at the door of her apartment, the search lasted 18 hours, Forbes wrote. Investigative measures were carried out as part of a criminal case on non-payment of customs duties, instituted at the end of October 2013. It was about the supply of 52 IBM servers for the Sberbank data center (in total, CROC supplied 59 servers to the bank^[4]

At the end of November 2013, the main office of CROC was visited by law enforcement agencies. One of the interlocutors of CNews said that these were representatives of the FSB. They seized documents and laptops of the integrator's employees. True, according to the source, many stayed at home that day, because they were warned about a possible visit from the security forces.

According to two interlocutors, there was no "mask show" in "Kroka." But this cannot be called a typical seizure of documents, says one of them: "Usually law enforcement officers give time to prepare papers on their own, but in this case they demanded that the documents be provided immediately."

The activities of the integrator were practically paralyzed for two days, one of the interlocutors of CNews knows. The company's management, in an appeal to employees, said that the investigative actions are related to an external customer and there is no reason for unrest, he adds.

According to the investigation, IBM sold servers for Krok, its platinum partner in Russia (as IBM labels the largest partners), the British logistics company Info-System Ltd. Servers were carried out through Russian customs in several batches by Servers and Components LLC (a cross-border supply chain, according to market participants, may include more than a dozen firms). The investigation believes that fake documents were used in customs clearance, the cost of the equipment was greatly underestimated.

Veronika Taraba, deputy general director of CROC, confirmed to CNews that the seizures were carried out in the company's office, saying that they were related to the activities of the partner company. "CROC," she said, is not a party to the case, so it is not right to disclose its details. Taraba says that he does not have information about the connection of seizures with projects at Sberbank. According to one of the sources, IBM itself is also undergoing an internal investigation.

As of August 2014, neither Krok nor IBM transport has any complaints about the Moscow Interregional Department leading this case against the Investigative Committee. On March 28, 2014, CROC received an official letter from the Investigative Committee confirming that "none of the management and employees of CROC Incorporated CJSC were involved in any case being carried out by MMSU on transport of the Investigative Committee of Russia as a suspect or accused." A tax audit in April 2014 also found no serious violations.

The case of non-payment of customs duties at the end of May 2014 was submitted to the court, the defendants are the general director of Servers and Components Irina Elmukova and the customs manager of the same company. They demand compensation for damage to the treasury - 326 million rubles.

However, the story of customs clearance of servers had a lot of unpleasant consequences for Krok.

The criminal case was the reason for a high-profile scandal. The servers were intended for the data processing center (DPC) of Sberbank - the main IT project of German Gref as the head of the largest Russian bank. $1.2 billion was spent on its construction and equipment.

The largest data center in Europe, occupying 16,500 square meters. m, in 2011, Vladimir Putin launched with fanfare: the system started working by reading the drawing of his palm - biometrics are used to control access.

Gref wanted the new Sberbank data center to have only the most modern equipment. "All the largest companies participated in the construction of the data center, there were the latest solutions," says the head of one of the system integrators.

Servers are the heart of any data center. The contract for their supply provided Kroku with a 55% increase in revenue - in 2011 it reached almost $1.3 billion (on average, the IT market in Russia grew by 35% that year).

2012

The company turned 20 years old

In honor of its 20th anniversary, CROC employees shot a video video.

Court with DIT of Moscow

The Moscow Department of Information Technology (DIT) has entered into an amicable agreement with the system integrator "CROC," according to which it has reduced its requirements for payment for late delivery of server equipment to the plots of magistrates of the city.

Initially, DIT, through the court, demanded that the integrator pay 40 million rubles, but later reduced the fine to 8 million rubles, [2] the department told CNews.

Server equipment "CROC" supplied as part of R&D to create an automated system "Unified Information Space of Magistrates of the City of Moscow." The integrator won the corresponding tender in the fall of 2010. The price of the state contract amounted to 238.5 million rubles. As the goals of creating such a system, an increase in the openness of the judicial system, an increase in the efficiency of communications between the judicial districts of justices of the peace of Moscow and the department for ensuring their activities, a decrease in the time for preparing and sending correspondence by justices of the peace, etc., were indicated.

As a result of the work, the information and computing infrastructure at 429 judicial precincts of magistrates of the city and the department for ensuring their activities was to be modernized, the Internet portal "Unified Information Space of Magistrates of the City of Moscow" was created (now it is located at sud.mos.ru), a mechanism for submitting applications in electronic form was created, as well as a subsystem of infrastructure services, automation of work with applications and a subsystem for protecting personal data.

