IDC launched Russia ICT Market Outlook, a new quarterly service tracking the supply and consumption of IСT products and services in the country in the context of recent dramatic economic and political events.
Since the 1990s, suppliers to Russia have had to deal with several periods of instability. However, market declines have always reversed quickly, and it became rather easy to take a stoic view of Russia’s volatility. The situation changed in 2014: The Russian economy, and subsequent IT demand, are now in what looks like a lengthy period of contraction. According to the latest IDC data, the overall IT market in Russia declined 16% in 2014 and an even more dramatic decline is forecast for 2015.
In 2015, Russian ICT consumers will be forced to readjust their spending in the light of the new economic reality. Business customers will be reviewing all aspects of their current spending, including supplier contracts, choice of supplier, and IT consumption models. In the state and state-owned sectors of the economy, additional regulations covering IT procurement and measures favoring local suppliers can be expected.
“Commerce has become politicized, and it’s clear that both market structure and the potential value of deals have been negatively impacted,” says Robert Farish, Vice President of IDC Russia/CIS. “For the last two decades, suppliers to Russia have had to deal with many operational challenges but this has always been within the context of a growing and modernizing economy gradually opening and integrating with the rest of the world,but from 2014, it looks like these long-term processes are stalling or even beginning to reverse.”
With this in mind, IDC today introduced its Russia ICT Market Outlook, designed to address challenges faced by ICT suppliers in re-assessing the situation in Russia and quantifying how ongoing changes are likely to impact demand in the coming quarters. The new service covers the key developments that strongly influence the outlook for Russia in the short and medium terms, including:
• The impact of sanctions against Russia in terms of IT investment
• New government polices introduced as a response to these sanctions
• Currency devaluation and what the overall financial turbulence means for IT demand
• What to expect in different customer segments in 2015
Most IT suppliers in Russia will face a difficult year in 2015, with a major recovery in 2016 unlikely. That said, there will be an unprecedented level of change in the area of IT purchasing and consumption which will present new opportunities for certain suppliers and business models.
