Custom Software Development Market in Russia 2024. TAdviser Overview

In 2024, the Russian custom development market continued to grow. The trend towards import substitution, a decrease in the share of use of foreign IT solutions remained, since over time new problems have persisted and appeared related to the lack of technical support and the ability to renew licenses. They are gradually ending, and refinements of foreign products are becoming impossible.

New foreign vendors announced their departure from the Russian market, new sanctions were introduced. In September, Slack and Miro left, and a US ban on the supply of cloud services, IT support and IT consulting began to operate. In this regard, the demand for Russian solutions also increased.

Our main customers are government agencies, they, as before, account for the largest share of the custom development market. The trend for import substitution and the associated requirements of the regulator for critical information infrastructure still have a strong impact on the entire IT market. The terms within which the transition to Russian or open source software should be carried out, including using low-code platforms, have been determined. We see an increase in the demand for custom development services everywhere. And by using low-code platforms, this can be done even more efficiently, since more functionality can be implemented in a shorter time, "comments Alexander Potapov, chief architect of the information systems development department of Force Development Center (FORS Group).

When developing long-term and reliable development strategies, large companies focus on Russian software. The company turns to custom development services if the system has no Russian analogues. In addition, the translation of unique solutions from foreign platforms to Russian ones is relevant, "says Alexander Zotkin, General Director of Houlmont.

The impact of sanctions and import substitution on IT market trends is still relevant. A second wave of import substitution is expected, so we expect growth in the development of corporate software for customers. The development of software for production systems, some of which may still be supported by foreign companies, will also begin to actively develop. But such companies are already advised to seriously think about a backup plan with the development of their software, - notes Ibrahim Gabidullin, Head of.NET ICL Services.

The departure of foreign suppliers opened up new opportunities for domestic developers, although it added complexity due to tougher requirements for projects. Now we, like our customers, are actively switching to domestic software and technologies. This creates both opportunities for growth and challenges that require adaptation of existing solutions. Important areas are the digitalization of processes and increasing the level of security. Customers from both the commercial and public sectors seek to minimize dependence on foreign technologies. This leads to an increase in interest in domestic solutions and a change in the approach to development, - comments Fedor Medvedev, Director of the Department of Design Solutions and Search Engines Naumen.

One of the trends in 2024 was the productivity of solutions once created for their own needs or to order. Also, companies that seek to enter the market with a new own solution to replace those that are no longer available began to resort to custom development.

Another noticeable trend is an increase in domestic demand for the development of services using artificial intelligence. Such solutions have become in demand not only in IT companies, but also in industry, retail, fintech, and the public sector, which are closely monitoring the development of the capabilities of generative intelligence. In most of their tasks, AI is necessary for forecasting, analytics of large amounts of information. This trend will not only maintain growth rates, but will also intensify in the near future.

Custom development projects have become more ambitious and transformational, requiring great experience, strong competence and a serious approach.

Several trends can be highlighted. Due to the shortage of personnel, customers attract many services according to the TM model, when contractors are not responsible for the result. In the future, this type of business should transform or disappear, since the amount of value added here will only decrease over time. On the other hand, a segment of the so-called managed delivery begins to develop, when there is responsibility for the result, but at the initial stages it is difficult to distinguish its exact boundaries, in this case, the definition of these boundaries and payment is iterative, but the responsibility for the result already lies with the shoulders of the performer. Many companies have some disappointment with the quality of boxed solutions and their development prospects in the coming years, and large companies are thinking about creating unique solutions through custom development, "said Pavel Eideland, Managing Partner of the Development and Testing segment at IBS.

The trend towards independent development and transfer of competencies inside continued to reduce dependence on the vendor. To provide more complex services than outstaff, a development company must have specialized competence - industry, technological or both at the same time.

Increasingly, IT products that companies are developing for themselves are being introduced to the market. Development competencies are transferred inside organizations: their own IT departments are created or expanded, captive companies appear. This leads to an increase in demand for outstaffing model specialists. However, the creation of the same type of products by different companies seems redundant, - said Vadim Kiselev, Deputy General Director of BSL.

Customers create custom solutions and implement systems integration projects with the development of missing parts. The second direction of development of custom development can rather be attributed to the system integration market. The infrastructure of many companies is still a patchwork of various products. Therefore, the request for the transfer of data and business logic from foreign decisions to domestic ones remains relevant. This requires developers to have a deep understanding of the integration and adaptation of existing processes. Over the past year, the volume of this market segment has increased significantly, "says Vadim Sabashny, General Director of LANIT-TERKOM (part of the LANIT group).

In 2024, there was a trend towards digitalization of expertise. Wage growth slowed down, and the cost of analytics and development began to equalize.

Among the solutions in the top were cloud products, corporate software (ERP systems, software for remote work, portals and services for employees, EDO systems). Integration of software and software products, ensuring the connectivity of system elements within the business, testing and ensuring omnichannel solutions are the key theses in a significant part of the projects.

