Ukraine calls for support of its IT industry

I just got off a Zoom with IT Ukraine Association and the headlines are: We are still working. We are still delivering. What we need most right now is money to help the fight but also commitment to continuation of current service contracts, and more contracts to safeguard the future growth and reputation of our IT industry. We are still a reliable industry.

So this morning I received a request for additional support from GSA’s partner, IT Ukraine Association and that was followed with super efficiency by a zoom call being set up from Kyiv in Ukraine. My GSA colleagues and I met with Constantine Vasuk, Mariia Khanina and Olha Sytnychenko. Constantine had made it with his family out to West Ukraine, Mariia had endured a harrowing journey but had made it to Germany. Olha was staying fast in Kyiv.

The first item was of course for human welfare and safety, and emotions were clearly high. But we settled into the business side of things and learned that the main focus of IT companies in Ukraine was to continue with their daily work to provide service to their customers.

They then said that they had “good news”! Over 80% of their member companies had successfully implemented their business continuity plans and over 60% were working normally having already relocated their teams. Much relocation was done over a month before Russia started its attack in response to the clearly increasing risk, and the distributed model of work built during the pandemic has been further improved in this crisis. They said there had been great support from end user clients and no complaints received pertaining to contract delivery failures. Internet connection is good as they are running over fibre optic. All men aged 16-60 are not allowed to leave the country, but only a few of the male IT workers, whose average age is 27, are currently being mobilised to support the army, as the first wave being called up are those with military experience.

The ask of UK and US companies, who are big customers for Ukrainian IT companies, is as follows:

·????????Financial donations to provide medical aid to the people and support the economy. (The Ukrainian IT companies have themselves already donated $21million to support their army)

·????????For companies to stop operations in and doing business with Russia, “as it is this money that is being used by Russia to fund the bombs that destroy our cities”

·????????Help with Ukrainian refugees is of course welcomed, but they will return to Ukraine as soon as this disruption is stopped, “so please help stop this disruption”

We offered suggestions of additional help:

Would payment of contracts in advance help? Response: no. There is no critical situation in paying employees and we are not asking for money for nothing.

Do you need global assistance to backfill on any contracts? No. Contracts can be fulfilled, and new ones can be onboarded too, but if the situation worsens, we will let you know.

Countries are offering to pay to evacuate and accommodate IT workers overseas. Response:?there is a war on talent. Every country wants more IT workers.

It was not said implicitly, but I got the impression that they felt some offers of funded relocation were just an attempt to poach Ukraine’s IT talent. They need their industry to endure, to cope with their current challenges, and to remain a strong and important contributor to the health of their economy as they emerge from this crisis. ?

The Association also told us they are launching a fund in the next few days to support the aid efforts, one which is different to that of Ukraine’s national bank. This fund will use technology to provide full traceability as to where each donation is deployed, and how it is used, and will allow smaller, niche providers to supply products to the defence efforts and essential goods to displaced Ukrainians. We will share those details as soon as it is live.

Knowing these people and these companies personally I am more in awe than ever. The last thing they should also be worrying about is defending their reputation and their industry at a time when many Ukrainians are fighting to defend their lives and their country, but they are very much focused on not just retaining but growing the IT industry of Ukraine and their reputation so they can deliver country continuity and support the economy and the men fighting the way they know best.

My ask of you is to support Ukraine’s fabulous IT industry in the way they ask. They deserve and need our support and our work now more than ever.