IT market trends in Russia

Main article: IT market in Russia

Market Segment Trends

Trends in some segments of the information technology market in Russia:

• Top ERP systems Market Trends (Russia)
• Trends in the Russian market CRM systems
• The main trends of the BI market in Russia
• The main trends of the Russian CPM market
• Trends in the Russian EDMS/ECM systems market
• Trends in the Russian HRM market
• Banking informatization trends
• Top Trends in Information Protection
• Technological trends in the development of industrial robots
• Trends in the Russian IT market in retail

2024

How the Russian IT market will develop in 2024. Top trends

On January 19, 2024, the All-Russian Public and State Organization "Russian Center for the Circulation of Rights to Creative Results" (RCIS) announced key trends in the development of the domestic IT market in 2024. Specialists of the Association of Software Developers (ARPP) participated in the preparation of the report. One of the key areas will be the introduction of artificial intelligence technologies.

It is expected that 2024 will be the year of the resumption of digital transformations: short-term risks are replaced by a struggle at the strategic level. The outlines of new economic blocks are stabilizing, which will launch a new wave of software and service exports. At the same time, a special procedure for coordinating transactions on the sale of assets of companies leaving Russia can be extended to intellectual property objects. The changes will affect those organizations that wanted to leave, retaining the rights to brands and technologies.

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In 2024, the use of AI funds is a prerequisite for obtaining state subsidies. The updated federal project "Artificial Intelligence" will become part of the new national project "Data Economics." AI-based products help increase the efficiency of various sectors of the economy and take them to a qualitatively new level. AI tools are used to analyze data, predict, optimize processes, automate industries, launch new services for citizens and entrepreneurs. According to Andrey Belevtsev, Senior Vice President and Head of the Technologies Block of Sberbank, AI technology handling skills should become basic for specialists in all professional fields.

Large language models and generative artificial intelligence today are certainly key technological solutions. However, due to the complexity of their development, as well as their highest demands on computing resources and high-quality data for training, it is important to rely on the already developed Russian models of leading technology companies, adapting them to their business tasks, says Belevtsev.

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Another IT trend in 2024 is the development of the Gostech platform: we are talking about initiatives aimed at solving the issue of developing repeatedly replicated services for the provision of services to the population. Active digitalization of Russian regions is expected. The Digital Economy program will be replaced by Data Economics, which will be designed for the period until 2030. The state will continue to support startups and customers of solutions through development institutions: RFRIT, FSI, Skolkovo Foundation, Engineering Center, SME Corporation.

In the current geopolitical situation, domestic IT market players will strengthen on the site of departed foreign companies. At the same time, it is expected to introduce IT certification of specialists, which will simplify the hiring of employees, and the developers themselves will give an objective assessment of knowledge and inspire development. At the same time, the authors of the study believe, the high cost of IT personnel will help popularize the concepts of Low-Code and No-Code.

In 2024, libraries can develop and implement new services and improve the quality of service to readers by using the public-state blockchain infrastructure of the network РЦИС.РФ. This platform should become the basis for new library services. Libraries that have become nodes of the network will be able to get tools that will allow them to provide readers with the necessary services with automatic resolution of copyright issues. At the same time, the operational exchange of data on rights, licenses and conditions for accessing books within the digital РЦИС.РФ network will unite the interests of libraries and publishers.^[1]

What to expect from 2024? Opinions of key players in the Russian IT market

For the Russian IT market 2022-2023. turned out to be difficult and largely turning points: during this period, the course of further development of vendors and IT infrastructure of customers crystallized, which is noticeably different from what it was before. TAdviser talked with representatives of more than 20 Russian IT companies and found out what significant events and trends they expect from 2024. Read more here.

Russoft named the main IT trends in 2024

In January 2024, Russoft published a forecast on the main trends in the Russian IT market in 2024. One of the main trends is associated with the development of import substitution: such projects, according to experts, will go into practice, which will make the development of the IT industry even more dynamic.

First import substitution results

As noted in Russoft, it became clear that the process of replacing foreign IT products is inevitable, but real projects may face problems. First of all, these are issues of compatibility and the need to maintain the level of efficiency, which will lead to new difficulties that will need to be solved in close conjunction of the IT industry with the state.

Russoft published a forecast on the main trends of the Russian IT market in 2024

Changes in the work of industrial competence centers (ICC)

Russoft says that the active stage of import substitution, which has come, including thanks to the work of the ICC, will lead to the fact that the developed program and work plan of the ICC will need to be supplemented and changed in accordance with the results. The main changes will be aimed at reducing the percentage of internal development in state corporations and increasing funding directly for IT companies, the association believes.

Ubiquitous introduction of AI into business processes

In 2024, more IT companies are expected to develop applications using AI, and companies in all sectors of the economy will implement AI solutions in their business processes, optimizing a wide variety of tasks and increasing efficiency.

Movement to a new technological structure

In 2024, Russia will continue to move towards a new technological structure, which will be due to the withdrawal of a person from the control loop of critical processes and systems, experts say.

Critical growth in the importance of information and cybersecurity

The transition to a new technological framework means a critical increase in the importance of ensuring information and cybersecurity, since the transition of critical process management and critical infrastructure from man to artificial intelligence requires the transition of cyber defense to a qualitatively new level. It can only be ensured by the use of new physical and mathematical principles of information protection (the use of quantum and post-quantum cryptography), they are sure of Russoft.

One of the main trends is associated with the development of import substitution

New ways to attract IT professionals

With the growth of the IT industry in Russia, its personnel deficit continues to increase. The response to the growing demand was the massive emergence of online courses that claim to train IT specialists. Unfortunately, without practical work in the training centers of IT companies, graduates of courses are not able to conduct real development. At this stage, they do not yet have enough skills to seamlessly integrate into the company's development team. To combat the shortage of personnel, it is necessary to invest in the training of IT personnel in universities, combining the efforts of IT companies, educational institutions and the state as a regulator.

Reorientation of exports and development of BRICS relations

Against the background of tougher sanctions against Russia, a division into "friendly" and "unfriendly" countries of Russia was brought into life. According to Russoft experts, in 2024 the role of "friendly" countries in the issue of IT exports will become more and more important, especially given the transition to Russia of the chairmanship in. BRICS

Development of digital financial assets

Everything leads to the fact that digital financial assets will be distributed more and more in the coming years - both within Russia and in the world as a whole.

2023

What did you remember 2023. Main results and trends. Opinions of key IT market players

Throughout 2023, the events of the previous year continued to affect the Russian economy, including the IT market, but without the "shock effect" that took place earlier. TAdviser spoke with representatives of more than 20 major IT market players to find out how they see the outgoing year for the industry. Read more here.