We observe a significant shift in the interests of large companies towards ready-made solutions that can be quickly implemented, integrated and installed in the IT landscape, connecting the software of domestic vendors with functioning systems. Adaptation and subsequent refinement of ″ boxes ″ greatly simplifies business life: you can start using them almost immediately by launching a project with customization of the product for your internal installations and specifics. Here the business is already coming to custom development, which becomes an integral part of the truly effective integration and launch of functionality in the correct mode of operation, - comments Yuri Ovcharenko, President of Develonika (Softline Group of Companies).

In Russia, a pool of "basic" digital solutions is being created that are part of the Register of Domestic Software, which fill the state-created repositories of technologies. They eliminate the problems of duplicate functionality of systems, services and platforms, and are aimed at optimizing business and developer costs. Therefore, commercial companies actively use the opportunities, and the state itself becomes the main customer and manager of the custom-made locomotive.

The division of companies into service and product companies is becoming less and less clear. Often these tasks are solved in partnership. Developers seek to unite in holdings and groups of companies to jointly develop digital products and attract external capital. Customers themselves are much more profitable and easier to comprehensively solve their development tasks by focusing competencies, technologies and resources in one place for transparent and smooth communication.

After large foreign companies left the Russian market, domestic analogues appeared in various areas. In place of one departed player comes several new ones at once. The choice has become large, but it has a negative impact on both consumers and manufacturers. There is no clear leader or standard to which everyone was ready to move. Many companies are afraid to invest in specific Russian solutions because they are not sure that in a year they will be the best or remain on the market. Therefore, many have taken a wait-and-see attitude or are making small investments, waiting until there are clear leaders in each sector, "says Nikolai Molchanov, head of development at WMT Group.

In recent years, almost all large structures have acquired their own IT subsidiaries, and their interaction with the market is more and more reduced to requests for the provision of resources. Most of the custom development market is transforming into a recruitment market.

Relationships with contractors are built on the principle of "just give us working hands." There is a concentration of IT on the market around all kinds of subsidiaries and affiliates, which, in fact, take custom development from independent developers. And now they compete not only with each other, but also with the IT daughters of customers. It should be noted that IT subsidiaries have highly professional teams, often they look more professional than teams of external integrators. Nevertheless, I think that in the next year or two, an understanding will come to the market that most of the IT tasks are too expensive to do with the help of subsidiaries, business will learn to correctly calculate costs, and integrators will pull themselves up professionally, and the result in competition between IT subsidiaries and independent companies will not be so obvious, - says Andrey Sykulev, CEO of Cinimex.

According to experts, the basic request for custom development is evolving both in terms of its composition and in terms of its quality. Tasks within customers are typed. If earlier many of them were solved only by custom development, now ready-made solutions or "semi-finished products" are often suitable. The quality of the formulated tasks has also increased multiply. For large customers, requests increasingly contain formalized business expectations.

It is important to understand that such market development leads to increased requirements for suppliers. Jumping into a contract without having real competencies on board, but only due to eloquent sales, becomes much more difficult. Requirements for the quality of work composition, cost and value are growing. Given the growth in the number and quality of boxed solutions, the level of requirements for suppliers, competition in the market is also growing proportionally. There are more and more companies hungry for new projects with competitive competencies and experience, resources ready to drop price tags in order to get a new contract, - comments Artem Kirillov, CTO, Head of R&D 65apps.

Among the drivers of market growth, experts distinguish:

• ongoing import substitution. Large market participants are beginning to think about the import substitution of entire product lines of departed foreign vendors;
• support from the state and a course towards the development of the IT sector;
• the need of the state and business for a large-scale modernization of the IT infrastructure, which stimulates companies to develop their own solutions;
• active distribution of large language models (LLM), such as GPTChat, and their integration into the corporate infrastructure;
• development of ecosystems;
• the need to revise and transform the business processes of companies;
• readiness of development teams to solve more interesting and complex problems;
• increased speed of information processing.

The main growth drivers this year are not only related to the departure of foreign vendors from the Russian market. Most import substitution projects have either already been completed or began in late 2023 - early 2024. Now we can draw an analogy with the situation that was observed in 2021 - companies are striving to gain a competitive advantage due to operational efficiency, - comments Elena Nikitina, head of custom development at KORUS Consulting Group of Companies.

In the context of import substitution, there is a trend towards creating solutions using domestic components. The basic solution should be domestic, and the stack components should be in the register of domestic software. This also applies to infrastructure components, the transition to domestic OS and DBMS. This is simultaneously a driver, since such tasks generate work on the modernization of systems, and a barrier, since the task can be technologically non-trivial, - notes Fedor Medvedev, director of the department of design solutions and search engines Naumen.

The main driver of the growth of the custom development market today is the massive creation of local IT products: at the time SAP, Oracle, Microsoft and many other companies left the market, an impressive niche was formed, which has been filled by Russian companies over the past two years. An interesting feature of such a market is that product development is actively engaged not only in established IT companies, but also in non-core players who create products, both for their own needs and for the market, - said Arseny Kondratyev, senior manager of Axenix software development practice.

