PAC as a separate segment of the Russian IT market. Why is he needed?

The current tasks of introducing analytical and ERP systems already require the use of hardware and software systems. At the same time, the incompatibility of domestic software and hardware with complex technological processes is most often the reason that customers prefer foreign solutions, "says Svetlana Legostaeva, General Director of VT ANO.

How PACS got lost between two registries

The task of the PAC Council at APKIT is to formulate the interests of companies in dialogue with the state to ensure that they receive tax benefits and, possibly, grants in the future, - comments Viktor Urusov.

Indeed, he explains, Oleg Kravchuk the deputy director of the company "" Security Code for strategic development, the benefits were provided by manufacturers software and companies from the radio electronics industry, whose share of the corresponding products in the sale of products is 90%. But those who produced software and hardware complexes, that is, not software or hardware in its pure form, did not receive benefits, despite the fact that INFORMATION SECURITY there are many software and hardware complexes registered in the registers in the portfolio of the Security Code and its colleagues in the PACS workshop.

The register of telecommunications equipment of Russian origin (TORP) as part of the register of the Ministry of Industry and Trade determines the origin of the PAC - that it is Russian. We have the right to make deliveries within the 44-FZ, but we have never had the benefits that software and iron manufacturers used separately, "says Oleg Kravchuk.

Shamil Aminev, CEO of Sila, also says that it is long overdue to eliminate inequality in terms of obtaining tax benefits and priority in public procurement: {{quote 'This is necessary to stimulate the development of the direction as a whole. After all, the developers of PACS until recently had no place either in the register of the Ministry of Industry and Trade or in the register of the Ministry of Digital Development. " }}

The allocation of PACS to an independent class of products restores its status quo, says Sergey Vikhorev, adviser to the general director of IT-Expertise LLC: {{quote "Now, when the issue of choosing and using domestic products is acute, a paradoxical situation has developed. A router or firewall does not meet the requirements for products registered in the Domestic Software Registry, as it has hardware without which it cannot perform its function. But it also does not fit the RAP register of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. As they say, "And where to go to the poor peasant?"}}

Prior to this, support measures and questions import substitution from the ministry were "sharpened" exclusively under. software The issues of "hardware," the production of electronic components and electronic equipment were within the competence of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, where its own support ecosystem was created. industries

Such a division has always been problematic for manufacturers of software and hardware systems, the expert says: "For example, I had to split the project in order to receive subsidies for the development of software and hardware."

PAC as an entity was not defined at the level of regulatory and technical documentation, but as a product did not have its own OKPD2 code. Products as part of PAC were in different registries. Accordingly, prohibitions and restrictions regarding the use of foreign products in the regulated market worked separately in relation to technical means and software, while in fact customers purchase a single product.

That is why the Computing Technology consortium spoke precisely about the "legalization" of the concept of PAC: fix the definition of PAC in the regulatory framework, assign the PAC of code OKPD 2, take into account in GOST and KTRU, and also develop sites for independent testing.

This is necessary in order to guarantee the customer that the software and hardware complex will work with the proper quality, we emphasized that it is necessary to legalize, - says Svetlana Legostaev. - And in connection with the introduction of the tax maneuver, the PAC topic acquired an additional important role - it was necessary to extend the effect of preferential taxation to companies whose PAKs were the final products that formed a significant part of income.

So the main prerequisite for the attention of legislators to the topic of AVK is the equalization of PAC manufacturers in benefits with developers of electronic equipment and software.

These preferences then did not affect the PAC. And the new legislative act changed the situation, - he says and explains - From this year, developers and manufacturers of PAC can get into the register of Russian software, and this gives them new opportunities.

Thus, they can be exempted from VAT when exercising exclusive rights to computer programs and databases, as well as rights to their use under a license agreement (clause 26 of paragraph 2 of article 149 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). They will have the right to pay income tax at a rate of 0% (for 2022-2024) (paragraph 1.15 of article 284 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). They can apply the aggregate rate of insurance premiums at a rate of 7.6% (clause 1.1 of paragraph 2 of article 427 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

{{quote'Collectively, these benefits should help strengthen the position of manufacturers in the IT market, - believes Alexander Sysoev. }}

Who will be admitted to the updated register?

For this purpose, in accordance with the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 2461, developers of software and hardware complexes can enter their products in the register of domestic software, which is maintained by the Ministry of Digital Development. This right, according to Maksut Shadayev, Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation, was received by manufacturers whose 70% of revenue is the sale of hardware and software systems. "They will be able to add complexes to the register, be accredited and receive tax breaks," the minister said.

We are talking about the inclusion of PACS in the existing Unified Register of Computer Programs. Resolution No. 2461 provides only for the development and approval of the PAC classifier and its application rules.