The main Russian IT trends of 2024 are named

The Higher School of Business HSE (VSHB) on December 1, 2023 shared TAdviser with the list of the top 10 main trends, which IT of the Russian economy was compiled according to the results of a survey of more than 300 representatives of the Russian companies. In general, enterprises from 14 sectors of the economy, including manufacturing,,,,, industry,, etc., provided their answers retail power agriculture HOUSING AND PUBLIC UTILITIES. construction logistics transport

source = HSE Graduate School of Business and New in Management Project

The primary set of IT trends was formed on the basis of an analysis of research by international consulting and analytical companies, an analysis of research on the use of IT by Russian business, an analysis of the peculiarities of the Russian economy, as well as on the basis of expert experience of employees of the Higher School of Business of the Higher School of Economics and during consultations with representatives of the Russian business community.

Initially, the set included 16 IT trends, but during the initial analysis and feedback processing, their number was reduced to 10. Their full list looks like this:

• "Developing Solutions Using AI"
• "Digital Platforms"
• "Enrichment and Integration of Heterogeneous Distributed Data"
• "Super Applications"
• "Moving Organizations to Aggregate Experience Analysis"
• "Low-code and no-code concepts"
• "Digital Twins"
• "Advanced Automation"
• "Offline Systems"
• "New Digital Security Technologies."

Some of them need separate comments. So, "Enrichment and integration of heterogeneous distributed data" has become the most implemented IT trend in practice. At the same time, the vast majority of organizations that have already implemented appropriate solutions plan to increase investments in them (more than 80%). The most popular areas for its application were operations, marketing, research and customer experience.

The most investigated IT trend was "Development of solutions based on AI." The greatest attention to artificial intelligence was riveted in early 2023, and at the time of the survey, just under 30% of companies had time to introduce AI into their activities, but only 20% of organizations do not plan to introduce AI. At the same time, all companies that already use AI have announced plans to increase investment in this area. The practical and intended use of artificial intelligence is observed and expected in operations, development and engineering, research, marketing and customer experience.

The most controversial IT trend was Digital Platforms. As the researchers explained, the creation of new digital platforms is not always justified from an economic point of view. All markets in which the introduction of digital platforms is hypothetically possible have already become highly competitive, and promoting a new product will be an extremely difficult and costly task.

And the most unexplored, but relevant IT trend was "Autonomous Systems." Despite the low degree of involvement of enterprises in his study, about 22% of companies said that they had either already introduced the appropriate technologies or were studying them. Such a low result of autonomous systems as an IT trend is primarily due to the low degree of distribution of such solutions both in the world and in the Russian markets. This should also take into account potential prospects: the introduction of autonomous systems allows not only to significantly reduce the costs of the enterprise, but also to form and bring to the market new products or services.

The study also demonstrates that already at the initial analysis stage, the assumption of high specificity of Russian IT trends was confirmed. Thus, Gartner in the study "Top Strategic Technology Trends 2023" (Top Strategic Technology Trends 2023) attributed to metauniverses the most current technological trends. Metaverses were included in the primary list of IT terds, but the analysis of Russian enterprises showed extremely low interest in these technologies. Domestic business is focused on more understandable, more feasible, more interesting for the consumer and less costly technologies.

Significant differences are also observed in the field of artificial intelligence. International companies are prone to dividing AI into several trends (including, for example, Adaptive Artificial Intelligence, Generative Artificial Intelligence, etc.). Russian enterprises tend to consider AI comprehensively. At the same time, the issues of AI regulation and delimitation of responsibility between providers of relevant services and their users are in the stage of active discussion, including with the participation of senior government officials and business representatives, but the stage of practical implementation of certain measures to regulate AI has not yet been reached. In international research, on the contrary, trust in AI and the management of associated risks are often distinguished as a stand-alone trend.

Separately, the high dynamism of the studied area is noted.

"Once formed, IT trends may become irrelevant within one or more years. Therefore, we plan to conduct research on Russian IT trends annually, "said Yevgeny Zaramenskikh, professor at the Higher School of Business at the Higher School of Economics, head of the business informatics department.

As explained in the Higher School of Economics, the need for research was due to the peculiarities of the national economy of Russia, which do not allow using the results of international research "in its pure form," as well as the dependence of research by the authorship of large Russian companies on the experience of enterprises, their fields of activity and the technological stack used.

A large-scale study of technological trends significant for the national economy was first carried out in Russia in 2023 by experts from the Higher School of Business of the Higher School of Economics and the New in Management project, led by Marina Ivanyushchenkova. The author's team of the publication "New in Management," which contains the full results of the study: D.V. Batrankov, A.V. Beklaryan, A.A. Bursak, E.P. Zaramenskikh, M.M. Komarov, Yu.V. Fukolova, E.V. Chernozatonskaya edited by E.P. Zaramenskikh, M.V. Ivanyushchenkova.

Maksut Shadayev named the main trends in digitalization in Russia until 2030

On October 26, 2023, Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation Maksut Shadayev speaking at one forum, he named the main trends in digitalization Russia for the coming years:

• Large platform solutions
• artificial intelligence (AI);
• cybersecurity.

As the head of the Ministry of Digital Development noted, platforming is a separate challenge. Here it is important to maintain competition, to enable regional and industry IT companies to fit into the new ecosystem, he said.

Maksut Shadayev

It is clear that here the platform is State that"," it is clear that we launched this process. We believe that for the next cycle, until 2030, platforming will still become the main trend, - said the minister.

Speaking about artificial intelligence, Maksut Shadayev said that such technologies will become an integral part of digitalization in the Russian Federation, including in the field of public administration and healthcare.

As for the third trend - information security, Shadayev called it a "digitalization priority."

It is clear that, unfortunately, we still have leaks from large commercial organizations. It is clear that our infrastructure facilities are under constant attack from Ukraine. There is a lot of attention paid to cyberbesis... This will be our third top digitalization priority, "he said.

At the beginning of 2023, the head of the Ministry of Digital Development has already called several "obvious trends" in the IT market. So, according to the minister, large customers who relied on foreign IT solutions turned to face the market, they hold meetings with Russian developers, switch to Russian solutions. The second trend is associated with the termination of the work of foreign companies.

Obviously, now there is a great demand for cloud services, this is the third trend. The issue of equipment efficiency is an urgent topic. We see that those who did not consider the option of using the state cloud are now considering this possibility, "Shadayev said in January 2023.[2]

Russia named the main trends of the technological future in corporations for the coming years

In October 2023, the Center for Corporate Innovation "Accelerator IIDF" released a study in which he spoke about the trends of the technological future in corporations in the horizon of 3-5 years. The main trends mentioned in the report included artificial intelligence, cloud computing, cybersecurity, the Internet of Things and ESG technology.

According to experts, despite the isolation of Russian companies from the Western technological market, the main development trends are the same for the whole world. There is still a large imbalance in the innovation of industries: the banking sector and the FMCG industry (consumer goods) are much more actively piloting new technologies than engineering and industry. According to a survey of industrial enterprises of the Russian Federation, only 15% consider themselves innovative. The industry is catching up, while, for example, the revenue of industrial robot integrators in 2022 increased by 39.5%.

In the Russian industry, the main IT trends are named:

• wearable smart devices
• 3D- and 4D printing
• digital twins
• robots
• cyber security

According to the study, the "eternal" problems and challenges of innovation remain relevant both in Russia and abroad. Among the relevant: low involvement of business customers and management; long internal approval processes [contracts, NDA, etc.]. 38% of respondents indicate competition between external solutions with internal development, 34% note a narrowing of the market for solutions available in the Russian Federation.

