During the first 10 months of Ukraine’s conflict with Russia and the huge disruption it introduced, the nation’s IT trade continued to develop.
According to a report from the IT Ukraine Association, the worth of IT exports in the time from Russia’s invasion in February final 12 months to the finish of December was $6bn, some 10% greater than the similar interval in 2001.
Nearly 290,000 folks in Ukraine are employed in the tech sector, and IT exports had been value 3.5% of Ukraine’s GDP and 37.8% of whole companies exports in 2021. Had the Russian invasion led to the sector’s collapse, Ukraine would have been vastly weakened.
But the resilience of the sector has been a shock to everybody – other than the Ukrainian tech sector itself. “These results were made possible due to the effective implementation of business continuity plans, timely relocation of teams, and diversification of development centres in Ukraine and abroad,” in line with Konstantin Vasyuk, govt director at IT Ukraine Association, writing in the organisation’s Do IT like Ukraine report.
The IT sector’s significance to Ukraine’s future can’t be overstated. “IT companies continue to operate and implement projects even with blackouts, pay taxes in a timely manner, increase their presence in the global market, and attract new customers. It is thanks to such unique skills and experience that the Ukrainian IT industry has the potential to become the main driver of Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction,” wrote Vasyuk.
IT hotspot
No Ukrainian metropolis was disrupted greater than Kharkiv in the east, simply 80km from the Russian border.
Kharkiv was invaded early in the battle, altering life in a single day for the folks and companies there. The metropolis is now identified throughout the world, however few folks realise it’s a hotspot for IT companies.
Konstantin Vasyuk, IT Ukraine Association
Before the conflict began, IT companies firm Aimprosoft was headquartered in the metropolis. Mainly centered on offering web-based utility improvement experience, Aimprosoft provides its clients with particular person builders, groups of builders, or a whole software program improvement administration service. As co-founder Maxim Ivanov places it, “outstaffing and outsourcing”.
Ivanov is CEO of the 350-strong firm, which was arrange in 2005 and has clients in the US and Europe, together with UK telecoms supplier Virtual 1.
“I did not believe this war would begin because a lot of people in the eastern part of Ukraine have relatives in Russia,” he mentioned, including that though it was “impossible to think it could happen”, the firm did have a backup workplace in the west of the nation.
This workplace was shortly utilised when Kharkiv was attacked by Russian troops early in the invasion, with Aimprosoft transferring its headquarters to Ivano-Frankivsk in the west of Ukraine. Its employees are actually unfold throughout the nation, with about 20% situated in different European nations.
Pandemic preparation
Ivanov mentioned the expertise of distant working throughout the Covid-19 pandemic meant employees had been geared up to work in distant areas, with builders having already switched from desktops to laptops. “Everybody was ready to jump in their cars and go to safety.”
He remembers being woken by the sound of shelling when Russian troops moved on Kharkiv. “It is a thing you really don’t want to remember. There was me, my wife, two kids and a cat – we took everything we could into our car and headed to our backup office,” he advised Computer Weekly.
Unfortunately, automobile hassle and the lack of ability to discover a mechanic amid a conflict meant Ivanov and his household had been caught in the center of Ukraine for months. “Public transport was running, but [we were in] a safe place and it made no sense to rush.”
From a enterprise perspective, he mentioned the early days had been the hardest. “Nobody expected it and it took time for staff to get online again, but we were back to full strength within three days.”
Customers had been understanding of any service interruption given the scale and international significance of occasions in Ukraine. “All of our customers understood the situation, and many even paid for the days developers missed because they were on the move. The help from our customers was unbelievable and no contracts have been cancelled due to the war.”
“Many of our customers have issues due to the current global economic problems, but we are still finding new projects. Although we are not in the best shape, we are in quite good shape”
Maxim Ivanov, Aimprosoft
In reality, the firm is profitable enterprise. “Obviously, many of our customers have issues due to the current global economic problems, but we are still finding new projects,” mentioned Ivanov. “Although we are not in the best shape, we are in quite good shape.”
The firm is now giving again to the state. It has contributed financially to the conflict efforts, supporting navy operations by means of tools comparable to automobiles, medication and drones. It additionally has employees on the entrance line.
One of the firm’s essential objectives is to retain all its employees and proceed to pay their wages. “We care about our people and we don’t want to lose anybody,” mentioned Ivanov.
He has no plans to depart Ukraine and is optimistic about the future. “We feel that we will win in the war. We rely on support from other countries, but if this continues, we will win and rebuild Ukraine. I want to stay here. I love my country.”
As nicely as opening its essential workplace in the west of Ukraine, Aimprosoft opened 5 smaller workplaces throughout the nation, every with its personal energy technology, to make sure if folks misplaced energy in the locations they had been dwelling they may drive to at least one of these workplaces to work.