It should be borne in mind that the PAC register as part of the register of domestic software is in no case a replacement for the register of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, says Viktor Urusov. - Certain types of radioelectronic products included in the register of the Ministry of Industry and Trade will not be able to get into the PAK register, as they will not meet the criteria for PAK. For example, simply developing and producing "iron" is not enough. In order to create PAC, it is necessary to simultaneously develop specialized software that will give the hardware platform unique and demanded functions that are not available when installing universal software on standard server platforms.

The concept of "PAC" was introduced into the legal field (in the context of Ministry of Digital Development activities) in order to give developers PAC access to benefits that software developers can already use. That is, in fact, a relatively simple mechanism is added without a significant change in legislation and with an understandable logic of further regulation, - notes Vasily Shubin, head of the competence center and project office of GETMOBIT.

However, not all current PACS can claim the right to be included in the register of the Ministry of Digital Development.

It is important that support programs do not cover the production of household devices that do not solve strategic tasks for the high-tech industry of Russia, says Viktor Urusov.

And this leads to serious conflicts, - says Anton Dolgonovsky. - As part of the execution of the order of the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin, sectoral import substitution committees have been formed on the basis of federal authorities, which are selecting projects for priority financing. So, many projects were just software and hardware complexes, but there were no support measures for them. I hope this situation will now be corrected.

Svetlana Legostaeva predicts: "Given the great interest of customers, as soon as all mechanisms for including PACS in procurement activities are debugged, their share in the total volume of purchases will begin to grow rapidly."

PAC segment as an incentive for the development of the Russian IT market

In addition to the purely utilitarian task - to equalize the rights to benefits of developers of IT products of various types, the creation of the PAC segment within the register of domestic software is designed to support the solution of the task of a different strategic level - to purposefully and effectively stimulate the activity of domestic companies in line with the movement towards the import-independent and technologically developed IT industry of the country. Indeed, on the wreckage of the old market order, focused on Western global vendors, it is necessary to build a sovereign IT industry in Russia.

According to Renat Lashin, executive director of ARPP "Domestic Software," 2022 was the year of transition to total replacement: the demand for Russian software in a number of product classes increased by an order of magnitude or even more. Increased demand dictates new requirements for import substitution actions: in fact, it is necessary to move from patchwork import substitution, which it was before, to a comprehensive and system transition to Russian operating systems, DBMS, virtualization systems, data storage, etc. This year, says Renat Lashin, the members of the association will focus on the development of industry resources and tools that help customers solve the problems of technical sovereignty.

That big challenge has yet to be met. In this line, Russian PACS should have a strong say, providing significant assistance to customers in projects of import displacement and modernization of IT systems based on sovereign Russian IT.

Today, companies have to deal with unprecedented difficulties due to the massive replacement of elements of the IT landscape. Indeed, even though a single architecture was supported in corporate networks, reference infrastructures were used for growth and scaling, in recent years and decades the number of incidents of a very different nature in infrastructures is growing everywhere, - notes Viktor Urusov, - It is in this context that the role and place of PACS in Russia is becoming clear today. They are larger elements of infrastructure that remove the problems of organizing the interaction of components within the PAC from the operators.

After the departure of foreign manufacturers from the Russian market, a niche was formed, which must be filled with domestic producers. At the same time, users are accustomed to a high level of products that solve business problems, so customers expect complex solutions from Russian developers.

Undoubtedly, this will require additional efforts from manufacturers. Шаблон:Quote 'The changes will be more documentary, since all PAC developers will now need to explicitly allocate those software components that allow making PAK a software and hardware complex, "said Vasily Shubin.

But the use of PAC will increase the efficiency of system integrators. The situation when customers purchase IT equipment of different types (including cable connections) and software (OS, functional software, control system, etc.) in separate lots from various suppliers is not the most convenient approach for subsequent integration, says Dmitry Butmalai, director of the Rubytech product promotion and development department .

The use of PAC allows IT integrators, on the one hand, to simplify their own work, to avoid errors during the implementation stage. On the other hand, this provides an opportunity to provide customers with ready-made functional solutions, solving their pressing problems and optimally allocating budgets to IT, the expert believes.

This will allow expanding development and production and support Russian companies in creating effective solutions for certain tasks.

If the PAC information is consolidated in one place with a detailed description of both software and hardware, this will greatly facilitate the choice and life of customers. Also, the register should contain all information about the developers who were engaged in the creation of the PAC, to guarantee the confirmed compatibility of the components, and therefore, in general, the operability of the solution.

The "smart traffic light" will not become smarter from the fact that it can now be included in the PAC register. But it will be easier for the customer to build an import-independent system or structure the project by typing components from the registry. The final effect of this step will be noticeable later.

Russian software developers and hardware manufacturers are offering more and more mature and diverse products, the number of which is also steadily growing, - notes Shamil Aminev, - The growth of market maturity can be considered one of the prerequisites for the creation of a specialized section in the register of domestic software. After all, it can also help organize and cover the entire range of products of this kind and make it easier for end customers to find the right solutions that meet all the criteria for safety and origin. "

Moreover, in some cases, PAC is the only way to replace the solutions of manufacturers who have left the market, for example, virtualization complexes of high-load workplaces of designers or database machines, adds Alexander Sysoev.