Among the projected trends that will be a response to key challenges and challenges of innovation:

• decentralization of innovation;
• development of corporate entrepreneurship;
• clientocentricity;
• innovative partnerships between corporations;
• digitalization and automation of innovation and the growth of the share of corporate venture capital in total venture capital financing.

One of the topics of the study was the use of digital technologies in agriculture. According to experts, the following solutions are most in demand in this area:

• internet of things
• autonomous vehicles and robots
• commercial space
• ESG technologies
• drones.

The researchers gave an example with the Russian agricultural enterprise Pobeda. It introduced the Cognitive Agro Pilot robot assistant for autonomous control of the combine, which helped to increase productivity by 25% and reduce direct crop losses by 13%.

In the finance category, the greatest demand is for such IT developments as:

• cloud computing
• neuropower (copilots)
• blockchain and Web 3
• cyber security
• quantum computing

Neuropower (copilots), according to McKinsey, increase the productivity of bank employees by 30%, which is expressed in an increase in the operating profit of banks by 9-15%.

Speaking about IT trends in corporations as a whole, researchers put artificial intelligence first:

Artificial intelligence, unconditionally, technology No. 1 in all industries. It seems that the areas of application are almost limitless - from diagnosing defects in metal products to supporting dialogue with the user.

Cybersecurity, as well as cloud computing - technologies No. 2 and No. 3. The number of hacker attacks is growing by 54% year-on-year (in all industries), and clouds are applicable for a wide range of tasks), the IIDF Accelerator Center for Corporate Innovation emphasized. 46% of companies that took part in the survey noted a trend towards digital transformation of their industry.

Technological Future Trends in Corporations

The Russian IT market is developing under the influence of 8 key trends

The Russian IT market is developing under the influence of 8 key trends, most of which have a positive impact on the market growth rate. Such data is provided in the Strategy Partners review, published in September 2023.

A full review of Strategy Partners is available at.

Evgeny Kaspersky compared global IT vendors with endangered dinosaurs

In mid-June 2023, the founder and CEO of Kaspersky Lab, Yevgeny Kaspersky, speaking about the situation in the Russian IT market, compared international corporations with endangered dinosaurs, and domestic IT companies with mammals to populate the vacated territories.

Dinosaurs have left the planet - it means it's time for mammals to develop, "he said (quoted by Vedomosti).

Eugene Kaspersky

According to Kaspersky, the Russian IT industry needs state support, in which the authorities should act as a kind of moderator in the active work of industry venture capital funds that finance domestic IT developments.

While we hold on, but I already want help, - he noted. Now there are easier mechanisms for attracting external funding to IT, Kaspersky added, these are, in particular, soft loans, grants, etc. We can do all this ourselves. But, as they say, a good word can achieve a lot, but a good word and a pistol can achieve more. So, if there is help for IT companies, it will be possible to run much faster, - said the head of Kaspersky Lab.

Alexey Mordashov, the owner of Severstal, also supported Kaspersky. In 2022, industrial competence centers (ICCs) were actively developing in Russia, and this made it possible for all market participants to cooperate with each other for the development of domestic developments, he noted.

It became clear to all of us that the products on which we based our IT solutions are no longer available. Or, let's just say, we still somehow live with them, putting them into autonomous mode - what is sin to conceal. But it is clear that this is not a long-term solution, they become obsolete, problems arise, and we need to switch to our own products, "Mordashov said.[3]

Customers complain that prices for Russian hardware and software are overestimated. Ministry of Industry and Trade  and the Ministry of Digital Development are taking measures

The issues of a significant increase in prices for Russian IT products worried Russian customers in 2022, and continue to remain relevant in 2023. The Ministry of Digital Development has already received complaints about unreasonable overpricing of software, in connection with which Minister Maksut Shadayev previously gathered key players and discussed the issue of concluding a memorandum in order to prevent arbitrary price increases. In April 2023, the Ministry of Digital Development^[4]

According to TAdviser, the specified memorandum will be concluded in early June 2023.

The agreement with companies within the framework of self-regulation of prices assumes that upon receipt of complaints about an "unreasonable increase in the cost" of software, the accreditation of an IT company may be suspended for the duration of the audit.

The director cyber security of the Ministry of Digital Development support department, Vladimir Bengin speaking at PHDays in May 2023, noted that the department, for its part, does not want to directly regulate the market and market relations. However, there is concern about price increases, especially where they are "inadequate." The memorandum is good, there are rules on price increases, and the procedure will be more manageable.

But the best story is, of course, competition. As soon as two, three, four players with similar decisions appear in the register, they will be able to regulate this growth with market relations, "said Vladimir Bengin.

The representative of the Ministry of Digital Development at the same time noted that he personally conducts his "black rating" of vendors that greatly inflate prices: "the time will come, and we will use it too."

Regulators prefer not to directly affect market relations

Over the past year, prices for equipment, including Russian, have also increased. This is due, among other things, to the complication of logistics, and to the rise in price of components. Moreover, there are even cases when domestic equipment from the register can cost several times more than Russian equipment with similar characteristics, which is not included in the register. Oleg Volkov, head of the cybersecurity department of Bank Zenit (part of Tatneft Group of Companies), pointed this out to PHDays in May.

We get two commercial proposals in which domestic equipment included in the register costs so much, and which is not included, costs four times less, - said Oleg Volkov.

As TAdviser later clarified, the representative of Bank Zenit had in mind the register of equipment of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, specifically in this case it was about data storage systems .

The TAdviser source in one of the specialized associations believes that the overpricing of equipment from the register several times is, rather, one-time stories, individual cases, and not a trend. There is no talk on the market that such situations are constantly happening, he says.

According to the interlocutor of TAdviser, components for production rose in price in 2023 by about 15-20%, and this is reflected in the final cost of equipment by a maximum of 10%, because components make up about 30-40% of the cost of equipment.

The register of radio electronic products of the Ministry of Industry and Trade in April 2023 was almost halved. The Ministry of Industry and Trade explained this by the introduction of a point-based system for assessing the "domesticity" of electronics from April 1, as a result of which the number of products in the register decreased from 7.7 thousand to 4 thousand. This hardly played into the development of competition. However, the department expects that companies will "pull up" to the requirements, and the register will be restored and even expanded^[5]. True, it is not known how soon this will happen.

The register of radio electronic products of the Ministry of Industry and Trade contains only localized equipment or with a high proportion of localization. The Ministry of Industry and Trade told TAdviser that the price of the production of radioelectronic products from fully domestic components depends on the specific nomenclature and production process. At the same time, the presence of products in the register is not the reason for the increase in the price of the product.

For its part, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, of course, monitors the situation with prices for electronic products both in the consumer segment (retail chains, etc.) and within the framework of state and municipal needs. In order to reduce the cost of final electronic products of Russian production, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia is implementing financial measures to support projects for the development of ECB production and modules, as well as finished equipment, the department added.

