Despite the emerging trend of the return of foreign vendors to the Russian market, the situation will not be the same, IT market players are sure. They predict tougher sanctions and believe that it is necessary to rely on the creation of software and hardware solutions that are competitive on the world market.
At the end of 2022 – beginning of 2023, several large Western vendors returned to the Russian market at once. Adobe again gave Russian users access to all programs (Photoshop, Acrobat Reader, etc.), and they can be downloaded for free. On the Microsoft website, from time to time, it becomes possible to download Windows distributions from a Russian IP address (Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 7). Intel returned to the Russians access to the section with drivers on the site. Obviously, experts believe that Western vendors are afraid of serious competition from Russian developers and loss of Russian market share, so they find ways to lift the bans.
“A number of enterprises and organizations have a false sense of a gradual rollback to the old days, when the entire IT infrastructure was built on imported solutions, – says Grigory Sizonenko, CEO of the CPI. – This is a very dangerous delusion that is leading the country back to technological slavery. It is necessary to do stake on what Western colleagues are so afraid of – to create and develop software and hardware solutions that are competitive in the world market.Moreover, this task should be solved not only by the state and business, but also by customers, especially owners of significant objects of critical information infrastructure.The market is formed by demand therefore, a conscious mass transfer of IT infrastructures to Russian solutions will allow developing the domestic IT industry and cooperating with the global economic community on an equal footing.”
Deputy Director and co-founder of Vinteo Dmitry Sery noted that Western vendors do not want to lose control over the Russian market and are trying to keep customers, maneuvering between sanctions and business interests. ” Yes, some Russian clients are ready to return to imported solutions – for example, if the entire videoconferencing infrastructure was previously built on such a solution, with huge investments in it. There is also a certain psychological aspect – commitment to the same Zoom in videoconferencing just because the service became familiar over the years .However, the percentage of “returnees” is unlikely to be high – it is too risky to use solutions in the corporate infrastructure that may one day stop working due to a revoked license or will be without technical support . There is a serious issue of security when working with foreign products – data leaks, lack of administrative control of servers, backdoor-bookmarks in imported equipment. The market will no longer be the same as before – during the sanctions of 2022 . many Russian customers were convinced of the efficiency and quality of Russian analogues. Thus, in the video conferencing segment there is a replacement for almost all foreign products – both classic “heavy” videoconferencing based on MCU servers, and simpler web conferencing solutions and video communicators. And these are not empty words – Russian developments are mostly more functional than imported ones, they often implement individual customer requests, which is impossible to do when working with foreign vendors ,” said Dmitry Sery.
He believes that Russian developers need to talk more about themselves, demonstrate the real advantages of solutions, and work closely with industry associations and the state to increase the pace of import substitution .
Rustam Rustamov, member of the board of ARPP “Domestic Soft”, Deputy General Director of Red Soft, agrees: “The structure of the Russian IT market has already begun to change actively. “Domestic software is strengthening its position not only in traditional niches, such as information security, but and develops new ones, offering analogues of popular Western solutions. This is due to several factors. First, in 2014 a strong impetus was given towards gaining technological sovereignty. The country also has a number of regulations that restrict the use of foreign software. For example, from January 1, 2025, state authorities and customers are prohibited from using foreign software on their significant critical information infrastructure facilities. Most state corporations are already transferring their IT infrastructure to Russian software, and this is a rather resource-intensive process. The chances that after the work done, customers will be rebuilt back to foreign vendors are negligible, – Rustam Rustamov is sure. – The second important criterion is security, which can only be provided by developers producing software in the country. Not only state-owned corporations or public authorities are switching to Russian products, but also small and medium-sized businesses, and this already speaks of trust and acceptance of Russian software products.” that after the work done, customers will be rebuilt back to foreign vendors, are negligible, – Rustam Rustamov is sure. – The second important criterion is security, which can only be provided by developers producing software in the country. Not only state-owned corporations or public authorities are switching to Russian products, but also small and medium-sized businesses, and this already speaks of trust and acceptance of Russian software products.” that after the work done, customers will be rebuilt back to foreign vendors, are negligible, – Rustam Rustamov is sure. – The second important criterion is security, which can only be provided by developers producing software in the country. Not only state-owned corporations or public authorities are switching to Russian products, but also small and medium-sized businesses, and this already speaks of trust and acceptance of Russian software products.”
