Span was recognized as the best Microsoft partner in Ukraine in 2023. How is it possible to not only work in a country where a full-scale war is going on, but also to get international awards?
Oleg Avilov, CEO of Span Ukraine, was invited to talk about important topics, how the company feels during the war, why it became the best Microsoft partner of the year in Ukraine, and how it constantly helps its customers become better with the help of IT technologies.
- Oleg, thank you for giving us your time. I would like to start with the most important question: how are you?
Everything is good thanks! Now it is especially important not to stand still - we are focused on continuous development, adaptation to modern realities. This, of course, requires more motivation and energy from each of us, but I am sure that even from such, given the scale, small victories, we will step by step win the big one. And I'm happy with the current results.
- Of course, victory is ours! But let's get back to work. We have learned something very important, and finally can ask about it. Span was recognized as the best partner of Microsoft in Ukraine in 2023. Congratulations!
Thank you! This victory confirms the success of the chosen strategy and the effectiveness of each member of our team. First, we demand from ourselves compliance with high standards, and the achieved level is only the beginning.
- Please tell us what this award is about and why it is so important for your company and for Ukraine.
At the end of June, Microsoft announced the winners and finalists of the Partner of the Year Awards 2023. This is an annual award for partner companies that demonstrate excellence in the implementation of innovative technologies based on Microsoft solutions. This year, our company received an award for a number of successfully implemented projects in Ukraine, based on building cloud and hybrid IT infrastructures of companies with the help of Microsoft technologies, improving their information security and organizing workplaces. We are grateful to Microsoft for recognizing our efforts and aspirations to help as many Ukrainian companies as possible in such a difficult time for our country.
- Oleg, what is the secret? After all, Span has been operating on the Ukrainian market not so long ago - for 5 years, at the same time, the company has been recognized as the best two years in a row. It would be interesting to know what are the criteria or indicators according to which Microsoft chose you. Please share your formula for success.
The criteria for choosing the winners is determined by Microsoft - this is a comprehensive evaluation methodology that takes into account more indicators than we will have time to list during our interview. Nevertheless, the following can be generally highlighted - this is the high level of technical expertise of our specialists, the confirmed effectiveness of teams in the implementation of extremely complex projects under tight deadlines, and what is no less important is the number of positive customer reviews. That is, not only the successful implementation of solutions, but also the adjustment of processes, including training customers how to work with Microsoft products.
- Let's talk about Span Ukraine today. Your company is a stable business partner, it lives, works and develops intensively even during war. How do you achieve this stability today? How do you manage to save it?
Personally, everything is clear to me. This is the interaction of several factors at once:
- A great team of dedicated Span professionals;
- No less great customers who, despite the war, seek to preserve and grow their business by improving IT systems and information security;
- Support from Microsoft, which allowed Ukrainian companies to use its services on preferential terms during the martial law in Ukraine.
- Can you give a vivid example of a time during the war when an important problem was effectively solved under difficult conditions?
This year, we all realized that the economic front is no less important than the military one: it is impossible to win a war with military methods alone - the economy must work. One of the public cases of Span Ukraine is the assistance to UKRSIBBANK in the rapid migration of users to Microsoft cloud services - in 3 months, 2.5 thousand users were transferred to the cloud without harming the quality of business processes. That is, 2,500 employees were able to work effectively remotely from safe places.
- It's weird! But we understand that the successful implementation of projects during a full-scale war requires great moral endurance and stress resistance. How does the team cope with stress?
It's definitely a constant work. First, we communicate with each other as a team, support each other, and organize joint retreats. Our team also has the opportunity to receive help from a corporate psychologist. Secondly, it is joint participation in charity projects - we believe that helping yourself begins with helping others. Well, the main thing is safety, moral and physical. This applies to both the convenient work schedule and format, and the comfortable social package for employees that we provide. There is also the possibility of relocation to Croatia for certain categories of employees and their families.
- Security in every sense is the most important aspect of existence in the conditions of war. Tell us whether there were interesting cases of implementation of Microsoft solutions for customers among those who ensure our physical security every day, and in general, whether there were customers from the critical infrastructure of the country.
Due to the NDA, I cannot disclose the names of the customers and the essence of the projects you are interested in. But in general terms, I can say that this year Span team managed to help unlock the potential of Microsoft solutions for companies from various critical segments of the Ukrainian economy: logistics, retail, telecom, banks and insurance, food industry, energy, metallurgy, government and state organizations and enterprises, oil and gas companies and a number of charitable organizations.
- Is it true that the partnership with Microsoft allows to help Ukrainian businesses? And not only business - the support of the state segment of Ukraine deserves special attention. How does it work? How do you help businesses get better? But how can I get this support if I, for example, am a Ukrainian business?
Cloud strategies for most Ukrainian companies are not limited to the choice between local and public cloud, everything is much more complicated and it is not yet the biggest headache. There are always risks associated with unauthorized access or malicious damage to critical data. And companies are looking for a cost-effective cloud approach that will work seamlessly with a guarantee of data security in conditions of tight and limited budgets.
Microsoft provided a unique opportunity to implement such an approach to Ukrainian business and state institutions/enterprises. During the introduction of martial law in Ukraine, Microsoft offered a preferential support program, which provides for the provision of cloud capacities and services for free. In order to take advantage of these conditions, it is necessary to contact Span's license specialists, who will help find the most effective and financially economical solution for using the cloud and Microsoft cloud services.
- The last question, Mr. Oleg, regarding your plans. How far into the future do you see, given the current situation?
I see it this way. Planning is an integral part of a successful business, although we have learned to live one day at a time, and some of our colleagues have given their lives for plans for a successful future of Ukraine. It is impossible not to plan. But it is unacceptable if you believe in victory. And we believe! Therefore, the first and most important point of our plan is the victory of Ukraine. It is global. More technically, the plans now include expanding the staff of Span Ukraine, new partnership agreements with the leaders of the Ukrainian market, as well as the development of technical expertise - a direction in which we are constantly investing in order to be able to provide the customer with the latest and most secure cloud solutions based on Microsoft services.
- Thank you very much for your time and for this conversation! I wish the realization of all goals and a peaceful future for all of us.
If you plan to start your Microsoft-powered digital transformation, please contact Span certified experts mailto:info.ua@span.eu
For more information, please visit Span website: http://www.span.eu