Systematic work is also underway to translate the criteria for confirming production into a "point system" of assessment, which provides for the annual deepening of the localization of key components, the Ministry of Industry and Trade says. And additionally, the department monitors the situation in the industry and develops "new updated support measures" for organizations in the electronic industry.

Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, IT and Communications, LDPR deputy Andrei Svintsov recommends interacting with the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) in case of a strong overpricing.

A very comfortable relationship with the FAS: they sent it, shocked it a little, made noise, you can even highlight it in the media, and somewhere once again they just hesitate to bend prices too high, "says Andrey Svintsov.

The deputy added that if companies do not want to write to the FAS openly, they can involve the Committee on Information Policy, IT and State Duma Communications.

Development Manager of UserGate Ivan Chernov, answering a TAdviser question about the rise in price of products in their information security segment, in particular, where a lot is tied to the hardware, noted that in 2022 there was a significant rise in price, but in subsequent years we can expect rebalancing and price equalization, because more players appear on the market and competition increases.

Another developer of information security solutions, Security Code, believes that the problem is not even in raising prices as such, but in the fact that in 2022 this happened very quickly.

Many large customers who have a decision-making cycle of at least 5-6 months took this as a serious blow to the vendor's contractual ability. And they remembered it. They will still remember in the future to everyone who decided to raise these prices. Even if they try to start reducing them now, trust is lost, "said Pavel Korostelev, head of the Security Code product promotion department, answering a TAdviser question.

Russoft named 7 main IT trends

In January 2023, the Russoft Association, which unites almost 300 IT companies with a staff of 80 thousand employees, published a forecast for the main trends in the Russian IT market. In total, seven trends are highlighted, which, according to experts, will prevail in 2023.

Import substitution and technological sovereignty

The main trend in 2022 was the transition to practical import substitution of software, and in 2023 the trend will only intensify. The main driver of growth in the coming years will be the state import substitution program. At the same time, the need for import substitution of software from private business will increase.

Import substitution and technological sovereignty are called one of the IT trends in Russia in 2023

Moving to Platform Solutions

This is a fundamentally important step, marking the transition from the ideology of import substitution of individual IT products to the formation of Russian platforms that can replace entire stacks of imported software. For this transition, you need to have experience in integrating products into a single system, and this is the task of not so much vendors-manufacturers of specific products as integrators who can assemble the system as a whole.

The growth of the influence of the state

This trend will manifest itself in the fact that government agencies and state corporations will prevail among software customers/buyers. The state will be both the main buyer and the main investor.

Changes in the labor market

In 2022, the number of software developers significantly decreased due to the relocation of some employees. At the same time, in the middle of the year, there was a paradoxical decrease in the shortage of personnel in the Russian market, associated with the appearance on the labor market of the remaining specialists in Russia from the development centers of foreign corporations. What are we going to see next year? We can assume that with government support measures, some of the left IT specialists will return to Russia, the need for mid-level and top-level programmers will grow rapidly, and therefore their salary requirements will increase.

State programs for IT specialists can restore personnel shortages

IT Service Export Challenges

A serious blow to the export of IT services was the sanctions and the ban on the transfer of foreign currency payments to Russia to pay for orders carried out by Russian companies. As a result, the export of IT services from Russia has slightly decreased. The geography and conditions of export activity changed dramatically in 2022, and in 2023 the strengthening of interaction with the markets of "friendly countries" will continue: EAEU, Southeast Asia, India, Latin America, Africa. First of all, it is necessary to give IT exports the status of one of the priorities of the National Program "Digital Economy." This will give the industry the opportunity to use the entire range of export support tools for the Russian Export Center.

Bet on information security

With the development of new technologies, especially with the development of quantum computing, the information security level around the world is under threat. A near-future quantum computer will be able to decrypt any code. Moreover, in order to move to technologies of the sixth technological structure with its cyberphysical systems, it is necessary to provide a qualitatively new level of information security, which should allow regulators to allow the use of cyberphysics regardless of the IT sphere (be it fintech, unmanned vehicles, distributed production, telemedicine or smart power). In this regard, the segment of ensuring information and cybersecurity (including the use of new physical principles) will experience a period of accelerated development.

Investment and Stock Market

Overcoming problems and opening up new markets requires investment. Under these conditions, the stock market can be a tool that can provide businesses with a serious resource and help take advantage of new opportunities. The Investment and Exchange Council will have to set up this instrument and make it useful for all participating parties - the state, the investor, and the IT-Business.

2022

TAdviser: Era change in the Russian IT industry and ambiguous results of 2022

Main article: Era change in the Russian IT industry. Ambiguous results of 2022

IDC assessed the impact on Russia of the departure of Western IT companies

By March 9, 2022, many of the largest Western IT companies, including SAP, Microsoft, IBM and Oracle, suspended their activities in Russia. According to IDC analyst Philip Carter, sales of Russian software like My Office and cloud services, including from Yandex and ActiveCloud, will now grow. However, prices for domestic products may rise, and their quality may not suit everyone, the expert warns.

He also noted that Russian companies are reluctant to use cloud products, especially from American vendors (Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, etc.), therefore, due to the departure of cloud providers, business will not suffer much. Filip Carter estimates the share of spending on cloud computing in the total IT budgets of companies in Russia at 5%, while in the United States the figure is 19%. However, in the past two years, the Russian cloud market has grown rapidly, which was largely facilitated by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, which spurred the development of online trading, the expert added (Reuters quoted him as saying on March 9, 2022).

By March 9, 2022, many of the largest Western IT companies, including SAP, Microsoft, IBM and Oracle, suspended their activities in Russia.

According to IDC estimates for 2020, Microsoft accounted for 17% of the Russian cloud services market. Amazon Web Services (14%) and IBM (10%) followed. All these companies by March 9, 2022 have already announced the suspension of their activities in the Russian Federation. The fourth position in the list of the largest cloud providers on the Russian market in 2020 was occupied by Yandex with a share of about 3%.

In March 2022, IDC noted that Russia and Ukraine combined account for only 5.5% of ICT spending in Europe and even less globally (1%).^[6]

The surge in sales of Russian software after the departure of foreign manufacturers on March 9, 2022 was reported by Marvel Distribution. According to the company, since the introduction of sanctions by Western countries in response to the start of the special operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine (began on February 24), the demand for domestic solutions has grown by 300% compared to the same period in 2021.

EY named 10 main success factors for Russian IT companies

On January 25, 2022, Ernst & Young (E&Y) analysts published a study listing 10 main success factors for Russian IT companies:

• Attracting and retaining motivated employees in a hybrid work environment;
• Using M&A deals to build growth potential;
• Minimizing risks in the supply chain;
• Integration of built-in security in new areas of activity;
• Development of ESG to strengthen relations with investors, employees and clients;
• Improving sales techniques based on consumer data;
• Rebuilding the tax structure into digital business models;
• Optimizing operations to increase flexibility;
• Building consumer confidence in the digital space;
• Preparation for 5G adoption.

