Sections

Management and Automation in IT-Business

06th October 2006, Friday

Marketing at the software development company. How to make the tail wagging the dog?

Andrey Nikishin

Kaspersky Lab
Director of Hosted Security Services BU

In small software companies it is the technicians who run the whole business. It is them who decide what to develop, how to develop, and whom and how to sell the resulting product. For the technicians, marketing experts are like a fifth leg or, in the best case scenario, like the tail for a dog which always interferes with its owner.

We have already discussed the role of marketing in a software company at ISDEF 2005 and came to the conclusion that it is marketing that is to rule. So what can help the marketing tail to start wagging the dog? What tools can assist in that?

The report covers one of the tools from the marketing arsenal, the marketing research. When, in which cases this tool can and should be used, how to interprete the results.

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Topic language Russian

Duration 40 min.

Start time 15:00 - 15:40

Location Ochotny Ryad

Software project life cycle - from fantasy to routine

Yuri Bakay

MindCruncher

1. Starting out - formulation of an idea, benefits and dangers of pilot projects
2. From individual to a group
3. Project planning (tools, techniques, development stages)
4. What people are required for successful operation (employees' specialties and qualification level)
5. Growing the right way without crushing the product, the 'growing pains'
6. Completion of the project, support and further releases. Restructuring personnel.
7. Documentation and product quality control at each development stage.

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Topic language Russian

Duration 40 min.

Start time 15:40 - 16:20

Location Ochotny Ryad

Time-management: how to be in time with life and job

Stanislav Zabrovsky

Организация Времени
Бизнес-тренер, эксперт-консультант

Modern time management in Russian 'no road' conditions.
Non-linearity of time and flexible planning.
Contextual planning in the diary and Outlook

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Topic language Russian

Duration 40 min.

Start time 16:20 - 17:00

Location Ochotny Ryad

Specifics of IT staff motivation and retention

Ekaterina Kuzmina

ANCOR
Sector IT/Telecom Consultant

Major trends in the labour market information technology sector:

IT specialists' remuneration levels (Western and Russian companies, previous year level compared).
Presence/lack of compensation packages (Western and Russian companies, previous year level compared).
Average work time of IT specialists in one company.

IT personnel specifics:
landmarks when choosing a job?
What motivation and retention factors are principal in the IT sector?

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Topic language Russian

Duration 40 min.

Start time 17:30 - 18:10

Location Ochotny Ryad

International Distribution - Multi-Channel Strategies

Phil Schnyder

Avanquest

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Topic language English

Duration 30 min.

Start time 18:10 - 18:40

Location Ochotny Ryad

Application difficulties with demand management in runaway companies

Denis Zapirkin

RUSSEE consulting
New Business Director

The address is intended for companies' medium-level management staff, project managers, analysts and personnel department staff as well as the owners of small and medium companies planning a rapid development in the near future.

The modern software development and support market is actively progressing. Many companies encounter the problems of efficient business development, rapid personnel recruitment, employee qualification management, etc.

Among all these problems, the issues of efficient and high quality requirement management are the top priority ones, being the critical key to success. Only having a well established requirement handling process in place, a company has a chance to win tenders, steadily develop the business with existing customers and promote new services.

An effectively working process of requirement management affects such key indicators of project implementation and organization as productivity, efficiency, quality, customer satisfaction.

This report considers the interrelation of requirement management and other company activity domains, shows typical and 'unique' problems of requirement management process intriduction, describes various approaches and presents some of the solutions for such problems. In particular, it covers the issues of personnel training, team integration and introduction of processes using toolboxes.

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Topic language Russian

Duration 40 min.

Start time 18:40 - 19:20

Location Ochotny Ryad

07th October 2006, Saturday

Feasibility analysis of starting a new business: from market analysis to estimation of investment efficiency and business plan development

Sergey Fenev

Corel Corporation

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Topic language Russian

Duration 40 min.

Start time 10:00 - 10:40

Location Ochotny Ryad

What does the russian IT markets gurus keep back from us? And Why?

