Flant

Since 2008, Flant has been creating and maintaining IT infrastructures critical business applications. In 2019, the company became the first Russia certified service provider Kubernetes (Kubernetes Certified Service Provider status).

Main products and services:

• Deckhouse is the first Russian platform for managing Kubernetes clusters;
• DevOps outsourcing - infrastructure support in 24x7 mode by a dedicated DevOps team;
• Okmeter is infrastructure monitoring configured for you and available as an on-premium or plug-in cloud service.

History

2024

Postgres Professional invests ₽3 billion in Flant IT company

In October 2024, the company Postgres Professional announced a strategic partnership with Flant JSC, providing for an investment of ₽3 billion. The funds will be used to develop the ecosystem of solutions Deckhouse developed by Flant.

The agreement assumes that by 2028 Postgres Professional will receive a minority stake in Flant JSC. The exact size of the share will be determined on the basis of Flant's financial results for the next three years. Control over the company will remain with existing shareholders.

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Investments are planned to be used to improve the product line and improve Flanta's client services. The Deckhouse ecosystem includes the Deckhouse Kubernetes Platform, the Deckhouse Virtualization Platform, the Deckhouse Observability monitoring system, and the Deckhouse Commander cluster manager.

Alexander Titov, General Director of Flant JSC, noted that the partnership with Postgres Professional opens up new opportunities for the growth and increase of the company's competitiveness. He stressed that both companies are developing products based on open source software and are interested in developing the Open Source community.

Oleg Bartunov, CEO of Postgres Professional, said the partnership will help improve the company's solutions using Cloud Native technologies and offer customers a wide range of data capabilities.

JSC "Flant" is a member of the Association of Software Product Developers "Domestic Software" and has licenses of the FSTEC of Russia for activities on the technical protection of confidential information.

Appointment of Alexander Titov as CEO

On July 4, 2024, Flant announced the appointment of Alexander Titov to the post of general director. Read more here.

TAdviser interview with managing partner Alexander Titov

The first project in Russia to implement Deckhouse Kubernetes Platform in fintech companies, implemented by the teams of UNIFIED TsUPIS and Flant, was awarded the TAdviser IT Prize in the category Infrastructure in Fintech: Project of the Year.

Alexander von Rosen, technical director, member of the board of UNIFIED TsUPIS, and Alexander Titov, managing partner of Flant, talk about how to transfer one of the largest Russian fintech projects to the domestic Kubernetes platform and build a fault-tolerant geodistributed architecture with an SLA level of up to 99.99%. Read more here.

Winner of the TAdviser IT Prize in the category "Infrastructure in Fintech: Project of the Year"

and Flant SINGLE CUPIS won the national information technology TAdviser IT Prize award for Infrastructure in Fintech: Project of the Year. The companies conducted the first fintech industry introduction in the platform, as a Deckhouse Kubernetes Platform result of which one of the largest Russia in payment services gained access to modern solutions based on. Kubernetes Read more here [1]

Obtaining an FSTEC license

Flant fulfilled all the requirements of the state regulator and received two licenses from the Federal Service for Technical and Export Control (FSTEC of Russia): for activities for the technical protection of confidential information and for activities for the development and production of means for protecting confidential information.

In order to obtain licenses, Flant fulfilled all the conditions of the provisions approved by decrees of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 79 of 03.02.2012 and No. 171 of 03.03.2012. We prepared and certified the protected premises and automated system for compliance with the information security requirements, purchased software and hardware necessary for the types of activities specified in the licenses, and implemented a production control system based on GOST R ISO 9001-2015.

These licenses will allow Flant to provide services for the implementation of its own developments at sites critical IT infrastructure and where customers need certified for compliance. information security ON

Licensing companies is a requirement of the market, and we are obliged to listen to customers. This will allow us to produce software products certified by the FSTEC of Russia. We are already bringing our Kubernetes platform Deckhouse into compliance with information security requirements for containerization tools. Currently, the final assembly of the product is being prepared, which is planned to be transferred for certification to the testing laboratory, said Alexander Batalov, General Director of Flanta.

Composition of shareholders

As of January 2024, the founders of Flant JSC are individuals - citizens of the Russian Federation. Such information was shared with TAdviser by representatives of Flant.

2023

Obtaining Russian FSTEC licenses

Flant has received licenses from FSTEC of Russia for activities related to technical protection of confidential information and for activities related to development and production of means of confidential information protection.

Flant fulfilled all the requirements of the state regulator and received two licenses from the Federal Service for Technical and Export Control (FSTEC of Russia):

• for activities related to technical protection of confidential information;
• for activities related to development and production of means of confidential information protection.

The licenses were issued on June 26, 2023 and are indefinite.

In order to obtain licenses, Flant fulfilled all the conditions of the provisions approved by the decrees of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 79 dated 03.02.2012 and No. 171 dated 03.03.2012. We prepared and certified the protected premises and automated system for compliance with the information security requirements, purchased software and hardware necessary for the types of activities specified in the licenses, and implemented a production control system based on GOST R ISO 9001-2015.