Factors such as:

• lack of qualified IT professionals. This can lead to an increase in the timing of projects and a decrease in the quality of work;

The shortage of highly qualified IT specialists leads to an increase in the interest of vendors in low-code and other ways to speed up code generation, platforms for building applications with minimal developer involvement, "says Dmitry Makarov, director of the Digital Solutions competence center of the NOTA vendor (Holding T1).

According to Nikita Aksenov, Development Director of Unitarius, one of the solutions is to effectively load personnel through the establishment of internal and external processes, the introduction of new tools.

• long-term creation of unique solutions;
• increased level of complexity, scope of projects and reduction of time for their implementation;
• tightening customer requirements and information security. This limits developers in choosing the components of the technology stack and leads to complication of projects;
• lack of access to foreign services;
• companies are not ready for large-scale digitalization due to immaturity of business processes;
• economic uncertainty, inflation and sanctions restrictions;
• a high key rate that increases the cost of financing for companies and limits the ability to invest in new IT projects;
• the high cost of funding - negatively affects the desire of market participants to develop the product line without a dense portfolio of current contracts.

The main barriers to growth may be the lack of opportunities for companies to instantly abandon the solutions of foreign vendors and the unwillingness of Russian software to replace them in full. Most domestic products at the moment can offer only basic functionality in exchange for outgoing services. In this regard, companies constantly have to look for a compromise so that the transition to software as part of import substitution does not lead to problems and losses for their business. It is also important to maintain the necessary level of quality and loyalty of users, while satisfying the requirements of regulatory bodies, "says Alexey Statenin, head of the QA department of the IT company SimbirSoft.

At the same time, both the driver and the barrier are that some customers continue to use foreign software, especially those who do not fall under import substitution requirements. This raises the bar for new products, it is required to offer the customer an adequate replacement - no worse, - comments Nikita Aksenov, Development Director of Unitarius.

In addition, further market growth will depend on macroeconomic stability and the availability of financial resources.

The prospects for the development of the IT market largely depend on government funding. If the level of budget investments continues, the current growth rate will remain stable, and the dynamics will remain positive, - said Victor Burlakov, director of development at I-Teco.

Custom software development is being transformed under the influence of new technologies, among which artificial intelligence occupies a special place.

The development of AI technologies is becoming the main driver for the development of custom development. AI is being introduced into an increasing number of activities during the software development process, and is turning into a full-fledged assistant for developers. It is used both to optimize the process of creating systems, and to solve specific industry problems in retail, production and other segments. It can also be used in DevOps and testing.

The use of artificial intelligence in development allows you to automate many processes, which contributes to faster receipt of insights and decision-making. Predictive analytics systems can optimize resource allocation based on application requirements and server utilization.

AI actively helps in the automation of testing and management of microservices. Custom development based on them becomes more adaptive and scalable. For example, algorithms can analyze the performance of various services and use automatic backtracking to detect and troubleshoot problems, "said Margarita Chubukova, project manager at IT company SimbirSoft.

The use of artificial intelligence in custom development can be compared with the delegation of simple tasks to novice IT specialists. If we talk about the functionality of AI in DevOps, the technology is mainly used to automate routine processes and increase their efficiency, which allows you to free up human time to solve more creative or complex problems. In particular, artificial intelligence helps to speed up time-to-market without loss of quality and reduce costs, which is very important in custom development projects. This is helped by advanced AI models that are being implemented in software production platforms. Today, DevOps tasks also use the capabilities of generative AI. The use of digital assistants helps IT professionals write code through autocomplete and automates routine tasks, such as technical documentation, "explains Sergey Karpovich, Deputy Head of AI T1 (Holding T1).

So far, according to the RUSSOFT association, less than 20% of Russian developers effectively use AI. Experts suggest that this figure will increase in the near future, and companies will have to change their business model in order to remain competitive amid the expansion of AI.

We are cautious and careful about using AI when creating program code, but I believe that automation of the software writing process is inevitable. As machines replaced manual labor in production, also some kind of automation will replace the manual labor of programmers. It will be precisely AI or other technology is not yet clear, - said Pavel Eideland, managing partner of the Development and Testing segment at IBS.

We implement AI at various stages of work. For example, our AI system for forming a project team allowed managers to select optimal candidates for the project 30% faster. And as part of using AI for development and testing, we managed to reduce the time to translate code from one language to another by about 6 times using Deep Seek Code for one of the customers. In the future, the range of AI capabilities will become even greater, and it will be able to help perform many tasks for the development, maintenance, development and operation of software, "says Evgeny Grachev, Director of the Department" Custom Development "of the Reksoft Group.

As noted by Alexey Shapka, CEO of SmartStaffing, even if AI is used in the development process, the result always requires careful analysis and verification by specialists in the format of quality assessment, revision and adaptation of the code for specific tasks. AI helps speed up the process, but cannot completely replace a professional developer.

At the same time, there is an increased demand for AI services on the market. Companies are interested in voice assistants, speech and text analyzers, computer vision. AI capabilities are used to automate customer service, image analysis and video.

