14 DAY TRIAL // Russia is one of the countries that are trying to step away from Microsoft software and instead encourage local companies and state departments to make the switch to domestically developed software, but it turns out that this plan is not yet working. Despite laws in this regard, that is.
A recently conducted investigation has revealed that government agencies and companies alike are still running Microsoft software in Russia, and what’s more, some organizations even have important deals with the American giant for operating systems and software.
RBTH writes that these deals are worth 800 million rubles ($12 million), adding that the majority of government agencies are buying Microsoft products, despite President Vladimir Putin’s aggressive push for increased adoption of locally developed software.
Starting January 1, 2016, a law that forces companies, organizations, and state departments to look into domestic software puts foreign solutions on the second spot, but this still doesn’t seem to have an impact on the existing share of Microsoft products, the investigation shows.
Only some 1,000 locally developed apps currently available
According to the law, companies in search of new software must first check a list of applications that were developed by local organizations, and if a viable choice is found, they must purchase it. Foreign software can only be bought if no domestic alternative is available, the law states. A total of 1,186 applications are currently on the list of domestically developed software, the source writes.
One of the aspects helping Microsoft software survive in the rather unfriendly current climate is linked to the fact that employees are already used with solutions such as Windows and Office. That's why moving them to new applications could generate drops in productivity - this was actually a problem experienced by all companies and countries that planned to move from Microsoft to Linux too.
Additionally, the transition could take too much time, and some companies or agencies can’t afford it for the moment, so the departure from Microsoft software isn’t yet taking place at full speed.
Russian authorities, however, are very confident that more computers will switch to domestic software in the coming years, and they have even prepared new ways to encourage local development of applications, including subsidies and state loans. In a maximum of five years, more Russians should give up on Microsoft products, they say.