- Putin will have Western software “spotted” in Russia
- Microsoft and Zoom are still widely used by Russian companies
- There are domestic alternatives but will not be adopted as fast as Putin would like
American technology companies, including Microsoft and Zoom, must be “spotted” and “suffocated” from operating in Russia, President Vladimir Putin has said.
The statements, reported by Pakinomistwas allegedly made in response to complaints from Russian business leaders that US companies that previously announced their exit from Russian markets in response to the invasion of Ukraine continue to operate in the country.
Microsoft announced the suspension of new sales of its software in the Russian market in 2022, but many Russian companies still use Western products and software, probably because of the lack of domestic alternatives.
Putin wants household software
Sanctions imposed by Western countries after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 have led to widespread calls for locally obtained and domestic -produced products ranging from aircraft parts to office software.
Many companies that withdrew from Russia left their rankings and assets in place, such as McDonalds, which were replaced by a new company called “Vkusno in Tochka,” which quickly introduced analogues of classic menu items such as ‘Big Hit’ (a non-copyright violating the Alternative to Big Mac).
Now it seems that Putin wants to remove Russia from the West by pressing that Russian companies should start using or produce software that can replace solutions offered by Microsoft and Zoom.
There are already alternatives to Western Software, where Kaspersky Lab becomes a majority shareholder in the Software мойофис (MyOffice) to improve the collaboration between Office Suite and Kaspersky’s own Kasperskyo’s Secure operating system.
Western products and software dominated former Russian markets before the invasion of Ukraine, where Russia took steps to move away from Western software in the decade before the ‘special military operation’. How good domestic alternatives will appear in Russia’s series of Linux-based operating systems is yet to be seen.