IW Group President Alexei Sinitsa also agrees that the Russian IT market has no way back. “Despite the emerging trend of the return of foreign vendors, the situation will not be the same. We are all used to using ready-made, proven solutions, no matter what area it may concern. Today, only a part of the backbone enterprises have replaced foreign operating systems and database management systems with domestic ones. The main difficulty remains the compatibility of solutions with current software and hardware.One year of active work in the field of import substitution is clearly not enough to replace the solutions of foreign technology giants, which have been created for decades based on real experience.A large share of production and business processes in large companies are tied to foreign software , so it won’t be possible to make the transition quickly. In addition, it is necessary to prepare not only the solution itself, but also the supporting infrastructure. This also takes time and government support. These factors are decisive here. As for the trend of global vendors to return, we must remember: whoever betrayed once, betrays again. I don’t know any business sector that would like to be dependent on someone’s political decisions or economic sanctions,” he commented.
MyOffice General Director Pavel Kalyakin supports his colleague: “Foreign vendors, having left the Russian market and cutting off access to services without warning, have discredited themselves in the eyes of Russian customers and users. “Fearing a stop to business processes, many organizations were forced to quickly transfer information systems to domestic software. This applies not only to government agencies, but also to commercial companies. Speaking about the situation as a whole, it should be noted significant progress in the field of import independence. In Russia, there are a large number of alternative solutions that can compete on equal terms with their world counterparts. Russian developers are likely to see a positive economic effect from the departure of foreign vendors only after some time. On average, a complete migration of an IT infrastructure to new software takes a year or two, and before that, it takes about six months to conduct testing. All market participants need to honestly admit and tell themselves that the old scenarios of behavior no longer work. It’s time to stop believing that everything will resolve itself and be as before. Foreign vendors have stopped selling licenses and stop providing services for corporate users. The lack of support creates significant risks in terms of information security due to the ban on providing updates,” said Pavel Kalyakin. that everything will resolve itself and will be as before. Foreign vendors have stopped selling licenses and stop providing services for corporate users. The lack of support creates significant risks in terms of information security due to the ban on providing updates,” said Pavel Kalyakin. that everything will resolve itself and will be as before. Foreign vendors have stopped selling licenses and stop providing services for corporate users. The lack of support creates significant risks in terms of information security due to the ban on providing updates,” said Pavel Kalyakin.
“The departure of foreign vendors became the catalyst for a positive decision to migrate to domestic software – now we do not have to explain to companies and organizations for a long time why they should switch to Russian software. Therefore, the opportunity for us is to increase the market share and the number of users, and the challenge is to provide the most comfortable transition from foreign solutions to MyOffice, with the safety of customer data,” commented Pavel Kalyakin.
Andrey Kondratyev, Deputy Technical Director for Complex Projects at Step Logic, said: “We do not expect the return of key foreign players in the network solutions and information security market. Against this background, the arrival of certain services of some Western vendors does not change the overall picture. The current situation is serious and for a long time, since “It was caused not by commercial or technological, but by political reasons. No easing of sanctions is expected, rather, on the contrary, they will only increase. Therefore, the issues of import substitution should be taken seriously by everyone – vendors, customers, regulators, and the state.”
An independent IT market expert, Vadim Plessky, agrees: there is no point in waiting for a return to the old days. ” The end of the CBO does not guarantee that all sanctions will be lifted from Russia, and Western companies will return to Russia. Solutions of foreign companies for IT infrastructure should be considered as a temporary phenomenon, a “bridge” to the transition to their own technological base. Possibility to download a driver for a computer is not a return of the manufacturing company to the Russian market. Rather, it is a forced measure in order not to completely lose face in front of users. The return of hardware manufacturers, such as HP, Oracle / Sun, Dell, Cisco, will not happen in the foreseeable future , – he is sure.Companies need to refocus on products that are available through parallel imports and do not require significant technical support from the manufacturer. Software for corporate users should become completely Russian. Return to Windows, Oracle database, SAP, etc. don’t wait , it won’t happen. The market will never return to its ” before leaving” state .