EY named 10 main success factors for Russian IT companies

The study was prepared specifically for the Russian market in conjunction with the global agenda. According to E&Y researchers, in many industries cybersecurity standards have been developed for a long time and do not take into account modern realities in terms of, for example, mobile solutions.

A study published at the end of January 2022 notes that over the past 12 months, demand has rapidly shifted from traditionally local solutions to cloud solutions, and the need for devices that allow you to provide services remotely has increased. As a result, many in the sector have faced problems in supply chains. The ongoing trade disputes, changes in legislation and state measures to protect and stimulate high technologies are also affected. Companies should understand that the adoption of new regulation rules could change the situation in the markets overnight, analysts say.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced employers in the technology sector to reconsider the value proposition for employees. To ensure a high level of motivation, employers must first find the optimal balance between remuneration, flexibility and experience and thereby create the conditions for attracting the best specialists, effectively managing costs, "said Barak Ravid, head of EY's global strategy and transaction practice in the TMT sector.[7]

"The most unreasonable thing is to plan the development of a large-scale system." Matsotsky, Gens and Kasperskaya gave forecasts for the development of the IT market in 2022

In January 2022, the think tank TAdviser conducted a survey of owners and executives of IT companies about their expectations for 2022 and the factors that will influence the development of the IT sector. Respondents represent various areas of the IT market - development, integration, service supply, distribution, information security. According to all survey participants, the most important factors for the industry were the pandemic and state initiatives. At the same time, the level of uncertainty today is higher than ever, which requires special caution in decision-making (for more details, see a separate article).

2021: Russia is in 38th place in terms of investments in high-tech companies

At the end of 2021, Russia is in 38th place in terms of investments in high-tech companies with an indicator of $0.8 billion (only high-tech companies registered in the Russian Federation are taken into account in the calculations). Such data on August 3, 2022 was published by the Institute for Statistical Research and Economics of Knowledge (ISIEZ) of the Higher School of Economics following its research.^[8]

Talents (demand) to the country in so far outweigh financial opportunities (supply). Russia ranks 7th in the world in the number of living laureates Nobel and Fields Prizes, 18th in the leaders of creative industries and 35th in highly cited scientists. Data various studies show that a possible weak point Russia is large corporate systems that can find, disclose and monetize technical and creative talents, provide them with competitive conditions for self-realization. More. here

2020

The costs of innovative activities exceeded 2.1 trillion rubles.

On December 15, 2021, the Institute for Statistical Research and Knowledge Economics of the Higher School of Economics presented data on the amount of costs for innovative activities and their structure by type, source of financing and type of innovation.

Despite the economic difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, domestic large and medium-sized businesses have demonstrated a noticeable increase in investments in innovation. In 2020, innovation costs exceeded RUB 2.1 trillion (+ 8.2% year-on-year in constant prices) (Chart 1). Positive dynamics is largely provided by high-tech manufacturing industries: they account for almost half of the total increase in innovation costs.

As part of innovative expenses, the cost of product innovations associated with the introduction of new or improved goods and services prevails - 1.3 trillion rubles. (+ 3.3% by 2019 in constant prices). The companies spent 786.9 billion rubles on the implementation of process innovations aimed at improving the efficiency of production processes (+ 17.9% by 2019 in constant prices).

The cost structure of innovative activities has been stable over the past years: the main priorities are the implementation of research and development (44.3%) and the renewal of the material and technical base (33.4%). The expenses of organizations for engineering (7%) and the purchase of programs for COMPUTER and (databases 4.1%) are much less large, although in 2020 the volume of the latter increased from 69.9 to 87.3 billion rubles.

In the organizations of the surveyed sectors of the service sector (including those related to development, computer ON activities in the field of IT architecture and engineering design, management consulting,, research and advertizing health care development, etc.), more than half of the costs of innovative activities (54.2%) are associated with research and development (Table 1). Similar trends in high-tech manufacturing industries (55.7%), among which the production of aircraft and spacecraft stands out (68.9%); computers, electronic and optical products (59.4%). In general, industrial enterprises invest approximately equally in research activities and the acquisition of fixed assets (38.3 and 35%, respectively). Among the innovative costs of organizations agriculture constructions , the procurement of machinery and equipment is expected to prevail: 89.1 and 76.4% of total investments innovations, respectively.

The increase in innovation costs is noted across all key sources of funding. Organizations carry out innovative activities mainly at their own expense (55.3%). Total budget support, having increased by more than 10% over the past year, provides about a quarter of the costs (23.4% - at the expense of the federal budget and 1.5% - at the expense of the budgets of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and local budgets). Debt financing accounts for 11.2% (Chart 2). The shares of foreign investments and funds of funds to support scientific, scientific, technical and innovative activities remain at minimum levels (0.6% of total innovation costs each).

IT companies predicted the consequences of new US rules, tightening the supply of computers and microelectronics to Russia

The United States again imposed new export restrictions on Russia. On June 29, 2020, two new US Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) rules came into force that further restrict potential exports of sensitive technologies to Russia, China and Venezuela. This follows from a message published on the website of the US Ministry of Industry and Trade in April 2020^[9].

The essence of the restrictions

The new rules include:

• broadening the treatment of "military use" of goods. Now this concept includes technological goods that can in any way be used to create military products. For example, restrictions will affect semiconductor equipment, sensors;

• tightening the requirements for licenses for the supply of goods. Previously, American suppliers could export a large enough list of goods without a license if they were intended for civilian use. Now these exceptions have been lifted. This rule will affect products such as semiconductors, computers, telecommunications equipment, etc.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross earlier explained the new restrictions by the fact that Russia China and Venezuela are allegedly trying to bypass US control USA^[10]Therefore, the authorities intend to tighten control so that "American technologies do not fall into the wrong hands."

Before the introduction of new restrictions, the United States tightened export controls in February 2020, transferring Russia to the category of D. This category is considered unreliable in the context of nuclear and missile technologies. BIS attributed this to the risk of diverting goods and technology from Russia to other countries, contributing to the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Due to the transfer of Russia to category D, exporters have lost the opportunity to obtain licenses for the supply to Russia of raw materials used to create chemical and biological weapons, technologies that are dangerous due to nuclear proliferation and missile technologies. The exception is goods in the space sphere and commercial launch of rockets. Permission for these goods can only be issued in individual cases.

TAdviser interviewed market players to find out how the US restrictions on the supply of semiconductors, semiconductor equipment, sensors and computers to Russia, which came into force in June, will affect.

Market Players Opinion

According to Andrei Shaposhnikov, deputy director of the Jet Infosystems technical center, the new US restrictions will negatively affect the export of these products to Russia.

For example, 99% of personal computers are made on American components, in particular processors, chips, network cards. At the same time, the US Department of Industry and Trade can interpret the new rules as you like. It turns out that each specific case will be considered separately, "Andrei Shaposhnikov explained to TAdviser.

In addition, there are no industries and technologies capable of replacing the lion's share of US semiconductor elements used in Russia in the country yet, says Evgeny Krivosheev, director of the Marvel Distribution own brand production directorate. At the same time, in the market of semiconductor components in Russia, according to him, 70-80% are American products and goods that directly or indirectly fall under their patent restrictions. Original domestic developments, based on the semiconductor element base of American production, are mainly involved in the defense sector, telecommunications, and vehicle production.

