Natalia Ochosalskaya: about marketing AMI in the system integration market

    Natalya OchosalskayaThe Ukrainian information technology market remains one of the fastest growing and is committed to global trends. Natalya Ochosalskaya, Strategic Development Director of AMI, was invited to the "blogging" for discussions about marketing in the system integration market.

    How big, in your opinion, is the difference between the world level of technology development and the willingness to consume such solutions in the Ukrainian market?

    N. O.: There is no global difference, since technologies, in particular information technologies, now have no boundaries and penetrate any more or less developed market quite quickly.

    The market of information technologies in Ukraine remains one of the most dynamically developing, ready to consume and produce the most advanced technologies and solutions. We can judge this, both by the projects of the AMI company, and by the requests of our clients. The past year has shown significant qualitative growth in projects and, so to speak, the "growing up" of consumers. If earlier many customers were willing to pay only for equipment, now many of them have realized the importance of professional development, implementation and maintenance of the project. Today they are ready to pay not for hardware, but for system integration.

    The Ukrainian IT market is moving towards global trends: the share of services in projects is increasing, and they, in turn, are becoming more intelligent. At the same time, the boundaries between IT systems and other infrastructure solutions are often blurred, for example, intelligent security systems become part of a single IT infrastructure.

    Accession to the WTO will give a new impetus to the Ukrainian IT market. We can expect large foreign system integrators to enter our market, primarily integrators from eastern Europe. Since large East European companies (banks, insurance, etc.) began to penetrate our market, their arrival will automatically entail the arrival of IT companies that service them in their "native" countries.

    The main stop factor hindering the development of the Ukrainian information technology market is a strong dependence on the political situation in the country. Reprivatization instability, frequent changes in the legislative field, and administrative pressure force business owners to save on investments in IT infrastructure. I would like more predictability of the development of the political situation in the country.

    Are you considering turning AMI into an international company? Is the development of foreign markets part of the company's strategy? Are there any timeframes for implementing such plans?

    N. O .:At the moment, there are no such plans, since the Ukrainian market still offers enough ways for growth and development. Of course, the AMI company is considering working in foreign markets, primarily in the CIS markets, but this is not a strategic task.

    Digging has a number of unique solutions of its own that may be of interest to foreign partners. First of all, these are developments for enterprises of the mining complex, since AMI has vast experience working with enterprises in this field. At the moment, AMI specialists are introducing their own time management system ASTU-AMI at the Russian mine Sherlovskaya-Naklonnaya. A number of enterprises in Russia and Kazakhstan are also interested in this development.

    Collaboration and partnership with international companies is considered as an option for promoting a particular product or solution. There is no clear strategy for entering the international market yet.

    Has AMI's marketing strategy changed from the moment the company was founded until it became one of the leaders in the Ukrainian system integration market? Are the business goals set at the stage of its foundation achieved?

    N. O .:The company's marketing strategy has undergone a number of changes since its inception, because AMI has grown from a small local IT company into an all-Ukrainian player with great ambitions. Modern business is very dynamic, therefore, the management of changes and changes in the company is becoming increasingly important, and marketing is an integral part of this process. “AMI” is an actively developing IT company, which in its development has already passed several stages of changes, and at this stage it is undergoing the most global changes. We are building a diversified company managing a portfolio of its business units.

    When setting up a company, the goal was set that was usual in such cases - making profit, all global plans and goals appear for each company over time. So we are moving from one goal to another, from one peak to another.

    How does the company solve the strategic task of expanding and increasing profitability?

    N. O .:One of our problems in the desire to develop and expand all our businesses is to increase competence in all available areas. We have not yet come to the conclusion that it is better to diversify businesses or focus more clearly on certain areas. The AMI company has vast experience and knowledge in many fields of activity, and we would be sorry to lose them. Therefore, at the moment we are in search of the most optimal business development model. Now the company is carrying out a restructuring and the allocation of certain areas into business units with a rather large share of independence. At the same time, AMI plans to maximize the synergies of all businesses.

    What tactical tasks do you set for the company at this stage?

    N. O .:The company "AMI" takes big steps in reorienting the business to service and IT consulting. Today, earnings on turnkey solutions are minimal, therefore, service and services are becoming increasingly important. Therefore, the company is striving to increasingly offer and render precisely services, to seek ways to apply its experience in IT consulting.

    Work is also underway to increase business transparency. AMI management strives to ensure that the results of the work are understandable and clear to each employee of the company, so that everyone understands their contribution and their place in the company. This requires the construction of modern and technologically advanced business processes throughout the company.

    Our corporate sales policy focuses on trade, finance, industry and the public sector. AMI plans to expand the list of its expertise and competencies in these sectors.

    Due to the fact that there are not always products and solutions on the market that sufficiently satisfy consumers and integrators, the company is developing its own products. For example, according to the level of technical solutions in the field of digital video surveillance systems, the company's development - the Drakar system - is ahead of many foreign solutions, and in the foreseeable future it is planned to develop this area. Last year, AMI launched the Actima universal access control and personnel management system based on the Microsoft .NET platform.

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