Areal IT company from Kramatorsk, a member of the Eastern Ukrainian IT cluster, created with USAID Economic Resilience Activity (ERA), offers Ukrainian businesses the opportunity to replace 1C Russian software with its own product, Areal-accounting.
The company has already attracted a new client from Lviv, a representative of the retail and wholesale trade.
“We offer businesses the opportunity to stop using Russian 1C accounting software. Our company has created an alternative, and now we need to convince business to use our IT product. We have already signed an agreement with the owner of a clothing chain that has its own production. This is a new case for us, but we have managed it, so we can continue to cooperate with retailers; we know how to program and set up accounting of goods and warehouse balances,” says Pavlo Zaitsev, Areal director.
Online meetings held by Areal specialists in social networks help to find new customers. The company is currently negotiating with a business from Dnipro and a higher education institution from Poltava which were attracted through such meetings.
Areal moved from Kramatorsk to Lviv last year, and recently hired three IDPs from Kramatorsk and Pokrovsk, Donetsk Oblast, expanding the staff to 10 employees.
“Over the past year, we have not lost any clients from the state, municipal or private sector. We support about a hundred companies with software maintenance. This is very important for us because it helps us get back on track in Lviv, where there is strong competition among local IT specialists. We believe that we will grow significantly this year,” says Zaitsev.