If the current supply channels for components are completely blocked, manufacturers will have to redesign their devices taking into account the use of original developments of other countries, such as China. The number of deliveries of ready-made computers due to the expansion of the interpretation of the term "power structures" is unlikely to suffer, American products in these organizations in Russia are already trying not to buy, "Evgeny Krivosheev told TAdviser.

There are no industries and technologies capable of replacing the lion's share of US semiconductor elements used in Russia in the country yet, says Evgeny Krivosheev, director of the Marvel Distribution own brand production directorate.

The consequences of US restrictions, in his opinion, will depend on the degree of state control over the re-export of technology.

The example of the sanctions already imposed on our country showed that the share of American companies was quickly occupied by domestic and Chinese manufacturers. At the same time, in some cases, American products began to be abandoned even where it was not formally banned by the United States. All state bodies, state corporations and companies with state participation, of course, will take retaliatory measures to further reduce the share of American products, - assured TAdviser Evgeny Krivosheev.

Sergey Grintsevich, Deputy Head of the Hardware Solutions Department at Softline, believes that it is still difficult to talk about how restrictions will affect supplies to Russia.

No one knows how the US export license will be issued. From the obvious - supplies to any state structures of Russia of any goods from the United States will be blocked, but whether this will have an impact on the rest is not yet clear. In addition, no one knows how American exports will affect Russia, since the actual information on the volumes and nomenclature of goods supplied from the sensitive area is not public, "Sergei Grintsevich told TAdviser.

At the same time, he noted that the share of supplies of American computers to Russia is still significant, but, of course, is declining in favor of the same Chinese manufacturers and Russian solutions. Moreover, the supply of solutions on domestic hardware and software is growing, mainly to government agencies.

If we talk about business verticals using American solutions, then this is mainly private business. State and parastatal organizations, including banks with the participation of the state and monopolies, are successfully switching to solutions without the use of American goods, "Sergei Grintsevich assured TAdviser.

However, the commercial director of LandataAlexey Nosov disagrees with him. Semiconductors, semiconductor equipment, sensors and computers of American manufacturers, according to him, one way or another acquire all institutions for use in those information systems in which this is not prohibited by special requirements. New US restrictions, in his opinion, should theoretically stimulate the sale of domestic equipment. In fact, many of them depend on the supply of components from abroad, including components produced in the United States or dependent on American licenses. Therefore, if the restrictions are tough, then most likely they will negatively affect the supply of domestic equipment.

In addition, domestic equipment for a number of reasons is often more expensive than imported equipment, and in the context of current economic restrictions, this can be a very important factor. Customers will solve, first of all, the problem of staffing their IT systems and think less about the need for import substitution, - Aleksei Nosov is sure.

At HP Inc. TAdviser reported that the company is assessing the impact on business of new US restrictions. Dell did not provide comments to the publication.

TAdviser study: Quarantine pushed business to invest in PC

A study conducted by the TAdviser think tank in April-May 2020 commissioned by Intel demonstrated the difficulties companies faced when switching to remote work. Difficulties include restricting access to enterprise servers, managing remote PCs, and increasing security incidents. At the same time, the current crisis situation forced many managers to think about updating the PC pool. Read more here.

Coronavirus and cheap ruble destabilized the IT equipment market

Manufacturers, distributors and integrators of IT equipment told TAdviser about the situation on the Russian market.

Shutdown of large projects and explosive demand for remote products

Non-working days and other restrictions caused by the coronavirus affect demand in different directions, said Tatyana Bocharnikova, head of NetApp's representative office in Russia and the CIS.

Customers, depending on the individual situation, either postpone purchases, or, on the contrary, try to stock up on the future, realizing that needs will grow, but at the same time there is not always enough budget for this, - said Bocharnikova

Plans for the purchase of server, network equipment and storage systems from large customers have not changed much, but new large projects involving significant supplies have been temporarily suspended by customers, adds Vadim Mukhanov, director of the competence center for computing complexes at Technoserv.

Perhaps this was due to the restrictions associated with the pandemic, but the more likely factor is the sharply changed ruble exchange rate, he suggests.

A slight decrease in demand for its products was recorded in, the Lenovo CEO told TAdviser Lenovo Data Center Group. Russia Dmitry Parshin

In the new economic realities, many customers need to reformat current projects. We expect demand to return to its historical values ​ ​ in the coming months, - he said

New large projects involving significant supplies have been temporarily suspended by customers, said Vadim Mukhanov, director of the competence center for computing complexes at Technoserv. (photo - www.nextgenfed.com)

At the same time, equipment for organizing remote work is in high demand, says Landata commercial director Alexei Nosov. This is confirmed by the president of the Aquarius group of companies Vladimir Stepanov.

Customers want to switch to a new type of work from home as soon as possible, while not losing work quality and productivity, "Marat Zalotdinov, head of the corporate infrastructure department at LANIT-Integration, explains to TAdviser

The most in demand is server and telecom equipment for scaling remote access systems: terminal access, virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), equipment for contact center operators, notes Vadim Mukhanov. The company "Aquarius," according to Vladimir Stepanov, also receives requests to equip call centers.

In addition, according to Mukhanov, laptops are popular.

In the last week of March, there was an explosive increase in requests for the supply of laptops in connection with the massive transfer of specialists to a remote mode of operation, - he says

Dmitry Molchanov, director of the order and logistics department of Jet Infosystems, also speaks of the surge in demand for laptops. However, according to him, in April the excitement on them already slept.

At the same time, along with laptops, among the general population and among companies that are actively transferring employees to self-isolation and remote work, nettops, personal computers, monitors, tablets, mobile routers are in greatest demand, says Sergey Grintsevich, deputy head of the Softline hardware solutions department.

According to the head of computing infrastructure, "Croc" Alexandra Sysoeva the company is able to quickly meet the increased demand for computing equipment thanks to its stock.

Technoserv has a slightly different situation. The company still satisfies the growth in demand for remote access equipment not only due to operational reserves in its and distribution warehouses, but also with the help of its own reserves of customers due to the redistribution of resources, - said Vadim Mukhanov.

In addition to equipment for remote work, high interest, according to Sergei Grintsevich, is manifested in thermal imagers. They are in demand among enterprises of continuous cycles - metallurgical, energy, etc. - due to the impossibility of stopping such industries in principle, Grintsevich notes.

The head of "Aquarius" Vladimir Stepanov also speaks about the receipt of requests from partners and customers for thermal imaging control systems produced on the basis of its equipment.

In addition, according to Sergei Grintsevich, solutions for video conferencing, switching, as well as server equipment are popular due to the expansion of functionality in data centers due to increased infrastructure loads. Engineering equipment is also in wide demand: diesel generator sets (DSU), UPS, batteries, says Grintsevich.