As follows from the terms of reference for the performance of work, a total of 153 units of server equipment were to be delivered to the sections of justices of the peace "CROC." "The controversy was about the timing of this delivery. The delay was different: depending on the site, it varied from several days to several weeks, "says the representative of DIT Elena Novikova.

According to representatives of DIT, the contractor and the sites could not agree on exactly where to install the equipment. At the same time, "CROC" referred to the fact that the problem was on the side of the sites themselves. Krok did not comment on the situation. The decision of the arbitration court, however, says that at the preliminary court session the company objected to the DIT claim and explained to the court that the delay was not due to its fault, but "as a result of the actions of third parties."

DIT met the integrator halfway: "At the second court hearing, the parties announced a settlement agreement, taking into account the uncertainty that was with the location of the equipment at the sites," says Elena Novikova. The IT department of Moscow adds that the settlement agreement should soon come into force.

In February 2012, CROC won the competition for maintenance and system support of the above automated system until the end of the year. The contract price amounted to 38 million rubles. It is worth noting that at that time CROC was engaged in automation of the work of ships for many years. So, in 2003, the company began to introduce in Russian courts a software package for judicial workflow "Magistrate" of its own design. Since 2004, it has been used in the sections of justices of the peace in Moscow.

In the same period, DIT sued Aquarius for delay in one of the stages of PC delivery to Moscow polyclinics. In this case, the authorities demanded 63 million rubles from the contractor. penalties. Like CROC, Aquarius claimed that the failure of the deadlines was not its fault: according to the company, the reason was the interruptions in the supply of all-in-one units by the PC manufacturer caused by a shortage of hard drives due to flooding in Thailand. At the same time, the PC supplier - Lenovo - claimed that there were no delays in the supply of equipment on its part.

2011

Rock festival CROC Rock

In 2011, "CROC" organized the first alternative music festival of CROC Rock, the main goal of which is to open new names in the field of rock music by supporting young rock artists.

ISO/IEC 20000-1: 2005 IT Services Management System (SUSIT) Audit

The company successfully passed the annual inspection audit of the IT Services Management System (SUSIT) according to the international standard ISO/IEC 20000-1: 2005. The audit showed progress in the implementation of the system and confirmed the effectiveness of SUSIT processes. The audit was carried out by the international certification body - the British Standards Institution - BSI. The audit technology consisted of conducting surveys and interviews with employees of structural divisions involved in the audit, monitoring the actions of employees at workplaces, analyzing the SUSIT documentation and the Quality Management System.

In November 2011, CROC confirmed the compliance of its information security management system (ISMS) with the Russian standard GOST R ISO/IEC 27001-2006. CROC became the first IT company to have SUIB certificates of compliance with both international and Russian standards. Information security management is of fundamental importance for companies outsourcing IT processes . For CROC customers, including large banks and financial institutions, as well as oil and gas enterprises, the protection of confidential data is especially important. A certificate confirming compliance of the security management system with the GOST standard gives companies confidence that their data is reliably protected. The certification audit of the information security management system of the CROC took place in the central technical support service of the information technology department, the group of system administrators of the computer systems department, the human resources department and the security service of the CROC company. The audit was conducted by the All-Russian Research Institute of Certification (VNIIS), one of the leading Russian bodies providing services in the field of standardization, certification and technical regulation.

Participation in construction of MegaData Center for Sberbank

"CROC" became the supplier of IBM equipment for the Moscow data center "Sberbank." Thanks to this transaction, CROC 's revenue in 2011 increased by 55%.

2010: First Russian Cloud

On the basis of its own data center "Compressor," "CROC" organized the "first Russian cloud," announcing the possibility of transferring the IT infrastructure of everyone to it.

2009: 1,800 projects implemented

In 2009, CROC implemented more than 1800 projects, of which more than 650 are large projects for corporate customers. According to the results of 2009, the company held the following positions:

• Leader in the construction of contact centers in Russia according to the CNews rating

• 2nd place in the CNews rating "Largest IT suppliers in retail"

• 2nd place in the ranking of the largest consulting companies in Russia of the Kommersant-Money weekly

• 8th place in the CNews rating "The largest IT suppliers in the public sector"

2005-2008: Business growth

In 2005, the number of CROC employees exceeded 800. In CROC Siberia, 19 people work, in CROC Ural - 19 people and in CROC North-West - 10 people. By the end of 2006, the number of CROC employees had increased to 1,300.