Michael Kalinichenko

StarForce Technologies
CEO

The Americans believe that all companies are started the same way, with the help of three F's: friends, family, fools (giving money for promises). But when a company is established and operating, the problem of further development comes up together with the question 'what to do next and how?' So why is there a huge number of IT companies in Russia that never overgrow the 10, 20, maximum 30 employee level and only a few come over this threshold?

We read business luminaries' books, study marketing, contact investors (as of late :-) ), look at successful companies and listen to their wise advice, but somehow rarely repeat someone else's success. Especially in Russia. And, most importantly, what do we overlook, and why can we not overcome this wizard boundary?

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Topic language Russian

Duration 40 min.

Start time 10:40 - 11:20

Location Ochotny Ryad

Increase of business effectiveness as an instrument of the company's growth

Sergei Eliseev

Sunny Games LLC
Founder & CEO

The main objective of business is to gain profit from business activity. However, a task that is by no means less important is the ability to constantly increase the profits which are the basis of sustainable growth. How to ensure a constant profit improvement without making substantial investments?

We would like to share our experience in organizing and developing a business that allowed to maintain high rates of growth during several years of the company's existence.

The address will cover such issues as evaluation and selection of growth areas for main and auxiliary businesses, development monitoring and adjustment, optimization of business processes and reduction of expenses, employment of personnel and working with outsourcers. All the considered issues arose at different stages of our company's existence and are taken from actual practice.

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Topic language Russian

Duration 40 min.

Start time 11:20 - 12:00

Location Ochotny Ryad

Increasing Online Sales

David Halls

Digital River
Director of Development eMetrix

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Topic language English

Duration 40 min.

Start time 12:30 - 13:10

Location Ochotny Ryad

Flexible software developement methodologies: application issues

Askhat Urazbaev

Luxoft
Agile coach/Architecture of processes

Design teams' shifting to flexible development methods allows companies to obtain many obvious advantages. At present, the most important subjects for discussion are ways of facilitating that shift both for the company and individual project teams. The report discusses the issues of implementing flexible organization techniques.

The software development industry is reliving another revolution. The conventional 'classic' approach to development is being substituted by the so-called agile techniques. The new approach allows to efficiently solve one of the industry's biggest problems - changing requirements.

Agile means iterative and evolutionary software development by self-directed and self-organizing teams.

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Topic language Russian

Duration 40 min.

Start time 13:10 - 13:50

Location Ochotny Ryad

Controlling employees' work

Andrey Mirron

IPI® Business Solutions, Inc.
CEO

Objectives, tasks, and their control - what is it required for?
How it can be.
How it should be.
How it should not be.
Performance control is not only about tasks, first of all it is about feedback.
Why can the classic scheme of corporate performance (Outlook tasks) not be used.
What should employees be engaged in? Employee's central workplace, 'work front for today'.
What are the employees doing? Centralized 'situation centre' as a powerful tool for management.
No talking. How employees can be left doing their jobs for weeks without asking them what they are doing.
Remote employees, their interaction and control.
A good report is better than a good conversation. How to correctly prepare reports.
Should the ITIL standard requirements be used to the full extent or not? Convenient and not so convenient ITIL requirements.
Economy should be economic. Investment return and cost cutting when using task control systems.
Flaws in some task control systems.

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Topic language Russian

Duration 40 min.

Start time 15:00 - 15:40

Location Ochotny Ryad

Expansion into markets abroad. Setting up of local offices

Michael Kanichev

PROMT Company
Director of worldwide marketing and sales

Strategy and tactics of accessing foreign markets.
Working with global distributors - advantages and shortcomings.
Dangers of interacting with retail networks.
Local office - pros and cons.

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Topic language Russian

Duration 40 min.