These licenses will allow Flant to provide services for the implementation of its own developments at critical IT infrastructure facilities and where customers need certified software for compliance with security requirements.

Licensing companies is a requirement of the market, and we are obliged to listen to customers. This will allow us to produce software products certified by the FSTEC of Russia. We are already bringing our Kubernetes platform Deckhouse into compliance with information security requirements for containerization tools. For July 2023, the final assembly of the product is being prepared, which is planned to be transferred for certification to the testing laboratory. According to our plans, we will receive a certificate of compliance for the Kubernetes platform Deckhouse in the first quarter of 2024, noted Alexander Batalov, General Director of Flanta.

Association with Express 42

On June 27, 2023, Flant and Express 42 announced the merger. Flant specializes in creating and maintaining IT infrastructure for critical business applications, its flagship product is the Kubernetes platform Deckhouse. And Express 42 is positioned as the first Russian company to provide services for building DevOps competencies in Russia. It also has its own flagship product - ExpressPlatform, a solution for container development of digital products with a single window into the infrastructure for development teams.

As a result of the merger, Flant expects to expand its consulting capabilities, understand the customer's needs more deeply and more accurately, and strengthen the partner network with new knowledge. And the Express 42 portfolio of services and services includes innovative technologies for managing Kubernetes clusters and monitoring IT infrastructure. At the same time, companies are planning the development of joint products.

Flant and Express 42 declare that the new combined structure covers the entire range of needs for DevOps competencies and tools.

Since the middle of last year, we have been actively communicating with Flant and realized that now is the best moment to unite our efforts. Companies hardly compete with each other. Flant creates company infrastructures, but we are accelerating development. These two things - development and operation - in the DevOps methodology itself are combined together. And we, as two companies that fully share the ideology of DevOps, actually show how it works, - said Alexander Titov, co-founder and managing partner of Express 42.

Flant CEO Alexander Batalov says that even before 2022, Flant products successfully competed with products that decided to leave the Russian market Red Hat and Vmware, such as OpenShift and Tanzu. The total volume of the Russian market, on which, having merged, Flant and Express 42 operate, is estimated at about 16 billion rubles. The combined company expects to occupy about 30%, and maybe up to 50% of this market.

Alexander Titov says that OpenShift's share in the Russian market is estimated at about 4 billion rubles. At the same time, he notes, companies with OpenShift do not migrate instantly. This is a gradual process that is pushed regulatory in some segments, but is not mandatory for everyone. Therefore, there will remain part of the market for players who service OpenShift.

Answering a TAdviser question at a press conference on the merger of companies, Flant CEO Alexander Batalov said that we are talking about a merger deal: 100% of Express 42 will be owned by Flant, and the current owners - co-founders of Express 42 - will receive shares in Flant. According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, as of June 2023, the owners of Express 42 include Alexander Titov, Nikita Borzykh and Ivan Yevtukhovich, each of whom owns about 30.7% of the company's authorized capital.

Alexander Batalov

At the same time, the combined company will have a wider composition of shareholders than now - honored employees will be able to become its minority shareholders: "there will be a lot of shareholders for a company of this size," says Alexander Batalov. The parties do not disclose the structure and terms of the transaction in more detail.

The general director of the combined company in the future should choose the board of directors, added Alexander Batalov. All key decisions will also be made by the board of directors.

According to the database of legal entities Kontur.Fokus, "in 2023, Flant JSC acquired about 8% of the authorized capital of Express 42 LLC and Express 42 Consulting Practices LLC. As representatives of companies explained to TAdviser, the buyback of this share was the first step in the merger deal.

The share bought by Flant previously belonged to Dmitry Voloshin, one of the partners of Express 42. He is the founder of Otus, an educational project that provides courses for IT specialists in various areas, as well as the founder of the Mentorclub.Ru mentors club and venture partner FortRoss Ventures. "Express 42" previously, together with "Otus," did courses. For example, a training course on DevOps.

At the first stage of the transaction, Flant and Express 42 remain independent legal units and will continue their activities in the same vein in which they worked. But ahead is legal unification.

The companies expect that the merger will also expand market coverage. Flant and Express 42 combine their customer bases. The portfolio of Flant and Express 42 customers includes medium and large business companies such as Fesco, Leroy Merlin, Absolut Bank, Alfa Leasing, ВсеИнструменты.ру, PIK, OTP-Bank, Channel One, Raiffeisen Bank, Rosbank, etc.

Answering TAdviser questions, Alexander Batalov said that Flant recently received an FSTEC license to carry out activities to protect confidential information and develop solutions to protect confidential information.

This will allow us to release FSTEC-certified versions of our products within six months. This means that they will be able to work in those infrastructures and environments where the availability of appropriate certification is mandatory, says the general director of Flant.

