Interview of TAdviser with the CEO of Business Logic company Victor Weinstein

Victor Weinstein: Import substitution has two determinations – absolute and pragmatic. As the mathematician by training I understand a difference between them. From the pragmatic point of view import substitution is formation of such ecosystem of software products and solutions when there is always an opportunity to address for technical support the domestic partner whose solutions meet all standards of the Russian legislation and are capable to work at all territory of the Russian Federation.

Thus, leaving from all closed platforms according to which it is impossible to get technical support at anybody, except the owner of this platform can be considered as import substitution. Such approach allows to remove a problem of sanctions and the related bans on technical support of a number of proprietary foreign platforms and solutions concerning a certain list of the Russian customers. And this list, unfortunately, lately only extends – recently as we know, under bans Angstrem, Mikron and some other Zelenograd enterprises got.

Our western colleagues, perhaps, would also not like to follow bans and restrictions, but are forced. Therefore in the context of security the closed domestic platform when her owner guarantees its support and compliance to the legislation in all territory of the country can be considered as import-substituting, first. The second option - the software, let and not the Russian origin, but with the open code which is laid out in a public repository which can be cloned and support is given by the domestic company having the sufficient level of competence. Thus, within import substitution it is not obligatory to use exclusively Russian DBMS, operating systems, network protocols and so on. The main requirement - guarantees of the owner of a product for support in all territory of the Russian Federation in full accordance with regulations of the current legislation.

Victor Weinstein: Certainly, it is one more important vector of import substitution. But there are objective restrictions. Ideally, of course, in some cases it is possible to construct the solution only on domestic technologies, but I doubt that it will conform to all necessary standards of a corporate IT landscape. Therefore pragmatic approach to import substitution, including at the state level prevails. For example, in the register of domestic software of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation there are solutions created by the Russian developers, but in their structure there can be noncritical for system operation in general foreign components, including from foreign proprietary vendors. As for Business Logic company, at this register there are our author's solutions in which system components with the open code therefore we are always capable to support them in all territory of the Russian Federation are used.

Victor Weinstein: Tell that nothing occurred, it is impossible. For example, only our company executed a number of projects on replacement proprietary EDMS of type Documentum or IBM Notes/Domino on the solution of the register of domestic software. And within such projects the cost of support of a system, as a rule, fell significantly. Moreover, implementation of new EDMS for the big corporate customer can be implemented within the cost of only one annual support of the western proprietary software. At the same time customers have psychological barriers when they do not want to change the implemented and well working system long ago.

Victor Weinstein: The uniqueness of the Russian market of EDMS is that the western systems for it, in fact, never were. There were only universal ECM platforms on which specific Russian products were under construction. In the market of EDMS the domestic companies which in some cases were partners of the western vendors – developers of ECM platforms always dominated. Therefore we also do not meet new players in this market. A situation such is that the same players, as earlier, invest money in development and development of the EDMS systems corresponding to criteria of the legislation regarding reference to domestic goods.

Victor Weinstein: First, would like to emphasize that our solution on the basis of Alfresco is Logic of EDMS based on the Russian version of Alfresco "Infoturnover WSWS". As for the answer to the question posed, we arrived pragmatically. There are clients for whom the solution based on the western proprietary ECM platform works for a long time, and it suits them. We continue to give to such customers technical support. But there are clients coming with new requests, for example, it is essential to expand a scope of an old system, to implement completely electronic document management. In these cases we first of all offer the EDMS included in the register of domestic software.

Victor Weinstein: We work mainly with big corporate customers. Our clients or commercial structures entering in TOP-400 or structures of federal authorities, regional administrations.

Victor Weinstein: About 20%.

Victor Weinstein: The share of implementations of EDMS based on Open Source - and respectively, a share in revenue of the company - annually grows. We are going to bring this indicator to 50-60%.

Victor Weinstein: The Tactical Missile Armament corporation replaced EDMS with IBM Notes/Domino on Logic of EDMS on JBoss Open Source, the similar project was implemented by our Kazan partner Interface in Rosreestr of Tatarstan.

The large-scale and interesting project was implemented in FSIN of the Russian Federation. There our solution with the open code was taken as a basis and adapted for requirements of FPS, own electronic document management was as a result implemented.

To "The logician of EDMS" on Alfresco the city administration of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in exchange implemented the solution on IBM Notes/Domino, and the FMS of Russia replaced with Logic of EDMS on Alfresco the proprietary solution EMC Documentum.

Victor Weinstein: The main complexity in all projects of this kind consists that people get used to interfaces, to an operating procedure in a certain EDMS and do not want changes. And in case of implementation of a new system of change in the interface, technology of work in a system are inevitable. Therefore we devote much time to personnel training of the customer work with a new system. Technical issues on transition to a new system almost do not arise as the customer, beginning to work in new EDMS, old, as a rule, uses as archive.

Victor Weinstein: At the initial stages of operation of a problem arose, but after optimization of a system they were safely resolved: distributed users on cluster nodes, different servers. In practice there are two infrastructure approaches to creation of EDMS: centralized and decentralized. In case of transition from the decentralized infrastructure – for example, 60 servers, through the whole country – to centralized arise certain problems both with scale, and with availability, but all of them are solved. Facilitates their solution and the fact that the client already got used to web clients and web versions of products.

Victor Weinstein: On viewing – hundreds of documents per second. At the same time I would like to note that performance and response time for the systems of class EDMS after all not so critical indicators as, for example, for financial products.

Victor Weinstein: For certain became in these structures, but their results are unknown to me. At the same time it is obvious that import substitution – it is profitable. On the one hand, work cost in relation to dollar sharply fell in Russia, with another, the prices of the western software makers and the equipment remained in dollars and the cost of technical support of the western proprietary software is still tied to dollar. As for technical support of domestic software, it is tied to the cost of local labor power.

Victor Weinstein: I can tell that already today very big customers entering in TOP-10 the Russian market seriously consider a project startup on import substitution. I think that this trend will only amplify. Forms for a public sector of EDMS a basis to their bureaucratic activity therefore universal implementation of the new systems, mutual integration of EDMS of the authorities of different level will also remain relevant. As for small and medium business, it will pass to cloud computing of the organization of business electronic document management. And in clouds services for exchange of documents with state structures and other services will be offered representatives of a segment of SMB. If to try to glance on the market of automation of business document flow in longer term, and not only in the context of import substitution, then I am sure that in 20 years of paper as the information medium in business document flow will not be.