Business realized that many tasks are solved faster and more efficiently than when a person does them. It is also a big opportunity to save money in the long run. In addition, the market has a huge shortage of personnel and has to move part of the tasks to AI assistants. Many teams successfully use AI assistants to resume meetings, automatically set tasks following meetings, communicate with a client, and many other tasks. Sometimes AI allows you to replace up to 25% of employees, - comments Evgeny Nologovaev, Deputy Head of Development at WMT Group.

Many companies continue to bring ML, AI and Big Data-related destinations into separate production streams. This indicates that these technologies are becoming more and more popular. While this is not a new trend, it has clearly taken hold for a long time. Previously, large companies were cautious about artificial intelligence, but now they are actively introducing and testing its capabilities, "says Andrei Nepryakhin, CTO AGIMA.

AI algorithms analyze large amounts of data to predict events, which helps businesses make informed decisions, such as in marketing, inventory management, or financial planning.

Documents can be processed using Natural Language Processing (NLP) technologies, which allow you to automatically extract the necessary data from documents, recognize the context and fill in the necessary fields in the database. This greatly speeds up the processing of large amounts of information and reduces the number of errors associated with the human factor.

Machine learning opens up more opportunities for predictive analytics. Such technologies help businesses improve transparency and manageability amid high uncertainty.

This year, many cases appeared on the market, how AI accelerated and reduced the cost of a variety of operational processes: with their help they write texts for product cards on the site, conduct "photo shoots" for catalogs, automate the process of mass onboarding of personnel, create verification systems for compliance with the rules. So far, such projects are created only in large companies that can invest in them and have resources for testing and debugging.

I am sure that next year the trend for the widespread introduction of AI will also affect medium-sized businesses. Many of them do not have their own IT production inhouse, so they will turn to us for help - to custom development. And companies that do not know how to work with AI will be out of work, - comments Artem Kirillov, CTO, Head of R&D 65apps.

Also, cloud technologies, multimodel databases, microservice architecture and DevOps practices are actively used in custom development today. More and more companies are interested in platform or low-code solutions. Special attention is paid to information security.

Low-code development is being used more and more often - you can say wherever it applies. This allows you to reduce the cost and speed up development processes and reduce time-to-market. Customer focus is also important for state customers, so the timing of the withdrawal of new services is actively being reduced, - notes Alexander Potapov, chief architect of the information systems development department, Force Development Center (FORS Group Companies).

DevSecOps solutions, in addition to automating and optimizing assembly and software deployment, provide a new level of code security.

The popularity of import-substituting services is growing, for example, for authorization and registration, processing of personal data.

Compared to 2022-2023, when customers first suspended the implementation of IT projects, and then began to slowly return to active activity, more and more complex and large-scale projects were actively launched in 2024.

There was an increased demand for mobile solutions, especially in the areas of e-commerce, healthcare and financial services. Many companies have sought to modernize their existing solutions by integrating new features and technologies.

Customer requests were associated with improved operational efficiency, reduced costs. Solutions that reduce dependence on expensive personnel, especially in those areas where they are not enough, have become relevant. Software products have become in demand to optimize business processes and improve customer experience.

Customers request software development to solve specific problems that cannot be implemented with boxed solutions. As in recent years, the demand for the integration of existing systems and the development of new modules for expanding the functionality of existing products remains high, - comments Vadim Sabashny, General Director of LANIT-TERKOM (part of the LANIT group).

We are still seeing strong demand for comprehensive IT landscape restructuring projects. This extremely long process is associated with the need to change existing systems or create new ones specially adapted for companies restructured last year. We also see an increased demand for custom development from the agro-industrial complex. First of all, these are tasks related to increasing the transparency of production processes. We have predicted such a situation in the past. In the future, we expect repeated growth in demand in this area, since at the moment this segment is one of the most automated, "says Elena Nikitina, head of custom development at KORUS Consulting Group of Companies.

Speed and cost optimization are important factors when moving to the target solution. This is possible by using accelerator products as the basis for building your own solution. Using the example of our customers, we see a growing interest in platform solutions, which, on the one hand, allow us to get a quick business-significant result, on the other hand, significantly simplify further development and support, - notes Evgeny Grachev, director of the department "Custom Development" of the Reksoft group.

The demand for outstaffing IT specialists, in particular, business analysts and Data Science, PHP and Java developers, and information security specialists, has grown. The demand for testing is growing, as companies have many new elements, services and systems, and these all solutions must work correctly.

There are many tasks for scaling projects: for example, landing successful solutions on new areas of the IT landscape, as well as transforming the architecture from monolith to microservice. Many business requests are directed to the development of corporate software: systems for process control, automation of HR processes, solutions for remote work, digitalization of document management, "comments Yuri Ovcharenko, President of Develonika (Softline Group of Companies).

Houlmont notes that the number of requests for replacing foreign systems has increased. They come from both the public and commercial sectors.

It is important to note that customers want to not only migrate processes to a new system, but also optimize them. Large organizations are now looking not just for contractors, but for technological partners who will deeply immerse themselves in their business, provide the most effective tools, work together with the customer's team and develop its competencies, "emphasizes Alexander Zotkin, General Director of Houlmont.