At the same time, server equipment and cameras for video conferencing were in demand primarily by customers from the small and medium-sized business segment. Large companies chose to fill the deficit in another way, for example, by resorting to buying additional licenses of software for remote work. The issue of lack of servers was resolved by renting equipment or freeing up some of the available computing power to solve urgent problems, - Sergey Grintsevich told TAdviser

Increased demand is also present for solutions related to the expansion of the transport network to increase the bandwidth of Internet channels, said Tigran Poghosyan, Senior Vice President of ZTI - Svyaztekhnologii (ZTE in Russia). In addition, it records an increase in demand for subscriber equipment, including set-top boxes.

The supply situation is more than unstable

The developer storage systems NetApp faced an increase in the delivery time of some components, but so far this has not led to delays in projects, says Tatyana Bocharnikova.

The situation is more than volatile and we are following it very closely. In addition, many supplies depend on local policies that everywhere restrict production activities and the movement of people or goods within a particular territory, which, of course, affects the supply of equipment, she added

CEO of HP Inc. in Russia Pavel Anokhin also says that uncertainty with supplies remains. However, most of the company's enterprises in China have already restored their work and are gradually increasing production capacity.

Vadim Mukhanov told TAdviser that individual deliveries to Technoserv from China are in violation of the deadlines. At the warehouse, the company has an operational stock of components for current contracts related to equipment support, as well as laptops. Technoserv expects to receive the rest of its products from distribution partners. The company already feels restrictions on the inventory of servers.

According to Dmitry Molchanov, "Jet Infosystems" had isolated and insignificant delays in the supply of some items of equipment specialized for the company from China, which did not in any way affect the obligations under the contracts.

Delays in deliveries were explained by the lack of components produced in China: their New Year holidays coincided with the height of the epidemic, and many production facilities were closed or worked in a limited mode, - he explained

At the same time, orders of Jet Infosystems are placed in normal mode. There were also no failures in the supply of equipment. And this despite the fact that the equipment used in the Jet Infosystems projects, being custom-made, is usually not stored in warehouses.

Sergey Grintsevich also told TAdviser about problems with supplies from China. According to him, at the end of March, the supply of "iron" from China resumed and strive for the same volumes, however, due to a number of problems in the sales market, they are slower.

According to the general director of Marvel Distribution, Alexei Melnikov, in general, the supply situation is improving rather than vice versa. China is gradually restoring production and former supply chains are also becoming more and more accessible. Vendors and the entire supply chain work as planned. However, there are still point production and logistics delays, according to Melnikov, but they are not critical.

In a positive way, the situation with supplies is also characterized by Vladimir Stepanov. According to him, it has already significantly normalized and there are no problems with the supply of components.

Problems in the supply of components were certainly during the period of isolation of China and the shutdown of production in them. However, warehouse stocks for the production of products at Aquarius were formed, especially for components with long delivery times. Now we are replenishing them normally based on the current volume of demand, since China has already resumed supplies, - said Vladimir Stepanov

Marat Zalotdinov also said about the same state of affairs TAdviser. According to him, none of the company's partners - equipment manufacturers speak of possible supply problems.

On the contrary, organizations provide written assurances that production is working and deliveries are carried out in full. The strongest restrictions on the modern situation are imposed by the volatility of the ruble exchange rate, - Zalotdinov is convinced

At the same time, Lanit LANIT-Integrations, according to him, are carried out only under projects/contracts concluded before the introduction of restrictions and a pandemic. In the case of urgent projects, for example, the transfer of customer's employees to remote work, the integrator, in cooperation with partners - vendors and distributors - resorts to equipment located in warehouses or having a minimum delivery time.

In the companies "Craftway," "Depot Computers," Landata, Onlanta, as well as Huawei, Lenovo and ZTE TAdviser assured that the supply of equipment and components continues in their normal mode, and the necessary stocks are formed in warehouses.

What to expect in the future

The supply of computing equipment due to the closure of borders may become longer. In addition, according to Alexander Sysoev, it is possible to reduce the choice of commodity positions until the moment of stabilization in the economy.

Vadim Mukhanov is also confident in increasing the timing of deliveries of new equipment, since some manufacturers, according to him, have already announced their increase from 6 to 10 weeks.

Dmitry Molchanov also states that there are definitely risks of increasing the overall timing of equipment deliveries. According to Vladimir Stepanov, problems in the supply of components may arise in the event of self-isolation of Russia in the field of logistics.

Senior Vice President of Kraftway Renat Yusupov notes that from May, when the company will need new components due to the need to fulfill the bulk of orders, delays in their supply will be possible.

However, delays in the supply of components will not be critical, since the production of electronic components in China did not stop, and logistics companies were allowed to transport them. Supplier companies will be interested in shipping electronic components as quickly as possible in order to avoid their accumulation in warehouses after the restoration of production. In addition, most of the components, in particular motherboards, cases, monitors for almost all Crafts projects, are already produced on their own, Yusupov noted.

Huawei also says shifts in delivery times are possible. However, the company is confident that they will not be critical for continuous business.

ZTE also considers delays in the supply of products possible. According to Tigran Poghosyan, they may be due to restrictions on movement on the part of Russia.

The situation is quite difficult to predict with one hundred percent confidence. In addition, we assume that due to the high volatility of the ruble, contracts with a peg to the dollar may be revised, - said Tigran Poghosyan

According to Alexei Melnikov, short delays in deliveries are possible only in the event of a congestion at the borders due to the minimization of FCS employees at customs posts or tightening customs control. At the same time, there are no prerequisites for the shortage felt by the end customer or retail buyer, in his opinion.

Judging by shipments to large chains and regional online stores, there should be no shortage in retail. In the enterprise segment, the range of only some product items has decreased. We ship all other equipment as usual, - said Melnikov

Marat Zalotdinov believes that an increase in the timing of equipment supplies is possible.

A shortage of goods is possible in the long term if the situation does not change. In this regard, the demand for equipment from Merlion customers in Russia will change, says Dmitry Spiridonov, director of procurement for corporate systems at Merlion.

Many customers are already beginning to revise their budgets and change priorities. The most difficult thing, of course, is companies from such industries as civil aviation, retail, etc., - said TAdviser Spiridonov

At the same time, Merlion does not expect any additional difficulties and shortages in the next two months.

According to Alexander Sysoev, the likelihood of a severe shortage of products is close to zero. Vadim Mukhanov considers a local shortage of laptops possible. For other categories of IT equipment, he does not see the risk of a shortage in the horizon of 1-3 months.

The shortage in the prince is considered impossible in Lenovo, LANIT-Integration, Landata, Depot Computers, Aquarius.

Negative and positive factors in the development of the industry

A survey of the main representatives of the industry, conducted by the ISIEZ HSE in March 2020 - at the start of the pandemic, made it possible to assess the impact of a number of factors ("opportunities" and "threats") on the further trajectory of its development. Among the positive factors, industry representatives highlighted a favorable institutional environment and the growth of the competitiveness of the Russian jurisdiction for IT specialists, the expansion of international cooperation, the involvement of small and medium-sized businesses in the digitalization processes and the spread of the concept of "Internet of Everything," the growth of the market for proprietary software of Russian production.

