Russian software market for collaboration and project management

Reasons for writing

This text is an extract from the marketing research of the Russian market of small team collaboration software that I did for the Comindwork project , a Russian-Ukrainian online project management system. I thought it would be useful for me, and for people who are looking for such systems, and for ... competitors :)

I must say right away my research result: the Russian market lags behind the global market for collaboration software by 2-3 years. Evidence?

Need: Project Management for the Little Ones

New global trends that have greatly reduced the cost of installing and implementing automation products in the company are not yet widespread.

• SaaS delivery , software-as-a-service, the provision of automation services in the form of a service via the Internet, rather than a product installed on a company’s server)
• AbSD , appliance-based software delivery, hardware-based software, or simply, installing a box server with preinstalled software
• and most importantly, the approach to the organization " Company 2.0 ", Enterprise 2.0.

IT companies, as the vanguard of building management processes, have already mastered new tools. These companies are suitable for English-language, non-localized products: most understand English. But more and more companies in other areas are built on the same principles of Company 2.0:

• Consultants and training centers in any industry
• Marketing and advertising agencies
• Publishers and literary agents
• Law and Law Offices

This list includes any small service-oriented companies. Service-oriented in the modern world almost always means “built on knowledge”, i.e. KIO, knowledge-intensive organizations.

Gartner, like other analysts, consider the market for collaboration and project management in small teams one of the most promising software markets at the moment. The production process is the third critical process in the company, after finances and communication with customers (CRM), is not yet covered by standard approaches, and there is a serious struggle for it.

The main limitation for the implementation of project support systems is the price, according to Cnews Analytics. So corporate ERP-systems that require consultants and implementers, we do not take into account. Only those systems that allow the team to independently configure the process and tools for themselves. Or with the support of consultants via the Internet.
The maximum price that such teams are willing to pay for the service is up to $ 100 per person per year.

World market

So, what is currently on this world market - and on the Russian-speaking market?

Everything is clear with the global market: enter collaboration software, or task management, or in the search and select the appropriate system:

• Basecamp and Campfire by 37 Signals, Leaders in Task Management
• Microsoft Sharepoint for more complex tasks
• WebOffice from WebEx
• Huddle
• and many others, both specialized and general.

There are reviews and comparisons of such software in which you can already be stuck for weeks. But there is no real market leader, and is not expected in the next couple of years (again, according to Gartner).

Russian market

Now a little closer to Russia and the Russian-speaking market. Some products have a interface translated into Russian, but these programs, basically still require some efforts by programmers to finalize and install: these are either open-source, or products that have come out of open-source.
So, the task was to find a Russian-language project management service for small / medium-sized businesses . Key limitations: Russian interface, website and support; not ERP; not CRM; not Microsoft Project (a product for actually planning, not managing projects); it should be cheaper than $ 100 per person per year.

Search method

I opened Yandex and started searching. The Russian language, of course, has a huge number of synonyms and inflections, but I spent a lot of time! Using Yandex Words , I tried to cover all possible queries for finding such a service. And frankly, I was discouraged by the virtual absence of the Russian market for collaboration software products, collaboration software.

Keywords used:

• project management program
• project management
• is free
• bug tracker
• project development
• business management system
• task management system

Results: services found

And the most important thing in this article is the search results:

• MegaPlan : task management, and the only advertised system I found
• MetaFour, MetaFor : only local installation, no SaaS
• MediaChase IBN : a corporate-level system translated into Russian, quite mature and developed
• DotProject : former open-source, there is a translation of the interface itself into Russian
• EGroupWare : to be honest, in the demo version I couldn’t translate everything into Russian
• TrackStudio : a good system, only local settings
• IntraWork : I’ll just say that I couldn’t either find a demo version or see the prices
• Teamspace : obviously well done, but again I could not see the demo
• WebAsyst : all is well :)
• Well, and, actually, Comindwork :) I can’t not promote myself.

Request for completion

If you use, or just know another service that fits this list, let me know, please. I will gladly introduce it.