14 DAY TRIAL // Moscow has become the first Russian city that replaces Microsoft services with software that’s developed by domestic companies, as part of a plan put in place by President Vladimir Putin in order to cut dependence on technology belonging to US-based firms.
Thousands of computers will remove Microsoft’s Exchange Server and Outlook, according to a report from Bloomberg, and the transition will begin with approximately 6,000 machines, but will continue with many more once the initial phase is complete.
The email service will be replaced with a local solution that will be installed by state-run carrier Rostelecom PJSC, and the government is already looking at expanding the transition to other software too, including the Windows operating system and the Office productivity suite.
Artem Yermolaev, head of information technology for Moscow, explained that a total of 600,000 PCs could be part of this migration off Microsoft software if the plan goes forward.
Russia’s plans to abandon US software
Moscow’s decision does not come as a big surprise, especially because the country and President Putin pushed for the adoption of domestically-developed software.
As part of the pressure, Russia is asking companies to abandon software developed by foreign companies and the country has a list of solutions created by local firms that can serve as replacements. Approximately 2,000 Russian software products are on the list for state-run companies that should give up on foreign solutions.
Furthermore, Russia is planning on raising taxes for global vendors and instead invest in the country’s software market in order to support local companies, such as Yandex and Mail.ru.
"We want the money of taxpayers and state-run firms to be primarily spent on local software," Communications Minister Nikolay Nikiforov was quoted as saying by the source. Changes to the tax system could be made next year in order to support local firms.
Microsoft has not yet responded with a statement, but this can’t be good news for the company, especially because the transition is also targeting other software, including Windows and Office.