Victor Weinstein, Business Logic: About digital transformation of document flow

Victor Weinstein:I can precisely tell that tectonic shifts in the market were not. Market growth slowed down a little – it is visible even on turnover of our company. It is clear, that the economic situation does not promote rapid growth of the Russian EDMS/ECM market and business of his players now. But such trends as import substitution and the need for digital transformation of business continue to have an impact on the market. Pressure on import substitution from regulators was very strong so customers could not avoid it in any way. I constantly see news that this or that company passes from the western ECM solution to domestic analogs. Such requests constantly arrive also to us.

This pressure – unconditional driving force in the market, but it does not lead to growth so far in the monetary relation as only the technical support of the western product quite can cost as much, how many implementation of a domestic analog. However dynamics such is that the size of the market of implementations of the Russian solutions in terms of money grows, and technical supports of western – falls.

Victor Weinstein: Growth of revenue is. I hoped that we will take a level in two billion rubles, but fell short very little: turnover made nearly 1.9 billion rubles. Partially it is connected with the fact that customers are forced to save the IT budgets now. But not only with it.

Our clients — the large, distributed Russian organizations, commercial structures and authorities. They never accept solutions hurriedly. They at first will carry out a pilot project, will be convinced of its working capacity, then will write the program of transformation and, based on it, will be predictably, to solve the problems with the budget registered in advance. We go with these organizations in unison — and we grow together with their desire to scale the ECM solution checked on pilot projects.

In this respect Business Logic not absolutely market company in classical terms of demand. We cannot tell that we have hundreds of clients who behave within a certain trend, and we are guided by this trend. No, our integrated growth strongly depends on in what phase of a cycle which is called "making decision on digital transformation and its implementation", there is this or that organization from group of our clients.

With some clients we are in a phase of support of already working solutions, with others — in a phase of implementation or replication of a new solution. The phase of replication is followed by the biggest cash flows. With each client we study specific projects, we study deeply, for 2-3 years ahead. Actually we work with them in model of strategic partnership.

Victor Weinstein: For 2018 financial year we delivered conservative forecast: growth at the level of 10-15%. Difficult macroeconomic situation. On the one hand, the inner loop of work with the customer is predictable: if we well work at implementation, it is clear that there will be both a circulation, and support and upgrade. On the other hand, in crisis situations the IT budget is cut down first of all, and projects are postponed. It cannot be excluded.

Victor Weinstein: Product and implementation company.

Victor Weinstein: We had additional services for clients. When we are engaged in implementation, we try to render to the client the maximum number of the services connected with digital transformation of its document flow. Let's say the client needs to transfer to an electronic form the document file which is saved up for many years, for example, of technical. We suggest it to make it forces of our center of scanning or retroconversion. Such service appeared at us last year. We can undertake the controlling electronic documents, printing connected with our implemented systems other processes which for the client are not target.

Victor Weinstein: The large organizations have formal requirements: the product should be in the register of the Russian software, have certification of FSTEC, someone needs certification of FSB, etc. Besides, from the supplier expect the solution on management of documents which will be functionally saturated which can be scaled and which can be integrated into the existing corporate IT landscape easily. At the same time to build solutions for management of documents of different types — financial, technical, organizational, legal, marketing and others — the organizations want on the basis of a single platform of storage and use of digital content in the organization.

To such vision of digital transformation of document flow all our clients gradually come. So now select not functionality, but the platform. Clients understand that functional requirements will change, and the platform allows to create flexible solutions needlessly every time to build them from scratch. It is important as after loading of the first documents it is difficult to change a system.

Victor Weinstein: We have two platforms: our own, with the open code, it is included into the register of the Russian software, and the platform for those who like IBM FileNet. Applications on both platforms (EDMS, financial document flow, technical document flow, legally significant electronic document management) on functionality, in principle, identical so it is possible to buy not a specific product, but the platform on which we can, including under the order, construct the unique solution. But to program completely fantasy solution for the customer not our case: we build systems only based on platforms. We transfer the platform with the open code to the client, and he can support and use it using the integrators.

Victor Weinstein: Yes, our open platform is built just on PostgreSQL. Actually, we with most began used the Open source software, just did not speak especially about it. Now some of our clients, especially state structures, begin to try different levels of Open Source slowly: network, Open Stack, domestic virtualization platforms and so on.

Victor Weinstein: One of consequences of digital transformation of corporate document flow — change of an organization structure: the companies pass from the territorial organization to functional. Operating with digital documents, it is profitable to organization to create so-called general service centers, as a rule, in regions where all digitized documents of the company and digital profiles of her clients gather. And take the Federal Tax Service: its centralized system allows to have all information on the taxpayer, in whatever region he lived. It could not be done when all documents were paper. As soon as all corporate content is transferred to a digital form, the organizational structure can be built around the general service centers, it is convenient and economic.

Victor Weinstein: For example, Rosselkhozbank. After the transformation of processes which is carried out there approach to the organization of branches changed. We implemented our solution "Logic: ARCHIVE" based on IBM FileNet which automates the business processes of bank connected with delivery of documents in points of their centralized storage in electronic form. Electronic archive which allows to register, place, look for documents, to provide originals on demand, gave to bank an essential gain of efficiency in work.

Victor Weinstein: I think, years still will pass five. But the state actively goes to it. Let's take, for example, portals of city services: as soon as the last barriers connected with need to set the "wet" seal leave, citizens will have huge opportunities for interaction with authorities directly from the house. In that case the need for the automatic analysis of big arrays of content will appear. Therefore we actively work with ABBYY company on application of their intellectual Compreno platform for extraction of sense and classification of addresses and documents of citizens.

Victor Weinstein: The "analog" companies said: "We need EDMS, we need internal rules and procedures, office, memos, instructions. Why to us ECM? We have an ERP system, with clients exchange paper documents. EDMS is necessary to us!". Today for the companies internal document flow is secondary. It is just separate module on the general platform of digital document flow. For the modern companies key business processes are primary: they say about production processes, about the movement of manufacturing, financial documentation, about what directly affects business performance. For them EDMS not the purpose, but means.