The possibility of entering PACS into the register of domestic software in itself is a rather stimulating measure. After all, access to the unhindered purchase of such ready-made solutions without the need to buy separately registered hardware and conclude license agreements for the use of this or that software already makes life much easier for customers from among state-owned enterprises and companies with CII. And at the same time, this gives developers access to the markets from which they were previously cut off due to the imperfection of the legislative framework.

There is also a benefit for the state in the presence of such a register - it allows you to keep records of the decisions made to understand in which areas there is an obvious deficit, which areas require special attention and additional incentive measures.

It is also worth considering, says Dmitry Butmalai, that the emergence of a separate PAC segment changes the traditional IT equipment sales model, redistributing traditional areas of responsibility in the vendor-integrator-customer triangle. In the classic model, vendors developed their solutions and, within the framework of standards, partnerships and using APIs, ensured the compatibility of various components (server, hypervisor, OS, SHD, SRK, system software, etc.) with each other. Also, vendors created a reference model for the use of their products in specific solutions, up to prescribing specific settings, and directly or through their service partners carried out service maintenance of manufactured components. In turn, integrators tested these solutions and implemented them with customers, and it was the customer who ensured the operation of the components.

Basically, we get a model. cloudy provider Only the equipment is installed at the customer and belongs to him, so no one except the customer has remote access to him, - notes Dmitry Butmalai.

Top job ahead

At the moment, several important blocks of issues have been resolved: for PAC there is a definition, a classifier, a register has been determined, OKPD2 codes are provided. But this is only part of the work, says Svetlana Legostaeva. - Now it is necessary to link the existing components into a set of regulatory measures aimed at introducing PAC into the full-fledged procurement activities of customers in the regulated market.

The registry is just the top level. The hardest job ahead. It includes, first of all, the harmonization of support measures, standardization, the creation of institutes of expertise of the PAC.

Indeed, the very fact of the presence of PAC in the register does not provide an assessment of the quality and compliance with business requirements.

The PAC register is an important step towards the development of Russian digital ecosystems. A single register allows you to keep records and consider each solution with a description of class and purpose. All this facilitates the procurement process for business, - said Natalia Sofronova, director of alliances at Skala^r.

Since the classifier is a departmental document, then, with a high degree of probability, it will be adjusted taking into account the experience gained, the specialist believes.

Today we observe quite a lot of parallel processes in the REA register of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the new section of the PAC of register of the Ministry of Digital Development, - says Viktor Urusov. - So, the Ministry of Industry and Trade expands the requirements for the use of Russian chips. But the volume of their output is still limited, and this often requires obtaining import exceptions, otherwise the tasks in the directions of other ministries remain unresolved. For PACS working with AI, it is important to use microcircuits that are not yet produced in Russia.

According to Renat Yusupov, Senior Vice President of Kraftway, the PAC classifier is necessary not only for the task of accounting for relevant IT products, but also in order to further adopt some regulatory acts and introduce other regulatory measures in accordance with this classification. He gives an example: "The hardware and software complex is regulated in one way. The firmware, which is also quite complex because it provides the functionality of advanced chips and controllers, is regulated differently. And for the control software, the third control option is used. Accordingly, it is possible to enter security profiles and generate detailed information security requirements in accordance with the accepted classifications. "

But before that, the expert believes, the regulator will have to work hard to resolve the problem of duplication of PAC products in the register of the Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of Digital Development. This problem is related to approaches to regulation.

Literally next year, it will be impossible without a deep level of localization to enter into the register the platform that is required within the framework of the FSTEC NPA for high classes of technical means of information protection, - notes Renat Yusupov.

And how will it be in PACS?

If the same approach is adopted for the PACS hardware, it will be good for the electronics industry. And if not, then, I believe, there is a ground for a very serious conflict - we can talk about the fact that a large "hole" appears in the regulation, through which "glands" that are not very localized can penetrate the software register. Where does this lead? Since they are in the register, it means that FOIVs can buy them. And this means a serious conflict between the Ministry of Digital Industry and the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and indirectly will affect the security of information security decisions of regulators, "Renat Yusupov reflects.

Fears of this kind do not arise from scratch - conflicts of this kind have already arisen within the RAP register in connection with products from the TORP sub-register. They were caused by regulatory loopholes that allowed THORP equipment to bypass the strict restrictions imposed in the point system of PP No. 719.

In addition, Vasily Shubin notes, there are acute technical questions related to the PAC register: how to take into account the variability of PAC modifications? How to properly create PACs in cooperation between various developers, etc. For the further development of the PAC segment, it is necessary to detail the concept of "software and hardware complex," from the point of view of specific aspects of this type of IT products.

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