Start time 15:40 - 16:20

Location Ochotny Ryad

Staff management through the conditions of the company’s impetuous growth. Luxoft’s successful experience. Twentyfold growth during five years

Elena Goryunova

Luxoft
Staff Management VP

Typical problems of company's growth.
Growth mechanisms - personnel selection on the open labour market, turnover of staff, student programmes.
Personnel evaluation.
Motivation – personnel stimulation systems.
Corporate culture development in growth conditions.
Personnel satisfaction evaluation.

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Topic language Russian

Duration 40 min.

Start time 16:20 - 17:00

Location Ochotny Ryad

Typical mistakes in change management - russian practice

Pavel Bukov

Consulting company Rqlab
Partner

1. "Change or die"! "Change management" - what do we include in that notion? Who in the company is responsible for change planning and implementation?

2. "There are no accidental people in our business". Industry specifics of change management. Peculiarities of IT change implementation.

3. "What is good for a Russian, is deadly for Germans". Cases of implemented changes in domestic practice.

4. "What's the adult way?" Useful models and techniques in change management practice.

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Topic language Russian

Duration 40 min.

Start time 17:30 - 18:10

Location Ochotny Ryad

Application Service Providing (ASP) - flaws and success. A six-year experience of the IPI® Company

Andrey Mirron

IPI® Business Solutions, Inc.
CEO

What is Application Service Provider (ASP).
How easy life was 6 years ago. About quick business launch of an IPI® company.
How difficult life was 6 years ago. About the problems of IPI® company's ASP-business.
One plate, two plates, and a ladder's ready. How easy it is to give programmes in rent.
Application rental: once a house is built, get the money all your life? About keeping programmes updated.
The weak link. About payment acceptance. The weakest link. About the billing management and micropayment accounting. Once having lied. About the technical support of clients. Not by bread alone? About software rental through other means than the internet. A typical cost list for ASP business organization. You've got intellectual property? We're coming for you! How to obtain synergy effect from cooperation with programmers. We are all a little 'ASP'. Using the ASP model in everyday life.

[add to Outlook]

Topic language Russian

Duration 30 min.

Start time 18:20 - 18:50

Location Ochotny Ryad

08th October 2006, Sunday

The Elements

Serg Vostrikov

Devrace

Who’s that here?
Programmers, self-employees, businessmen and managers. Motivation and sense. Killing time, working for ourselves, living worklife or selling ourselves at a good price? It is always you who is to blame.
Business means boundless self-responsibility. And further is even worse. Delegation of duties. Your can not sew your head to everyone. The voice of one ma.. Creativity is our everything. Marketing of common sense. ‘Pu..pu…ca no pu..’ Selling everything. Russians eat much but often. Knowledge is power but gas suits better. But who cares? I would make millions if only I knew how. Is business education necessary for businessmen? Peculiarities and target group of business education.

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Topic language Russian

Duration 40 min.

Start time 12:00 - 12:40

Location Ochotny Ryad

Local Markets versus Online Sales

Andreea Dinu

Avangate BV
Key Account Manager

1. Local markets
2. Online Sales Distribution
3. Classic Sales Distribution
4. Complete Solution

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Topic language English

Duration 40 min.

Start time 12:40 - 13:20

Location Ochotny Ryad

The VoIP age: a new market for applications and a communication tool for your company

Andriy Zhylenko

PortaOne, Inc.
CTO

Brief description of the technology, overview of the modern market of VoIP applications and perspectives on future development. New opportunities for small and medium size software vendors.

Using VoIP internally in your company. How do you make your startup look "big" and "respectable"? How to turn the fact that your employees are in different locations and time zones from an annoyance into a benefit? How to stay connected while traveling?

Establishing 24/7 technical support for a software product (using PortaOne as an example). Organizing the work in shifts, using productivity tools, enabling knowledge exchange.

[add to Outlook]

Topic language Russian

Duration 40 min.

Start time 15:00 - 15:40

Location Ochotny Ryad

«The right» localization

Denis Novikov

Logrus
Cheaf of dep.