According to the Federal Tax Service, Flant's revenue in 2022 amounted to 695 million rubles, an increase of 60% year-on-year. Net profit - 141.8 million rubles. For Express 42, over the same period, the turnover decreased slightly - by 4%, to 107.1 million rubles. The company finished with a net loss for the second year in a row.

Alexander Titov

Alexander Titov explained, answering a TAdviser question, that in 2021 Express 42 entered Skolkovo with its own development, and at that time the company decided to invest the earned resources in product development. Because of this, a net loss came out. But now it is planned to "beat off" this story through product sales. The company has always existed at its own expense, he added.

Alexander Batalov noted that Flant, for its part, enjoys support through the Ministry of Digital Development: there are special programs that allow you to receive, for example, loans on preferential terms. This is a very useful tool, and the company expects that with the help of this support it will be possible to achieve the goals set much faster.

TAdviser interview with CEO Alexander Batalov

We talk with Alexander von Rosen, member of the board, technical director of UNIFIED TsUPIS, and Alexander Batalov, general director of Flant, about how the company, which has 99.99% SLA, automated container management, how to minimize the risks of introducing software products based on Open Source and where the Russian engineering team surpasses global vendors. Read more here.

2022

Inclusion in the Association of Russian Software Developers

Flant was accepted into the Association of Russian Software Developers (ARPP) "Domestic Software" on December 21, 2022 at the next meeting of the board. Representatives of "Flant" reported this on January 9, 2023.

Implementation of functionality for Kubernetes

In early December 2022, an updated version of Kubernetes was presented - 1.26. Kubernetes (or K8s for short) is open source software for orchestrating containerized applications, automating their deployment, scaling and management in a cluster. In this version, the functionality proposed and implemented by Flant appeared - it was adopted by the platform developers as Kubernetes Enhancement Proposal (KEP). This was announced on December 26, 2022 by the Flant company. Read more here.

Transition part of Oracle team in Russia

The Flant team has undergone significant changes. On December 13, 2022, the company announced that a significant part of the team of Oracle, which left Russia, had joined it . The main area of ​ ​ responsibility of the updated commercial department will be the promotion of Flant technologies in the enterprise segment, strengthening and scaling the business.

The arrival of such an experienced business development team is a big and significant step in the development of our company. Combining such specialists qualified in the field of sales with the unique technical expertise of the Flanta team is a serious application for success, said Alexander Batalov, General Director of Flant JSC.

The updated team of account managers, technical specialists and marketers will focus on increasing the recognition of the domestic platform, Deckhouse a fully functional solution for launching ready-made - Kubernetes clusters in the internal infrastructure of enterprises and in. clouds

Deckhouse provides identical and secure Kubernetes clusters ready for production use and with guaranteed SLA. Developers and operating engineers (DevOps and SRE) of the customer can now administer and configure Kubernetes in the most comfortable mode for themselves and direct their efforts to the most important business applications. Flant's team as the first certified Kubernetes service provider in Russia is well positioned to support the customer in this process, noted Vladimir Bobylev, Commercial Director of Flant JSC.

As part of the strategy adopted in mid-2022, Flant plans to develop the enterprise direction and offer its own development - the Kubernetes platform Deckhouse - in banking, industrial, e-commerce, telecom and other segments.

2021: Okmeter acquisition

In 2021, Flant bought Okmeter, a monitoring service created in Russia that is available as an external service or can be installed on-premieses.

2019: Kubernetes Certified Service Provider status

On January 26, 2019, Flant became the first Russian company to receive official international status as a service provider for Kubernetes - Kubernetes Certified Service Provider (KCSP). According to representatives of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), having received Silver Member status at CNCF, Flant also became the first Russian company with member status in this non-profit organization.

2017: Open Source projects for Kubernetes

Flant has published as Open Source projects (under the free Apache License v2) its first developments for engineers working with Kubernetes:

• werf (at the time of the announcement was known as dapp) is a utility for implementing and maintaining CI/CD processes, which allows you to collect Docker images and deploy them to Kubernetes using Helm;
• loghouse - a system for managing logs (stored in) DBMS ClickHouse in Kubernetes.

2012: Canonical Partner Agent Status

In March 2012, Flant signed an agreement with LLC, NCPR according to which it became the first agent of the partner network Canonical Ltd. in the territory. Russia Having become a Canonical Partner Agent, Flant began to provide Russian companies with a subscription to official support for Ubuntu Ubuntu Advantage.

2011: Renamed "Flant"

TruOffice was renamed Flant, which reflected a shift in focus in activities. Specialization has narrowed from the introduction of broad-purpose free software (for office needs) to the maintenance of infrastructure for web applications.

2008: Building a Company

TruOffice was founded by Dmitry Stolyarov and Dmitry Shurupov (registered in Moscow on May 13, 2008) with the aim of introducing free software on the servers and desktops of Russian organizations.