increase the pace of import substitution

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Rustam Rustamov, a member of the board of directors of the Association of Russian Software Developers and Producers, and 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 positions not only in traditional niches, such uk cell phone number list as information security, but is also developing new ones, offering analogues of popular Western solutions. This is due to several factors. Firstly, in 2014, a strong push was given towards gaining technological sovereignty. There are also a number of regulatory and legal acts in the country that restrict the use of foreign software. For example, from January 1, 2025, government agencies and customers are prohibited from using foreign software on significant critical information infrastructure facilities that belong to them. Most state corporations are already transferring their IT infrastructure to Russian software, and this is a fairly resource-intensive process. The chances that after the work has been done, customers will switch back to foreign vendors are negligible, Rustam Rustamov is sure. - The second important criterion is security, which can only be ensured by developers producing software in the country. Not only corporations with state participation or government bodies 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 Alexey Sinitsa also agrees that there is no way back for the Russian IT market. "Despite the emerging trend of foreign vendors returning, the situation will never be the same. We are all used to using ready-made, proven solutions, no matter what area it concerns. Today, only a part of the systemically important 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 equipment. One year of active work in the field of import substitution is clearly not enough to replace the solutions of foreign technology giants, which were created over decades based on real experience. A large share of production and business processes in large companies are tied to foreign software, so it will not 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. And as for the trend of global vendors to return, we must remember: he who betrayed once, will betray again. “I don’t know of any business sector that would like to be dependent on someone’s political decisions or economic sanctions,” he commented.