ISDEF forum participants are past the need of convincing that multilingual localization is essential service part of key business process stages. Everybody knows that we need this thing, but how to do it right? Should we do it fully in house, engage users willing to translate for free or contract professional services and if yes, how to choose from them?

In order to set your company to the right course, you should first fully realize that contract services is more profitable than do it in house; determine your own localization process maturity level, determine your needs and approach, formulate tasks that must be outsourced to save time and in-house effort.

The next step would be to use suggested supplier taxonomy to select appropriate supplier class, matching requirements for skills, reliability, capabilities, scalability and price rangeу.

«The right» localization – is localization that fits you right.

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Topic language Russian

Duration 40 min.

Start time 15:40 - 16:20

Location Ochotny Ryad

Qualitative localization by volunteers by the example of Allway Sync

Viacheslav Mishchenko

Usov Lab

Professional translators, of course, know their business, but cost a lot. Software users know well what a programme is capable of, like it and want to see their favourite programme in their native language, so they are ready to translate it for free.

In order to obtain noticeable effect from the translation made by enthusiastic users, it is important correctly organize communication with these users, for them to feel being listened to. As a minimum, promptly reply to letters and use the latest translations in new releases. As a maximum, set up a system of translation and translator record keeping at your website in order to automatize the process.

One may ask onese lf whether programmes need to be localized or one could rather rely on the fact that all literate people know English. It is difficult to estimate how many people would still buy your programme even if it was not localized. We will try to assess, using Allway Sync as an example, how many users who do actually pay the money use localized versions.

[add to Outlook]

Topic language Russian

Duration 30 min.

Start time 16:20 - 16:50

Location Ochotny Ryad

	Andrey Nikishin Kaspersky Lab Director of Hosted Security Services BU
In small software companies it is the technicians who run the whole business. It is them who decide what to develop, how to develop, and whom and how to sell the resulting product. For the technicians, marketing experts are like a fifth leg or, in the best case scenario, like the tail for a dog which always interferes with its owner. We have already discussed the role of marketing in a software company at ISDEF 2005 and came to the conclusion that it is marketing that is to rule. So what can help the marketing tail to start wagging the dog? What tools can assist in that? The report covers one of the tools from the marketing arsenal, the marketing research. When, in which cases this tool can and should be used, how to interprete the results.
[add to Outlook]

Topic language	Russian
Duration	40 min.
Start time	15:00 - 15:40
Location	Ochotny Ryad

	Yuri Bakay MindCruncher
1. Starting out - formulation of an idea, benefits and dangers of pilot projects 2. From individual to a group 3. Project planning (tools, techniques, development stages) 4. What people are required for successful operation (employees' specialties and qualification level) 5. Growing the right way without crushing the product, the 'growing pains' 6. Completion of the project, support and further releases. Restructuring personnel. 7. Documentation and product quality control at each development stage.
[add to Outlook]

	Stanislav Zabrovsky Организация Времени Бизнес-тренер, эксперт-консультант
Modern time management in Russian 'no road' conditions. Non-linearity of time and flexible planning. Contextual planning in the diary and Outlook
[add to Outlook]

	Ekaterina Kuzmina ANCOR Sector IT/Telecom Consultant
Major trends in the labour market information technology sector: IT specialists' remuneration levels (Western and Russian companies, previous year level compared). Presence/lack of compensation packages (Western and Russian companies, previous year level compared). Average work time of IT specialists in one company. IT personnel specifics: landmarks when choosing a job? What motivation and retention factors are principal in the IT sector?
[add to Outlook]

Topic language	English
Duration	30 min.
Start time	18:10 - 18:40
Location	Ochotny Ryad