Safety first
Vlad Khodzinsky, vice-president at Ukrainian software program improvement firm Sigma Software, additionally based in Kharkiv some 20 years in the past, advised Computer Weekly: “I clearly remember in the morning just over a year ago being woken by the sound of explosions. From that moment, I began to think about and plan for various scenarios.”
Although the firm has since unfold throughout the world, its headquarters and 90% of employees had been historically situated in Kharkiv, the place Khodzinsky and his household had been when the conflict started.
From his London workplace, the place he’s now based mostly, he mentioned: “As a father and a manager of hundreds of people, my first thought was to move my family to safety. My second thought was to move our employees to safe locations.”
Sigma Software, which gives software program improvement, testing, consulting and cyber safety companies, has 17 workplaces round the world, with about 2,000 workers serving a whole lot of company clients, together with Scania and AstraZeneca.
Most of the firm’s workers and operations are in the Ukraine, together with Kharkiv.
“As long as we are able to deliver services, we can support, donate, provide jobs, pay taxes and grow”
Vlad Khodzinsky, Sigma Software
Once his household and employees had been relocated to protected locations, Khodzinsky started to consider learn how to maintain the enterprise working, all the time taking a look at the larger image. “As long as we are able to deliver services, we can support, donate, provide jobs, pay taxes and grow,” he mentioned.
The firm, its companions and its workers raised about $4m to donate in assist to Ukraine and its folks. The cash was spent on tools for the conflict effort.
According to Khodzinsky, Sigma Software’s experience in enterprise continuity kicked in when Russia invaded. The firm has been constructing that experience for almost a decade. “For us, the war started in 2014, and since then we have constantly focused on that risk. For example, our infrastructure and servers were already in safe European countries.”
He mentioned its workplaces even have their very own diesel mills which may present power for 2 weeks, in addition to backup web connections.
Distributed workforce
The firm now has a method to stability its workforce with much less reliance on Ukraine-based employees.
“We are hiring more people outside Ukraine now as part of our strategy to have more distributed and balanced teams. We hope to have about half in Ukraine and half in other European countries,” mentioned Khodzinsky.
He mentioned the technique was to assist the firm overcome nervousness from clients who’re typically “not ready to hire in the Ukraine” as a direct consequence of Russia’s invasion of the nation.
Reducing its Ukraine-based workforce was a tricky resolution, however as half of its hiring course of the firm will look to supply jobs to displaced Ukrainians in addition to locals in different nations. “It is an opportunity for us to hire somebody who is in need of a job,” mentioned Khodzinsky.
Power struggles
In September 2022, Computer Weekly spoke to Konstantin Klyagin, founder of Ukrainian software program improvement service supplier Redwerk, about the firm’s response to the conflict and its enterprise continuity plans.
He mentioned since the interview his firm has confronted new challenges. “The largest change is that, ranging from October 2022, Russia began recurrent huge air raids on the important power infrastructure, which impacted the complete Ukraine.
“Even though our team is distributed across Ukraine, many teammates remained in Kyiv, which was – and still is – the primary target of Russia’s terrorist attacks on civilians”
Konstantin Klyagin, Redwerk
“Even though our team is distributed across Ukraine, many teammates remained in Kyiv, which was – and still is – the primary target of Russia’s terrorist attacks on civilians.”
He mentioned energy outages have turn into the norm for a lot of Ukrainians.
“Honestly, we weren’t ready for such a turn of events, but the biggest lesson we’ve learned so far is that we need to act fast,” mentioned Klyagin.
He mentioned open, cross-company communication is important. “Because our company has horizontal management, teammates across departments communicate freely. Everyone started sharing in Slack their tips and tricks on how to set up a home power station using a car battery and inverter, which providers ensure internet connection even during blackouts, where to buy quality power banks, and so on.”
Klyagin mentioned the workforce was surveyed to see who wanted assist with what and located energy outages and web connectivity had been problematic for a lot of.
“We noticed that business centres started equipping their spaces with power generators and Starlink terminals to ensure an uninterrupted internet connection and power supply,” he mentioned. “We decided to reimburse our employees who attend such coworking spaces and reserve several desks on a regular basis in a couple of centres.”
Those who reside distant and like working remotely obtained energy banks.
Klyagin admitted there had been a “slight” fall in productiveness, however mentioned he was very proud of how responsibly his workforce dealt with their tasks and the way supportive they had been of one another.
“It would be impossible to solve problems without the support of IT suppliers”
Oleg Polovynko, Kyiv City Council
Oleg Polovynko, CIO at Kyiv City Council advised Computer Weekly that the Ukrainian authorities rely closely on the nation’s IT sector to proceed to operate in the present unsure setting.
“IT suppliers and systems integrators play a main role in digitisation. They have high-level specialisation and certified engineers, especially in cyber security, high-end applications and solutions,” he mentioned. “It would be impossible to solve problems without the support of IT suppliers.”
…. to be continued
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