OREANDA-NEWS. October 02, 2009. IDC, the global market research firm, has ranked IBS as the IT services market leader for three consecutive years. According to Russia IT Services Competitive Analysis, 2009, the IDC study based on performances of IT service providers in 2008, IBS was the leader in several foundation markets and ahead of all competitors by total IT services revenue, reported the press-centre of IBS.

According to IDC, the Russian IT services market grew 18.7 % in 2008. IBS commanded a market share of 6.6 % and was the leading IT services provider in the custom application development and application consulting and customization foundation markets. The study notes that IBS has considerable experience in the customization of SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, and 1С applications. IBS was also among the top three outsourcing providers in the hosting infrastructure services and network and desktop outsourcing services foundation markets. Those services are provided by IBS DataFort, an IBS subsidiary.

According to the research firm, the market is becoming less fragmented, with the top five players having further increased their combined market share to 30 % compared with 19.2 % two years ago. Analysts forecast that the IT services market will shrink by about 50 % but note that companies focused on providing services that allow end users to achieve substantial savings will fare better. Such services include IT consulting and different forms of outsourcing.

"The crisis will lead the Russian business community to appreciate the proper role of IT in enterprise management. After the crisis of 1998 many companies realised that efficiency and high quality of business management were important. At that time demand for ERP systems grew. I believe the current situation will spur similar interest in sophisticated manufacturing solutions, systems used for logistics, sales, customer relations, etc.," commented Sergey Matsotsky, General Director, IBS.

"Despite quite negative views on the market outlook for 1 to 1.5 years ahead, in the longer term the Russian economy will definitely need more and more efficient IT solutions that give a competitive edge," Mr. Matsotsky said.