	Denis Zapirkin RUSSEE consulting New Business Director
The address is intended for companies' medium-level management staff, project managers, analysts and personnel department staff as well as the owners of small and medium companies planning a rapid development in the near future. The modern software development and support market is actively progressing. Many companies encounter the problems of efficient business development, rapid personnel recruitment, employee qualification management, etc. Among all these problems, the issues of efficient and high quality requirement management are the top priority ones, being the critical key to success. Only having a well established requirement handling process in place, a company has a chance to win tenders, steadily develop the business with existing customers and promote new services. An effectively working process of requirement management affects such key indicators of project implementation and organization as productivity, efficiency, quality, customer satisfaction. This report considers the interrelation of requirement management and other company activity domains, shows typical and 'unique' problems of requirement management process intriduction, describes various approaches and presents some of the solutions for such problems. In particular, it covers the issues of personnel training, team integration and introduction of processes using toolboxes.
[add to Outlook]

	Michael Kalinichenko StarForce Technologies CEO
The Americans believe that all companies are started the same way, with the help of three F's: friends, family, fools (giving money for promises). But when a company is established and operating, the problem of further development comes up together with the question 'what to do next and how?' So why is there a huge number of IT companies in Russia that never overgrow the 10, 20, maximum 30 employee level and only a few come over this threshold? We read business luminaries' books, study marketing, contact investors (as of late :-) ), look at successful companies and listen to their wise advice, but somehow rarely repeat someone else's success. Especially in Russia. And, most importantly, what do we overlook, and why can we not overcome this wizard boundary?
[add to Outlook]

	Sergei Eliseev Sunny Games LLC Founder & CEO
The main objective of business is to gain profit from business activity. However, a task that is by no means less important is the ability to constantly increase the profits which are the basis of sustainable growth. How to ensure a constant profit improvement without making substantial investments? We would like to share our experience in organizing and developing a business that allowed to maintain high rates of growth during several years of the company's existence. The address will cover such issues as evaluation and selection of growth areas for main and auxiliary businesses, development monitoring and adjustment, optimization of business processes and reduction of expenses, employment of personnel and working with outsourcers. All the considered issues arose at different stages of our company's existence and are taken from actual practice.
[add to Outlook]

	David Halls Digital River Director of Development eMetrix

[add to Outlook]

	Askhat Urazbaev Luxoft Agile coach/Architecture of processes
Design teams' shifting to flexible development methods allows companies to obtain many obvious advantages. At present, the most important subjects for discussion are ways of facilitating that shift both for the company and individual project teams. The report discusses the issues of implementing flexible organization techniques. The software development industry is reliving another revolution. The conventional 'classic' approach to development is being substituted by the so-called agile techniques. The new approach allows to efficiently solve one of the industry's biggest problems - changing requirements. Agile means iterative and evolutionary software development by self-directed and self-organizing teams.
[add to Outlook]

	Andrey Mirron IPI® Business Solutions, Inc. CEO
Objectives, tasks, and their control - what is it required for? How it can be. How it should be. How it should not be. Performance control is not only about tasks, first of all it is about feedback. Why can the classic scheme of corporate performance (Outlook tasks) not be used. What should employees be engaged in? Employee's central workplace, 'work front for today'. What are the employees doing? Centralized 'situation centre' as a powerful tool for management. No talking. How employees can be left doing their jobs for weeks without asking them what they are doing. Remote employees, their interaction and control. A good report is better than a good conversation. How to correctly prepare reports. Should the ITIL standard requirements be used to the full extent or not? Convenient and not so convenient ITIL requirements. Economy should be economic. Investment return and cost cutting when using task control systems. Flaws in some task control systems.
[add to Outlook]

	Michael Kanichev PROMT Company Director of worldwide marketing and sales
Strategy and tactics of accessing foreign markets. Working with global distributors - advantages and shortcomings. Dangers of interacting with retail networks. Local office - pros and cons.
[add to Outlook]

	Elena Goryunova Luxoft Staff Management VP
Typical problems of company's growth. Growth mechanisms - personnel selection on the open labour market, turnover of staff, student programmes. Personnel evaluation. Motivation – personnel stimulation systems. Corporate culture development in growth conditions. Personnel satisfaction evaluation.
[add to Outlook]