There is a significant shift in the public sector towards service delivery through electronic platforms and mobile applications. There is a growing demand for the development of resource management and tracking systems, as well as increased requirements for information security and data protection.

One of the key changes was a significant increase in demand for solutions related to the protection of critical information infrastructure (ZOKII) facilities. In the face of growing cyber threats and regulatory requirements, companies and government organizations are focusing on the security of their information systems. Customers from the commercial sector continue to focus on introducing modern technologies to increase efficiency and reduce costs, while the public sector is more clearly prioritizing information security and compliance, "says Alexey Shapka, CEO of SmartStaffing.

The key request is one - high-quality information systems and a high level of service. The topic of import substitution is also relevant, and taking into account the strict deadlines for replacing foreign software for CII objects with domestic products, the trend will continue in 2025. More and more requests from government customers are received on the topic of introducing AI technologies into software products. In addition, there is a significant increase in customer attention to the topic of information security, especially at the federal level, - said Natalya Zeitenidi, General Director of BFT-Holding.

Projects on data migration and business processes, launched in 2022-2023, are being completed. State customers work very closely to digitalize all areas in accordance with the digital transformation strategy. The financial segment, the social sphere and health care can be especially distinguished, where the provision of public digital services according to the "city as a service" model came to the fore.

The Ministry of Digital Development sets an active trend for online services. A modern service should now be provided at the time of application, and, preferably, proactively, when the state or the merchant knows about your request or need and without an additional request provides the required service based on the data available to them, albeit in different systems, - comments Alexander Potapov, chief architect of the information systems development department, company "Force Development Center" (FORS Group).

According to Fedor Medvedev, director of the department of design solutions and search engines Naumen, due to the strict requirements for holding tenders, the process of presale in the public sector has become more complicated. Customers are more cautious about the highly specialized evaluation criteria, which increases the share of overall indicators, such as the number of projects completed, the number of transactions concluded and the amount of revenue. This gives an advantage to large integrators.

Customers from the public sector, as a rule, request the development of highly secure systems and solutions that digitize services for the population or automate the internal processes of individual departments. Among commercial customers, there is a request to solve specific business problems specific to the company or industry. For both sectors, solving the problems of import substitution and increasing data security is relevant, - notes Dmitry Makarov, director of the competence center "Digital Solutions" of the NOTA vendor (Holding T1).

Recently, requests for import substitution of ″ extra-heavy ″ systems have begun to arrive. If in the past customers wanted to import ″ into an easy ″, that is, to do with a certain system level, now customers come for more ″ heavy ″ systems with large application code, solving specific problems: credit pipeline, decision-making module, HR systems, core accounting systems, transition from monolithic architecture to microservice, development taking into account integration into existing systems. Our clients focus on building solutions on Russian and open source components, a suitable technology stack, the absence of a vendor lock, "says Nikita Aksenov, Development Director of Unitarius.

The most acute problem at present is the lack of qualified specialists with specialized education. With the growing demand for IT services and an increase in the number of projects, it is becoming more and more difficult to find and retain high-class IT specialists. By the end of 2023, the increase in demand for them amounted to 81% according to the Avito Rabota service. Now the candidates market and the "ball is on their side," so the search for a good specialist takes at least 1-2 months.

For example, companies do not have enough specialists to implement projects using AI and ML. Since these are new technologies, time must pass for a large number of experienced applicants to appear on the market.

One of the reasons for the personnel hunger - educational programs of universities do not keep up with technological changes and, as a result, do not meet the market requirements. On the one hand, this leads to the emergence of graduates with insufficient practical skills, on the other hand, companies have difficulties in finding specialists with deep knowledge of modern technologies and development methodologies.

It is difficult to train a specialist from scratch, especially in an actively changing market, when the technologies and tools studied today become unavailable and irrelevant tomorrow. The solution of the personnel problem is now engaged in the state, and the suppliers of software products themselves, which develop various courses, launch IT schools, camps, and also provide methodological support to buyers of their solutions.

There are not enough competent specialists, and the process of ″ immersion of ″ new employees into the company is becoming more and more difficult. We have found our own way of solving it - this is the active adaptation of new team members, support by a mentor, - comments Alexander Potapov, chief architect of the information systems development department, Force Development Center (FORS Group ).

There are enough people who want to work in this area, but there are not enough qualified personnel with real commercial experience. Large IT companies create their own training centers for teaching beginners the necessary project skills and forming balanced teams. After the break, we also resumed cooperation with universities and the development of our training center. The company is actively growing, together with young people, strong specialists, professionals come to us, in our country they find those projects that they can be proud of in the future, find professional and career growth, a unique culture with Russian roots and world experience, - says Evgeny Grachev, Director of the Department "Custom Development" of the Reksoft group.

Many experienced specialists either went abroad or began working for foreign companies. This leads to an increase in salaries in the IT sector. Large corporations are strengthening this trend by actively hiring employees and raising rates, which further increases salary expectations. As a result, custom development companies find it harder to compete for talent, but this is necessary. In our company, we focus on the internal development of personnel: we conduct internships, hire Junior specialists and gradually train them to the level of Senior and Timlids, - says Andrey Nepryakhin, CTO AGIMA.