In 2006, due to the increase in the number and complexity of smart building projects, the company created a new division - the Department of Smart Buildings, as well as opened new directions - "Energy Centers" and "Integrated Power Supply Systems," including the creation of diesel, gas and diesel-gas power plants.

In 2007, CROC completed a large number of projects in various sectors of the economy, in total, about 650 large projects were implemented for corporate customers.

In 2008, the largest number of CROC projects were implemented for the financial sector - 980. The number of projects in government agencies and budgetary organizations, in the oil and gas industry and industry has increased. A number of projects were implemented for large geographically distributed retail chains.

2004: Opening an office in Yekaterinburg and an IBM competence center

In 2004, CROC Ural began operations in Yekaterinburg. The main goals of the company are to improve the quality of services, service and technical support for geographically distributed CROC customers, as well as to optimize the interaction between CROC and customers in the implementation of large projects in the region.

In the same year, the IBM Competence Center was opened for testing and research in building effective IT solutions based on IBM hardware and software for corporate customers (in January 2014, IBM will break off relations with CROC).

In the early 2000s, a third of Krok's orders came from state-owned companies, when working with which, as the integrator's general director Boris Bobrovnikov admitted in an interview, it should be borne in mind that "any project is guaranteed to end with inspections of the Accounts Chamber,, the MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS FSB Presidential Audit Office and a dozen other different structures." He added: "I'm not saying it's bad, I just want to say it's additional risks. We're used to that.'

2003: Opening of the first competence center

In 2003, the Competence Center was opened, which provides development, testing, optimization and support of solutions, consulting on the design, implementation and operation of information systems, certification of customer IT solutions.

2002: Exit to Siberia

In 2002, CROC Siberia began operating in Novosibirsk. The main goals of creating CROC Siberia are to improve the quality of services, service and technical support for geographically distributed CROC customers, as well as optimize interaction between the company and customers in the implementation of large projects in the region. In 2002, together with the Department of Education of the Perm Region, CROC participated in the exhibition "Modern Educational Environment," at which it presented the only ready-made solution for automating the Unified State Exam, based on the special software developed by CROC - the automated information system (AIS) "Exam."

2001: St. Petersburg Market Entry

In 2001, the regional company CROC North-West was opened in St. Petersburg. At the exhibition "ZdravExpo North-West 2001" the company presents the automated information system "MedAnalytics," at the international exhibition "Customs Service-2001" - the latest technologies and equipment for automated document processing.

1999: Addressing the Year 2000

In 1999, CROC created a department for solving the "2000 problem," which conducted research to identify and prevent possible failures of hardware and software systems at the onset of 2000, and also provided information support to customers, advising on solving the "2000 problem." Under these contracts, the company's specialists were on duty in the data centers of their large customers at the time of the date transition - on New Year's Eve.

In the same year, the CROC takes part in the exhibition "Technical Means of the GUVD" and demonstrates the technology for processing paper archives and transferring them to electronic databases and a SIB-2000 scanner capable of recognizing documents of personnel services of internal affairs bodies.

1996-1998: Development of state automated system "Vybory" system

In 1996, the CROC worked on federal projects - as part of the creation of the state automated system "Vybory," CROC specialists developed a complex for automating precinct election commissions in Russia, including self-developed scanners. The first large-scale use of the ballot scanner took place during the elections of the President of the Russian Federation and the mayor of Moscow - about 10 election campaigns were held, about a million voters voted.

In 1997, a set of means for automating polling stations based on a ballot scanner developed by CROC specialists as part of the State Automated System Vybory project was used during the election of deputies of the Moscow City Duma and advisers to district assemblies at several polling stations in Moscow. In 1998, during the election of deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, new election equipment was used at 212 polling stations in Moscow.

In the same year, CROC opened a web server for technical support of network equipment Cisco Systems croc.tac, built following the example of the cisco.tac service.

1992-1994: Company formation and early years of operations

CROC was formed in 1992 in Moscow as a closed joint stock company (CJSC). Since the beginning of its activity, the company has been specializing in promoting the latest information technologies to the Russian market.

Until 1994, CROC mainly deals with the supply and maintenance of computer equipment. The company receives authorization certificates from APC and Colorado Memory Systems, Compaq Computer, Exabyte, Pinnacle Micro, Motorola, Eicon Technology. In 1994, the company creates a regional network of 20 service centers authorized by Compaq, organizes information support and training of partners.

Notes