	Pavel Bukov Consulting company Rqlab Partner
1. "Change or die"! "Change management" - what do we include in that notion? Who in the company is responsible for change planning and implementation? 2. "There are no accidental people in our business". Industry specifics of change management. Peculiarities of IT change implementation. 3. "What is good for a Russian, is deadly for Germans". Cases of implemented changes in domestic practice. 4. "What's the adult way?" Useful models and techniques in change management practice.
[add to Outlook]

	Andrey Mirron IPI® Business Solutions, Inc. CEO
What is Application Service Provider (ASP). How easy life was 6 years ago. About quick business launch of an IPI® company. How difficult life was 6 years ago. About the problems of IPI® company's ASP-business. One plate, two plates, and a ladder's ready. How easy it is to give programmes in rent. Application rental: once a house is built, get the money all your life? About keeping programmes updated. The weak link. About payment acceptance. The weakest link. About the billing management and micropayment accounting. Once having lied. About the technical support of clients. Not by bread alone? About software rental through other means than the internet. A typical cost list for ASP business organization. You've got intellectual property? We're coming for you! How to obtain synergy effect from cooperation with programmers. We are all a little 'ASP'. Using the ASP model in everyday life.
[add to Outlook]

	Serg Vostrikov Devrace
Who’s that here? Programmers, self-employees, businessmen and managers. Motivation and sense. Killing time, working for ourselves, living worklife or selling ourselves at a good price? It is always you who is to blame. Business means boundless self-responsibility. And further is even worse. Delegation of duties. Your can not sew your head to everyone. The voice of one ma.. Creativity is our everything. Marketing of common sense. ‘Pu..pu…ca no pu..’ Selling everything. Russians eat much but often. Knowledge is power but gas suits better. But who cares? I would make millions if only I knew how. Is business education necessary for businessmen? Peculiarities and target group of business education.
[add to Outlook]

	Andreea Dinu Avangate BV Key Account Manager
1. Local markets 2. Online Sales Distribution 3. Classic Sales Distribution 4. Complete Solution
[add to Outlook]

	Andriy Zhylenko PortaOne, Inc. CTO
Brief description of the technology, overview of the modern market of VoIP applications and perspectives on future development. New opportunities for small and medium size software vendors. Using VoIP internally in your company. How do you make your startup look "big" and "respectable"? How to turn the fact that your employees are in different locations and time zones from an annoyance into a benefit? How to stay connected while traveling? Establishing 24/7 technical support for a software product (using PortaOne as an example). Organizing the work in shifts, using productivity tools, enabling knowledge exchange.
[add to Outlook]

	Denis Novikov Logrus Cheaf of dep.
ISDEF forum participants are past the need of convincing that multilingual localization is essential service part of key business process stages. Everybody knows that we need this thing, but how to do it right? Should we do it fully in house, engage users willing to translate for free or contract professional services and if yes, how to choose from them? In order to set your company to the right course, you should first fully realize that contract services is more profitable than do it in house; determine your own localization process maturity level, determine your needs and approach, formulate tasks that must be outsourced to save time and in-house effort. The next step would be to use suggested supplier taxonomy to select appropriate supplier class, matching requirements for skills, reliability, capabilities, scalability and price rangeу. «The right» localization – is localization that fits you right.
[add to Outlook]

	Viacheslav Mishchenko Usov Lab
Professional translators, of course, know their business, but cost a lot. Software users know well what a programme is capable of, like it and want to see their favourite programme in their native language, so they are ready to translate it for free. In order to obtain noticeable effect from the translation made by enthusiastic users, it is important correctly organize communication with these users, for them to feel being listened to. As a minimum, promptly reply to letters and use the latest translations in new releases. As a maximum, set up a system of translation and translator record keeping at your website in order to automatize the process. One may ask onese lf whether programmes need to be localized or one could rather rely on the fact that all literate people know English. It is difficult to estimate how many people would still buy your programme even if it was not localized. We will try to assess, using Allway Sync as an example, how many users who do actually pay the money use localized versions.
[add to Outlook]