Moscow authorities cannot switch to the Russian postal service due to defects

2018: Detection of defects in the application "MyOffice Mail"

In October 2018, it became known that the Moscow authorities still cannot introduce the MyOffice Post application (developed by the company) "New Cloud Technologies" instead of the foreign e-mail service, due to 33 defects identified. He writes about this with Kommersant reference to a letter from the Minister of Government Moscow Artem Ermolaev sent to the head Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Konstantin Noskov and Deputy Prime Minister. Maxim Akimov

Ermolaev asked the ministry to influence the NOTs. According to the newspaper, on September 20, the government apparatus transmitted a letter to the Ministry of Communications, and on September 21, Dmitry Komissarov, Director General of NOTH, addressed the ministry, stating that 25 points out of 33 were corrected in the software release in 2017. Four more defects will be eliminated before April 2019, and for the remaining two you need to "clearly formalize the requirements."

Moscow authorities cannot switch to the Russian postal service due to defects

"For an objective assessment of the functionality of the software," Komissarov proposed a demonstration of the work of the current version of the postal system or "conduct an independent assessment by a third party." According to him, MyOffice Post meets the government's requirements for domestic office software, and DIT letter contains "partly additional wishes for improving software, partly errors that have been eliminated in the current implementation."

At the same time, any customer comments make it possible to improve the product, he notes.

To prove compliance, NOTH proposed the Ministry of Communications to conduct open testing at the site chosen by the ministry, "Komissarov said.

The Department of Information Technology of Moscow (DIT) told the publication that they were considering participating in software testing, the Ministry of Communications did not provide comments.

MyOffice Post was added to the registry of domestic software in 2016, and then DIT announced the cessation of use of the Microsoft mail client.^[1]

2017

Implementation Challenges

The project of migration from the Microsoft e-mail service to the domestic postal software "MyOffice" is not easy, admitted in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper DIT manager Artem Ermolaev at the end of May 2017^[2] Ermolaev explained that we are talking about how the system works.

As a customer, we have at least a three-month delay in the project due to the fact that we have encountered a lot of technical subtleties. The product is not ready to the end and does not fully meet current needs, "he said.

The official added that at the same time he does not doubt the correct trend and vector of import substitution, but there is no need to talk about the "galloping speed" here, and there is no need to hurry.

Artem Ermolaev complained about the work of the post office based on the MyOffice solution

Artem Yermolaev noted that the task is to ensure that people who switch to this software are not limited in their work.

I'll give you an example. The appeal of a citizen who writes to us on the site can eventually get into the mail. If the software does not work properly, then a Muscovite will suffer, to whom we will not respond to the request. And Muscovite absolutely does not care what software we answer him with: Russian or foreign. He needs a result, "Ermolaev explained. - At the same time, we, as responsible for the industry, naturally, should support the domestic producer.

The developer of MyOffice, New Cloud Technologies, told TAdviser that they could not comment on this project and said that all questions should be directed to Rostelecom, which is the executor of the project.

Rostelecom told TAdviser that during the implementation of the project on import substitution of postal service for DIT in Moscow, some technical and technological difficulties arose.

In addition to the necessary product functionality, it was necessary to ensure the transition of users from the existing e-mail system to the new one. The uniqueness of this project is that Rostelecom needed to ensure transparency in the transition of users to the domestic system. At some point, it was necessary to ensure the simultaneous operation of the two systems in a single workspace. To do this, we have implemented a number of specific integration solutions, and at the moment we are optimizing these solutions aimed at ensuring seamless integration, "TAdviser explained in the company.

Rostelecom also noted that the obvious advantage of a domestic product, unlike a foreign solution, is the ability to castomize the system and integrate it into the existing customer system. Thanks to this, it is possible to implement exactly such specific tasks, the contractor says.

Unprecedented implementation of MyOffice mail: all institutions in Moscow, 600 thousand users

In 2017, the Moscow IT Department (DIT) plans a large-scale project to transfer city institutions to a single email service, MyOffice, said head Artem Ermolaev in September 2016. In total, about 600 thousand users will switch to it. Ermolaev explained that DIT, as a centralized body, is responsible for the informatization of the Moscow government and all structures, education and health systems subordinate to it - everything in the city, so we are talking about switching to a new postal system in all institutions of the city.