Among the negative expectations, experts noted the spread of open source software, an increase in technological closure, an increase in the concentration of the IT market and deepening digital inequality, an aggravation of cybercrime problems and personal data protection, including due to the transfer of many processes online, as well as a possible increase in unemployment due to automation.

2019:5 main trends of the year, the impact of which the Russian IT market will assess in 2020

Recalling the events of 2019 that took place in and around the IT market in Russia, the TAdviser analytical center identified 5 key trends, the influence of which will fully manifest itself in 2020. Read more here.

2017: The largest IT budgets and major technological trends in the Russian market. 2017 results

• The largest IT budgets and the main technological trends of the Russian market. 2017 results

2012

PAC's Overview of Russian IT Market Trends

For 2012, Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC) analysts predicted especially high demand for software and IT services from medical institutions, transport and energy industries. Projects in them will be implemented at the expense of public funds aimed at developing infrastructure, in particular, the modernization of several airports and railway networks. We are talking about the implementation of automation systems and vertical solutions, for example, for traffic management or supply chains. In relation to the horizontal component of the Russian market, PAC especially notes mobile technologies, IT security and DBMS.

Large players in the banking and telecommunications sectors - Sberbank and Rostelecom - have started organizing individual companies to meet their own IT needs. This is a natural step for large IT consumers, and it will inevitably affect independent system integrators who often dealt with them. On the one hand, competition in the above-mentioned verticals will increase, on the other hand, the demand for IT specialists, which are already in short supply, will increase.

The main priorities in 2012 for Russian system integrators will be to find new niches in verticals in which they already have developed competencies, and at the same time invest impressive resources in opening up opportunities in new markets. In production enterprises, in the oil and gas industry, telecommunications companies and retail networks, they became widespread and became the subject of mass consumption of the ERP system. Now on top of existing automation systems will be the implementation of solutions that can speed up the collection and processing of data, ensure their storage. In particular, therefore, the demand for DBMS will remain consistently high.

Due to the change in the political landscape, the first half of 2012 is a fairly conservative period in the context of the implementation of state IT projects. At least most of the plans were on pause until May 7 - the date the new President of the Russian Federation took office. The public sector remains among the three largest IT consumers, so its impact on the local IT landscape remains very significant.

EPAM's IPO (shares listed on the NYSE) early in the year could serve as an incentive for other market players in the quest to become public companies and raise funds from Western investors. In particular, Luxoft (Luxoft Professional) is seriously considering the prospects for an IPO. ASD analysts are confident that by the end of 2012 we will still hear several similar loud statements.

RAS analysts believed that the eventful first quarter laid all the necessary prerequisites for the further growing up of the Russian IT market and the movement towards an established Western model.

Consolidation

The IT market does not stop trying to consolidate large players, through mergers or acquisitions of niche players in order to strengthen competencies and expand influence. In 2012, we can point to the failed merger of IBS and Borlas, which began several years ago and the restructuring of Sitronics. Recall that in the fall of this year, the business areas of Sitronics were divided between RTI Group and NVisionGroup, also part of RTI Group. At the unification stage, plans were announced to create the largest player in the Russian IT market. The completion of the transaction was planned before the end of 2012 and is due to the fulfillment of a number of preconditions, including the receipt of all the necessary permits from state regulatory bodies, as well as the signing of a number of separate agreements related to the transaction.

There is no second wave yet

The possibility of a market downturn or crisis that did not happen in 2012 in 2013 can be assessed as unlikely. In Russia, on the one hand, the state stimulates the market by launching large infrastructure projects, for example, Electronic Government. On the other hand, business activity in automating business processes remains at a high level. The decline may be due to global changes in the economy, or local problems in some industry. Despite the serious state contribution, the industry lacks strategic external investors. However, their quite attractive niches will remain here, for example, the integration of ERP and PDM.

Russia's accession to the WTO

On August 22, 2012, the Russian Federation officially became a full member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). For the Russian IT market, the main thing when joining the WTO is the signing of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA). The main argument of opponents of entry was the inevitability of a clash with tough competition from Western companies. Supporters pointed to the prospect of tariff liberalization, reduced duties and increased market transparency. In general, the situation is developing according to a moderately positive scenario, and accession to the WTO has not yet had a significant impact on the Russian system integration market.

Simplifying entry into the domestic market of Western companies will force Russian customers to focus on choosing those IT solutions that will ensure competitiveness and increase business efficiency in an extremely short time.

The last word on what measures will be taken to protect Russian IT companies and their products remains with the state. In particular, the Ministry of Communications plans to conduct an additional assessment of the need to join the ITA.

Cloud Computing

According to various estimates, in 2012 the cloud computing market grew by 30-40%. And although cloud technologies are not as widely used as we would like, today they are represented in the service portfolio of almost every major system integrator.

Market players note the growing technical level of service providers, the development of platforms, an increase in the standard SLA, as a result - an increase in fault tolerance. The main demand for cloud services in the future will be generated by SMB segment companies. The main demand is for hosting software applications, that is, a cloud model like IaaS. IT outsourcing is gaining momentum, enterprises have realized the advantages of withdrawing non-core activities from the business structure.

Mobile applications created on the "clouds" will gradually become an integral part of the corporate culture, and will develop in proportion to the cloud services market, primarily among SMB enterprises.

Outsourcing

The volume of the Russian IT outsourcing market steadily grew by 15-20%, ahead of the IT market as a whole. And although it is not necessary to talk about explosive growth due to the underdevelopment of the market, the peculiarities of the Russian mentality and low awareness of customers, in general, market players are satisfied with the existing dynamics and note that demand was higher than in the previous period.

Corporate Information Systems

The number of projects for the implementation of corporate information systems in 2012 increased significantly compared to the previous year. The most active industries were companies of medium and large business level in industrial production, trade (retail, distribution) and finance.

Marketvisio: SMB to increase ICT spending by 50%

More than 50% of Russian SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) companies will increase their spending on IT and telecommunications services in the near future. This is stated in a joint research Marketvisio and Orange Business Services (Orange Business Services, Equant).

The change in budgets is largely due to the growing attention of SME companies to cloud services. Thus, 46% of companies that do not yet use "cloud" solutions plan to do this in the near future. Unified communications and video services follow in priority. At the same time, almost half of the respondents currently use Skype for video conferencing.

Another area of ​ ​ reallocation of budgets is the transition of companies to IT outsourcing. According to the survey results, 22.3% of companies already outsource IT in one volume or another, and 25.8% plan to increase their outsourcing costs in 2012.

The main motivating factor for the transfer of IT functions to external contractors is the lack of qualified personnel in companies. However, the share of companies that solve IT problems on their own is greater than the share of those that go into outsourcing. One of the important demotivation factors is the uncertainty about the security of the company's personal data in the event of its transfer to the outside.

The largest increase in budgets for IT and telecommunications services is planned in companies in the Far East (on average 66% of companies), Siberia and the Urals (51%), Moscow (47%) and the Volga region (46%). Companies of the Southern Federal District will mainly maintain the same level of expenses.

Notes