Another market problem is the departure of foreign IT services for development. In Russia, for example, IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate is not available. It is no longer possible to use non-Russian services and tools to implement various kinds of solutions. Developers have lost access to a large number of paid tools and development components, this affects the speed and quality of development, new architectural solutions are required where everything was previously worked out for years. And there are not always analogues and this causes certain difficulties.

The restriction on the use of components and libraries from foreign vendors has led to the fact that Russian companies have lost access to important updates, and developers are forced to look for a replacement for them among domestic and open-source solutions. At the same time, some experts note the immaturity of Russian development tools.

Russian alternatives have appeared on the market, but they are not always quite mature. As a result, there are difficulties in providing technical support for open libraries and checking systems based on freely distributed code for potential cyber threats, - said Dmitry Makarov, director of the Digital Solutions competence center of the NOTA vendor (Holding T1).

Today, Russian IDEs often experience problems with a lack of integration with popular tools and services, as well as the lack of familiar functionality. This forces developers to work with less convenient and flexible tools, - said Vadim Sabashny, General Director of LANIT-TERKOM (part of the LANIT group).

The main problems are associated with adaptation to new technological realities and the search for alternatives to foreign tools. These issues are solved by investing in personnel training and the development of domestic development tools, "says Vadim Kiselev, Deputy General Director of BSL.

Russian manufacturers are actively developing their tools, in particular, Sberbank has released the GIGA IDE, and we are a tool for improving the efficiency of the Amplicode Spring development, which can be used in combination with various IDEs, both foreign and Russian. The most important thing is not to create tracing paper from foreign technologies, but to successfully compete or synergize with them, improving user experience and increasing development efficiency. Despite the desire for technological independence, Russian companies do not invent the wheel, but use open-source technologies that meet world standards. Another long-playing trend is cross-platform, since it is important that the custom software being developed is compatible with Russian OS, DBMS and other software, - comments Alexander Zotkin, General Director of Holmont.

Russian software and services are actively developing, but the possibilities of their integration into existing business systems do not always develop as quickly. This leads to the fact that there is a service, but there is no way to integrate it into your CRM or ERP system.

An equally significant problem is the high key rate, which makes raising funding for custom solutions more expensive. To somehow smooth out the issue of insufficient funding, the developers of software modules implement more optimal methods in their solutions that reduce product development costs.

Companies are forced to choose between custom development, which can be more flexible and meet specific needs, and more affordable ″ boxed ″ solutions, which are often cheaper but less adaptive, - comments Alexey Shapka, CEO of SmartStaffing.

The dynamics of development cost growth is significantly ahead of the growth of purchasing power. The business strives to save its resources and get results with minimal investment, while IT teams cannot afford to reduce the cost of work. In this regard, some of the projects are either frozen indefinitely, or will be postponed until 2025, "says Elena Nikitina, head of custom development at KORUS Consulting Group of Companies.

To this can be added the completely "deceased" venture capital investment market in Russia. It is extremely difficult for small companies to find resources to develop large-scale projects.

Another problem is the lack of experience in replacing a large range of products at a time. The product experience that has accumulated within customer companies and in outsourcing companies is not enough to cover the overall deficit.

It leads us to the inevitable learning from our mistakes. Those who are lucky enough to find expertise inside or attract it to outsiders will clearly undergo this stage of development with less losses. If you answer the question of how to look for this expertise on the market, then pay attention to the experience of a specific team that will work with your project, meet them, discuss tasks, and you will immediately see experts, - advises Konstantin Anshakov, IT ONE manager.

In the AI direction for developers, the main problem is access to big data. To train neural networks, large amounts of data are needed, to which medium-sized companies do not have.

Also, given the trend towards import substitution, developers often face the need to migrate data from "departed" systems without the possibility of receiving advice from the vendor directly.

Each company solves all these problems in its own way, but the general trend is aimed at using technology to increase flexibility and optimize costs in the face of current economic challenges.

Application of AI and machine learning. These technologies help not only automate routine and streamline business processes, but also predict customer needs, develop flexible and more personalized solutions.

A recent survey of almost 5,000 programmers showed that using GitHub Copilot increases the number of tasks they perform by 26%. Template solutions and neural network assistants for IT specialists are gaining popularity, which is facilitated by the progress of language models.

The objective need of the market to increase productivity can be considered the driver of the development of generative AI in Russia. AI already allows you to speed up the software development process, optimize it. In the coming years, the influence of AI will increase and more and more tasks will be transferred to it, but it is important not to lose control over the process and the result and leave it behind the person, "says Evgeny Grachev, director of the department" Custom Development "of the Reksoft group.

