Softline Digital Development Director Vladislav

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Dmitry Kichko, CEO of Edit Pro (Borlas Group), believes that this trend does exist, but with an important caveat: "Updating and replacing software products and equipment in connection with import substitution are usually also considered investments in development. Therefore, it is difficult to say whether development is really taking place or import substitution is taking place."

Turkin agrees that Russian italy cell phone number list companies support investment growth, but often at the expense of auxiliary processes: "In 2022, companies increase or maintain last year's level of investment in digital projects related to import substitution of solutions important for the production process - hardware, software, etc. Investments in the digitalization of auxiliary production and non-production processes are often cut. In 2022, most industrial enterprises updated their network infrastructure, server capacity, installed new ready-made software (to optimize production) or used custom development services, increased the purchase of ICT equipment, etc."

Director, Head of the Department of "Technology and System Integration" of Axenix (formerly Accenture) Maria Grigorieva believes that the key question is what became the object of analysis: the results obtained by companies from digitalization or only the volume of investments? "In 2022, it was not so much about technological development and innovation - all efforts were thrown into purchasing additional capacities of vendors leaving the market. Companies focused on localization and import substitution of systems of suppliers leaving one after another. In this regard, many other tasks were frozen, as well as the implementation of Western software. It is difficult to say whether the trend for investments in this direction will continue," - this is how Maria Grigorieva sees the situation of the past year.

Softline Investment President and Head of Softline Venture Partners Elena Volotovskaya also believes that Russian companies have not reduced investments: "I think this is true. Firstly, the budgets set at the end of 2021 - beginning of 2022 did not assume the scenario that we saw. Secondly, with the departure of foreign IT solution providers, which accounted for 65-70% of the market, there was a need to replace them. Companies were forced to adapt to new conditions, including by developing their own products. The question of cutting budgets could hardly arise in a situation where digital infrastructure is one of the basic components of a business. In addition, the cost of financing digitalization has increased over the past year. Why? The growth of investment in digital is a global trend. According to a CIO survey conducted by EY Patrenon at the beginning of last year, the expected percentage of revenue allocated to investments in digitalization processes increased by 23.4% in 2022 and amounted to 5.8%".