OREANDA-NEWS. September 20, 2011. For the tenth year in a row, CROC has ranked first in the systems integration market (with a 15.3% market share) while, for the third year, it has maintained its leading position in the Russian IT services market. With a 5.5% market share[1], CROC is the number one IT services provider in Russia according to the IDC “Competitive Profiles and Analysis of Leading IT Services Players in Russia, 2011” report.

In 2010, CROC ranked first in the systems integration foundation market (with a 15.3% market share), second in hardware support and installation (7.9% market share) and third in network consulting and integration (6% market share).

In 2010, CROC recorded revenue of USD 157.1 million[2] in the systems integration market—over 55% of the company’s total IT services revenue. Hardware support and installation services were CROC’s second-largest source of IT services revenue (14.4%) and were followed by network consulting and integration services (10.6%).

For the sixth year, CROC is the leading IT services provider in the combined financial market. Projects carried out in 2010 include: implementation of a CRM system with debt collection functionality for MDM Bank; a complex integration project for Sberbank of Russia and MoneyGram; and telecom network modernization and the creation of a traffic optimization system for Raiffeisenbank. In addition, CROC implemented new-generation Power7 servers in TRUST National Bank—one of Russia’s first such implementations—and installed main and backup dealing centers in major financial institutions.

According to IDC, CROC is one of the first Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) providers in Russia and provides both public and private clouds. In 2010, CROC created a cloud-based IT infrastructure for a Multifunctional Center of the Kostroma Region Government while another Russian service provider delivers inventory analysis services to its end-customers based on CROC’s cloud. In 2010, the company’s outsourcing data center line recorded more than a seven-fold increase—a development that stimulated the construction of new data centers. In the near future, CROC plans to launch a new commercial data center, the design of which has been certified by the Uptime Institute in compliance with TIER III requirements.

According to IDC, retail was the most dynamic industry in terms of IT services spending. In 2010, CROC created a video conferencing system for the Auchan retail chain, upgraded WAN for the M.Video electronics retail chain and delivered virtual capacities to LensMaster for its Oracle E-Business Suite ERP system implementation.

CROC also implemented a number of major projects for telecom companies and carriers, including the creation of one of the largest data centers in Russia—a Tier III certified multilevel data center which covers 6,000 sq.m of floor space and provides redundancy of all engineering subsystems—for the Volga branch of Megafon, a telecom provider.

In the manufacturing sector, CROC created business intelligence systems for the Kimberly-Clark distribution network, a backup system for the United Industrial Corporation, and a virtual data network for Aviadvigatel and the Perm Motor Plant. In addition, CROC also delivered helpdesk outsourcing services to British American Tobacco Russia.

Projects carried out in the energy sector include: IT management process arrangement and an IT operations automation system implementation for TVEL Corporation, the creation of a corporate integration-and-transport system for the Systems Operator of the Unified Energy System (UES) of Russia, and the deployment of a thermal energy technological information collection center in the Territorial Generating Company No. 6 (TGK-6).

“We witnessed gradual market recovery in 2010. Companies were interested in increasing their business efficiency which resulted in the growth of CROC’s consulting business with regard to the creation of reliable IT infrastructure. In addition, the ‘IT as a service’ concept also gained momentum. Demand for outsourcing data centers increased significantly while the first cloud projects were launched. I believe these are the lines that will drive market growth over the coming years,” said Boris Bobrovnikov, Director General of CROC.