The Russian Software Market: Competition and Development Potential

The aim of the article is a comprehensive study of the Russian software market. The product of the market under study is software, namely the provision of non-exclusive rights to use this software. This product is a durable good, which is subject only to moral wear and tear, but not physical one. The structure of the software market is considered in terms of the synthesis of the theory of branch markets, neoinstitutionalism and the concept of organizational fields. The main segments of the software market in Russia are determined: the segment of system software, the segment of the information security market, the segment of the Internet market, intranet and network software, the segment of business-oriented software and the segment of communication and multimedia software. On the basis of a structural and functional approach, the state of the competition in the market is analyzed in dynamics. It is revealed that the concentration of the market is quite low, while some firms have a high level of market power. Such firms have quite a strong influence over all stakeholders so that they can directly or indirectly alter the terms of institutional arrangements. The potential of firms in the market has been studied based on the determination of the degree of the firm's ability to increase market share through the use of human capital. All studied software market firms are divided into five main groups. The first group is firms with a high potential to increase market share by attracting highly qualified personnel. Such firms have a high positive correlation of revenue and wages and a high specific revenue. Such companies include Yandex.Market LLC, ZAO NIP Informzashchita, Prime Group LLC. The second group is firms with a high potential to increase market share by reducing low-skilled personnel. Such firms are characterized by a high negative correlation and a high specific revenue. There are few firms of this group in the sample: Finvel Konsalting LLC, 1AB Centre Paveletskaya LLC, PiTiSi LLC, etc. The third group is firms with an average potential to increase market share by attracting highly qualified personnel. Such firms have a high correlation and an average specific revenue. This group is the biggest. It includes firms like Yandex LLC, Sbertekh JSC, PF SKB Kontur JSC, Nefteavtomatika JSC, etc. The fourth group is firms with an average potential to increase market share by reducing unskilled personnel. Here the main characteristics are a high negative correlation and an average specific revenue. Such companies are ICL KME CS JSC, Gis-Asu Proyekt JSC, ZAO Digital Design. The fifth group is firms with a medium or low potential. This group includes firms with a medium and low correlation and specific revenue, e.g., Kaspersky Lab JSC, TITS LLC, Microsoft Rus LLC, ZAO CFT. The main directions of development of software development firms are determined. The value of the research lies in the study of the entire array of enterprises operating in the Russian software market, in the processing of large statistical material and the availability of practical recommendations for enterprises.

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