AI begins to be introduced everywhere, cases of its economic effectiveness appear. In the near future, it will replace millions of full-time employees whose work has been typified and regulated. This trend is relevant, among other things, due to the demographic hole in which we are and will be located for the coming decades. It is more profitable for employers to hire a person for more complex, creative, managerial positions, and leave all manual labor for AI. In addition, AI continues to develop and over time will be able to close more complex tasks, - adds Artem Kirillov, CTO, Head of R&D 65apps.

According to Victor Burlakov, the director of I-Teco development, this trend is likely to last another five years until AI runs into the ceiling of current computing power.

DevOps practices and automation of development processes. Today they are becoming the standard in IT development, provide faster delivery of software products and allow you to better cope with changes in requirements. The integration of auto-test and deployment tools accelerates the entire development cycle.

The development of DevSecOps pipelines and tools that allow you to protect data at all stages of the software lifecycle, from writing the first lines of code to maintenance and technical support after release.

Internet of Things. The integration of devices and systems into a single ecosystem opens up new horizons for custom development, allowing you to solve specific problems in various industries.

Move applications to the cloud and develop cloud services. Gives greater scalability flexibility and infrastructure cost savings. Interacting with cloud services enables developers to develop and deploy new solutions faster.

For example, Yandex, VK and other players provide convenient tools for creating products in the cloud, deploying them and ensuring security.

The increase in salaries of IT specialists and the cost of server equipment leads to a strong increase in the cost of maintaining their own infrastructure. Cloud services provide significant savings, "explains Evgeny Noyataev, Deputy Head of Development at WMT Group.

Microfronts development. Following microservices, they allow you to get rid of heavily accompanied monolithic applications, which reduces time-to-market and reduces the cost of supporting and refining software.

Low-code development. It has already changed the market a lot and will be applied more and more.

Growth of open source software distribution. Open-source technologies are becoming more and more in demand, since along with Russian solutions they can ensure technological independence.

From the market side, there is a request to create high-load systems based on the open-source technology stack. This is also due to the departure of software suppliers, which made it possible to work with big data, "says Arseny Kondratyev, senior manager of Axenix software development practice.

Strengthening cybersecurity enforcement. The amount and value of data is growing, so preventing its leakage, unauthorized use of information, as well as protecting systems from malware and attacks is relevant in current realities and will not lose its significance in the coming years.

Security issues are becoming increasingly important due to the growing number of DDoS attacks and attempts to unauthorized access to our customers' systems. This forces us to actively work on proactive measures and work more closely with customer information security teams, - notes Andrey Nepryakhin, CTO AGIMA.

Trends in the automation of business processes and the development of boxed solutions will also remain relevant in the coming years.

One of the main trends is the need for business to automate various processes "beyond" classic large systems (ERP, WMS, etc.): many production and business processes are usually outside the classification of specific systems and are not automated. The demand for custom development is increasing, especially in the field of specialized niche products that solve non-standard problems. The number of requests for customization of existing solutions for current business needs is also growing, - comments Elena Nikitina, head of custom development at KORUS Consulting Group.

The expert also notes that in the next five years, the share of devices that support and replace human work (robots, exoskeletons, smart carts and autonomous loaders) will grow. Automation will become more profitable against the background of reducing the number of available labor and increasing its cost. Many innovations will go beyond IT but require digital support.

The active growth of the IT technology market is expressed not only in the emergence of new solutions and tools, but also in the very structure of business process management. Today, their companies are striving to automate, including with the help of ERP systems integrated into the company's ecosystem. IT solutions themselves are becoming more accessible to businesses thanks to the combination of AI tools, cloud technologies and the development of open-source, "says Ruslan Gainanov, founder of TEAM FORCE Alliance.

Localization of IT infrastructure. The departure of a significant part of vendors from the Russian market stimulates developers to develop their own services, which also correlates with the desire to strengthen their own technological sovereignty.

In the long term, in 10-15 years, we can expect the emergence of DevTools and frameworks based on ChatGPT technologies, which will become real no-code solutions. This will allow ordinary employees with knowledge of the correct structure of a user request to create applications and services without involving professional developers.

In turn, the role of developers is probably transforming towards architecture, intercomponent interaction, technical consulting and consulting on the application of information technology.

The custom development market is constantly developing, including under the influence of technological trends. The success of custom development companies will depend on their ability to quickly adapt to changes and effectively use new technologies to meet customer needs, says Margarita Chubukova, project manager at IT company SimbirSoft.

Vadim Sabashny, General Director of LANIT-TERKOM (part of the LANIT group), expects in the future the development of the use of quantum technologies, which will open up new directions in the custom development market.

Quantum technologies allow you to make the most complex calculations an order of magnitude faster than the most powerful modern computers, which means that you can instantly calculate the risks and build various models. Although their widespread commercial use is still in development, significant investments and research in the field of quantum computing indicate great prospects for this direction, the expert says.

In the next 2-3 years, experts expect stabilization and normalization of the custom development market. Comprehensive boxed solutions will begin to appear that can meet the needs of the business in a wider range of functions that will allow you to get away from the patchwork of the IT landscape. This will allow companies to optimize business processes and reduce the cost of maintaining various systems.

