OREANDA-NEWS. June 25, 2009. I.T. Group announces establishment of a new subsidiary — PingWin Software (Limited Liability Company). The main goal of the new system will be provision of services in unrolling, modernization, and support of corporate information systems based on open source software.

I.T. Group has been working with open source software-based solutions for a number of years and has accumulated much expertise in support and development of such information systems. Currently I.T. Co. portfolio includes Red Hat Enterprise Linux OS, JBoss-based applications, Open Referent system, etc. A prerequisite for creation of new company became significant stable growth of interest in the open source software from various groups of users, including representatives of business, government enterprises, public authorities, and private users.

The main direction for PingWin business will be technical support of various products based on the open source software. Corresponding services will be provided in the on-line mode by own 24-hour support Center in Ufa. Attraction of regional specialists is an additional factor allowing for reduction of the overall cost of solution ownership.

Just as much important area of PingWin Software activity should become assistance to users in switching to open source software. In particular, the company plans to develop a package of fonts that will guarantee total conformity of documents after their transfer between different platforms, and finishing of interfaces of OpenOffice and standard windows managers to facilitate transparent transition from Microsoft Windows/Office and Apple Macintosh platforms for different users.

By the end of 2010 PingWin Software must achieve several specific objectives. They include unrolling of pilot open source software-based solutions implementation projects for large corporate clients and government authorities, execution of OEM-contracts with PC suppliers.

The new company should also get involved in promotion of idea to switch to open source software using examples of success cases of big corporate clients, creation of stable image of open source-based solutions as maximum reliable, safe and supported. Moreover, support for communities of Linux and OpenOffice developers, implementers, and users is planned.

Dmitry Comissarov was appointed the PingWin Software General Director. Prior to that he held the office of Consultant for the I.T. Co. General Director, and before that held managing positions in Russian and foreign companies.

“Creation of a separate company that will work with open source software became a logical and timely step for I.T. Co. — says Chairman of the Board of I.T. Group Tagir Yapparov. — We have been working in this market for a long time, are tracking changes that occur there, and see pretty big potential. I am glad to point out that open source software-based solutions are getting more and more attention on the government level and, in particular, the process goes beyond mere discussion and first customers of such solutions are appearing. This is another undoubted confirmation of correctness of the chosen open source software development strategy within the I.T. Group.”

“Development of a first-class service for corporate and private customers, and facilitation of transparent switch to open source platform from other operating systems will provide for a multifold increase in the share of system software and applications in the Russian Market in the nearest two years,”— added Dmitry Comissarov.