The DIT specified to TAdviser that the main types of institutions that can access a single postal system are polyclinics, hospitals, research institutes, specialized institutions, schools, kindergartens, orphanages, social service centers, cultural centers, housing and communal enterprises, transport enterprises, etc.

There are no analogues to this project in scale in Russia, says the head of the DIT of Moscow. According to his estimates, the project will take more than a year.

Large-scale migration will be preceded by the implementation of the first stage of the project, when by the end of the year 6 thousand officials will be transferred to MyOffice mail from Microsoft Exchange in pilot mode. At the same time, the product will be reworked for the needs of the customer. DIT conducted the procurement of services for the implementation of this stage of the project in August 2016. Then TAdviser wrote about her (see subsection below). Then the number of users of the postal system should be increased to 60 thousand.

Moscow government begins gradual migration to Russian e-mail software

Artem Ermolaev explained to TAdviser that the purchase of services to transfer all 600 thousand users to the MyOffice postal service in 2017 will be carried out through new competitions. As part of the current pilot project, DIT will more clearly formulate the functionality of the service, the terms of reference will be clarified, which will be used in the future.

MyOffice mail licenses will cost less than Microsoft Exchange licenses, according to DIT. One of the advantages of the Russian developer Artem Ermolaev considers its great flexibility compared to world vendors: it is often difficult to "reach out" to the latter with his wishes to finalize the functionality of the product.

Moscow is one of the leading megacities in the world in terms of informatization, Ermolaev noted, and the presence of such an introduction for New Cloud Technologies will contribute to the promotion of its products in the international market where the company plans to go. On such a large project, the developer will be able to finalize the product and bring it to perfection so that it can be successfully sold in the international arena, the head of DIT believes.

Ermolaev added that Moscow, along with other constituent entities of the Russian Federation, seeks to meet the requirements of regulators regarding IT systems, and step by step will change in the future both office packages and system software to Russian solutions. Transferring a user to new system software is more difficult than replacing application programs, and you need to prepare users for this, says the head of DIT.

2016

Start migration to MyOffice mail service

On August 11, 2016, the Moscow Department of Information Technology announced the results of the tender for the modernization of the "Unified Postal System of the Government of Moscow" (EPS PM)^[3].

The system is used to provide employees of Moscow authorities and their subordinate organizations with e-mail service. The total number of users is about 60 thousand people.

The ERP PM is based on the Microsoft Exchange Server platform. Client access to it is provided through MicrosoftOutlook, browsers and mobile platforms Android, iOS and Windows Phone. Up to 30% of users read mail through the web interface, up to 70% - through the mail client. About 70% also use mobile mail access.

The modernization project is launched with two goals: reducing the use of paper-based documents and diversifying the risks associated with the use of the postal platform of foreign developers, the TK says.

The winner, Rostelecom, proposed to implement a project based on the MyOffice Post product developed by the Russian company New Cloud Technologies.

Following the results of the tender, the system integrator "I-Teco" also proposed to introduce MyOffice in the Moscow government.

The third participant, Starttelecom, intended to carry out the project using the CommuniGate Pro solution developed by a company with Russian roots CommuniGate Systems (Stalker Software), but not included in the register of Russian software.

MyOffice Post is a product for creating and managing a corporate postal system in government organizations and commercial enterprises. Includes e-mail server and e-mail, contact, and calendar applications. Allows you to work on computers, mobile devices and web browsers.

The initial purchase price was 45 million rubles, Rostelecom expressed its readiness to carry out the project for 43 million. Modernization must be carried out 59 days after the conclusion of the contract.

At the first stage, according to the terms of reference, the operator will have to provide 6 thousand users with the Russian e-mail service. In the future, it should be possible to scale the system to 60 thousand.

At the time of the announcement of the tender in July 2016, TAdviser was told in the capital DIT that the key risk of using an import solution in the postal system was associated with the inability to develop and operate the system normally, since the purchase of software is possible only from the register of domestic software.

At the same time, there are already enough products with the mail function in the registry, so we expect that migration will be painless, "said the representative of the department

The fact that the software included in the postal platform of the system should be included in the register of Russian software was explicitly stated in the requirements for the modernization of the EPU.

As of July 2016, the solution for providing the MyOffice Post email service was the only product of its kind contained in the registry.

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