The transition to such solutions will be gradual, and in the near future developers will focus on creating adaptable and flexible solutions that are easily implemented into existing infrastructure, providing support for various systems.

We should also expect a transition from local on-premium solutions to cloud and hybrid models, further growth in demand for specialized solutions, especially in areas related to import substitution, cybersecurity and the introduction of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and automation. There will be growing demand for flexible and scalable platforms that can quickly adapt to changes in the business and technology environment.

Gradually, the market will consolidate, and it is possible to predict the allocation of several key players who will occupy dominant positions.

Transformation projects will actively continue in all industries, and custom development against this background will remain relevant and in demand. The requirements for the speed of decision-making and the speed of implementation of changes will increase.

The volume of use of neural networks in the implementation of projects and in business will increase, which to some extent will replace the missing personnel.

We will see an increase in demand for complex solutions using AI. AI integration will be key for most IT solutions, from data analysis to automation. With the complication of the IT landscape and the emergence of a large number of vendor products, the need for integrator experts who can combine them into complex solutions and implement them will increase, - comments Vadim Kiselev, Deputy General Director of BSL.

According to Yevgeny Grachev, director of the department "Custom Development" of the Reksoft group, one should expect the spread of new specialties, for example, Data Ops, SecOps, MLOps, quantum computing specialists, and AI ethicists. Engineering as a profession remains the driving force behind technological development.

According to our estimates, the market will strive for technological independence. Companies will continue to develop internal competencies and use domestic technologies, which will lead to an increase in the number of innovative projects. Artificial intelligence and machine learning will remain key areas that open up new business opportunities, "said Fedor Medvedev, director of the Naumen design solutions and search engines department.

Import substitution will be a market driver for a long time, since large-scale corporate solutions have a long life cycle, and most often they are replaced when they begin to become obsolete.

In the public sector, the custom development market is moving into a phase of intensive development, focusing on strategic priorities. Until 2030, according to the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 309, the final goals of achieving "digital maturity" of the country are indicated: the share of Russian software use in authorities is at least 95%, the share of mass socially significant public services provided in electronic form is at least 99%. This means that attention will be focused on creating reliable, secure and convenient digital services aimed at citizens. Companies capable of meeting these requirements will receive competitive advantages in the field of custom development for the public sector, "says Natalya Zeitenidi, General Director of BFT-Holding.

Inevitably, finished Russian products will appear that will replace the conditional SAP, so in some cases we will talk about customizing the finished solution, and not about developing from scratch, "says Alexander Zotkin, CEO of Houlmont.

The departure of most foreign vendors launched an accelerated transition of companies and government agencies to import-independent solutions. New platforms are emerging, the domestic line in the classes of IT products is expanding, in which the dependence on imports remains. Vendors are now striving to close the needs of customers primarily in information security tasks, optimization of development using AI and low-code, - comments Dmitry Makarov, director of the competence center "Digital Solutions" of the NOTA vendor (Holding T1).

Today, the realities are such that it will not be possible ″ wait out ″ import substitution further without negative consequences for business. This is not so much about the entry into force of regulatory regulation in terms of bans on the use of proprietary Western software since 2025, but about the daily aspect: the task of real import substitution goes into the category of one of the most important factors in the real sustainability of the business. In the near future, we should expect the emergence of new leaders on the market of applied corporate software - either on the basis of our own solutions, or on the basis of localized products from friendly countries, which will lead to a chain reaction of total ″ re-automation of ″ on import-substituted solutions of all large Russian business, - predicts Alexey Kuleshov, Deputy Director for Audit and Consulting, OTR.

The KORUS Consulting Group notes that in the coming months there will be an increase in the cost of development due to new tax conditions, inflation and staff shortages. This will affect the potential and payback of many custom development projects. In this regard, the growth rate of the market may decrease slightly.

According to Andrey Sykulev, CEO of Cinimex, specialization of IT subsidiaries and independent IT companies will take place.

IT subsidiaries will focus on maintaining the root functions of their parent structures. Independent companies will understand that increased competition for both orders and resources requires an increase in the professionalism of behavior in the market, the choice of specialization. There will be a separation of leaders in business areas and a concentration of experience in companies that specialize in these areas. I think that the custom development market will grow at about the same pace as the entire industry as a whole. There are no prerequisites for its significant relative growth or reduction, the expert believes.

Managing and analyzing big data will become business critical. These trends will create new opportunities for adaptive and innovative IT companies. Cybersecurity will still remain in focus.

Despite all the difficulties, the custom software development market will continue to grow, as will the demand for high-quality solutions. This creates favorable conditions for the development of the industry and attracting new specialists.

The Russian IT services market is actively developing, and custom development is one of its key components. It has undergone significant changes, and customers are increasingly preferring Russian software platforms and specialists with experience in working with them.

The further introduction of artificial intelligence systems into software products will lead to optimization of routine processes, an increase in the speed of implementation of projects and a decrease in their cost by reducing the burden on developers.

One of the key factors in the future development of the market will be the transition from mass solutions to more personalized and customized approaches, which will lead to further growth of internal development and increased competition for highly qualified personnel.