Oleg Alekseev, an entrepreneur who created the program “My Store” almost fainted when I saw her in jobs that required knowledge not only of “1C”, but the program “My Store”. “My Store” – programa inventory, which was developed by “Logneks,” which, in turn, created three years ago, Alekseev and his partners Askar Rahimberdiev. “We wanted to make a product designed for the masses, with an inexpensive and useful” – says Rahimberdiev, CEO “Logneks.”

The aims of the “Logneks” ambitious enough – to press on the software market for small and medium businesses no one else but itself “1C”. Today on the site, “My Store” use the services of 150 paying customers, and somewhere the same free. At the moment, the new version of product “1C: Enterprise 8” sold about 100,000 copies. But the chances of “Logneksa” is. In contrast to the “1C”, which sells a boxed version and take money for future updates, business model, “Logneksa” is built on the principle of “software for rent» – SaaS (software as a service). That is, the client is running the program through a Web browser, with no setting on your computer. The entire responsibility for performance of the server and software, the company undertakes. The main thing is that the software can be used anywhere, the only thing you need is Internet access.

Askar Rahimberdiev – a graduate of Moscow Aviation Institute, and Oleg Alekseev Finish Penza Technical University on the programmer, first worked in the Russian office of British company OilSpace (it is now called the Aspect Enterprise Solutions), which developed software for the oil companies. SaaS business model just coming into fashion, but the British have already used it at all, providing a soft and its servers for data processing customer shipments of oil from the terminal. The guys decided to do that well known, namely, software for inventory control. Only provide services not just for one or two large customers, and the mass market – thousands of small businesses who are interested to save money on software.

At first, creating a “My Store” guys have invested their own money. After writing the first code of the program and began to search for an investor. To run this project had to be at least $ 200 thousand Rakhimberdiev call to all well-known Moscow investment funds, but no one was interested: the service has not proved his future – after all, the service just do not do it yet. Somehow communicating with colleagues via social networking site LinkedIn, Rakhimberdiev learned about the Estonian investment fund Ambient Sound Investments (ASI), which was created by the founders of Skype. Calling and arranged a meeting where he quickly found a mutual understanding – the founders of ASI were confident of the success model of SaaS, and in early 2008, the fund bought a 20% share of promoters’ Logneksa “paying for it about $ 100 thousand remaining 80% of developers are equally divided Mezhuyev . But initially, to avoid conflicts, they agreed that the last word always at Askar Rahimberdievym, as his financial and time costs were greater.

Officially, the service was launched in 2008. Initially, the service only interested entrepreneurs, who themselves do something on the IT-market, and knew what SaaS. “In fact, people started to walk towards the end of 2009 – recognized Rakhimberdiev.

Knowing full well that for entrepreneurs, this business model is new, the guys being lured them by providing free full-featured account for a month. The scheme worked. The owner of “First of quail,” Alexandria Ulyaev who uses the system for a year. – I can monitor shipments of goods in real time, wherever I was not, even with the phone, even with the CCP. ” He says that the service can easily customize the reporting format, such as invoices of shipments in the Metro; yet to bribe him “ridiculous cost subscription fee.” Fee for a single user in the service “My store” is $ 20 per month, the license to connect up to 10 users, including the function of the distribution of access rights – $ 65 per month.

On the site, “My Store” is a table comparing the product of “1C: Enterprise 8. Trade Management “, which compares the cost of installation, deployment, server and update of a competing product, for example, three years of product” 1C “in ten jobs would cost $ 5600, while using the service” My Store “costs would amount to only $ 2400. True, Alexander Kharitonov, head of the promotion of economy. programs “1C” criticized and questioned made “Logneksom” comparison: “He does not have sufficient knowledge of the rival programs like this to compare it with yours.”

About half the customers of the “My Store” – online stores that need to accurately track the movement of goods, the goods were in stock, and so do not lie around. There are also large enterprises. “We had to coordinate the work of about ten stores across the country, and the” My Store “was the simplest and most cost-effective solution, – said Mikhail Ivanov, IT-director of” Rusagro. ” – No complaints from us there, the program addresses a very narrow problem. ”

In addition to founding the “Lognekse” employs three other people, the company’s revenue last year totaled $ 66 thousand 50% of income is spent on optimization in search engines and contextual advertising, 35% of revenue goes to the finalization of the program, the rest – running costs.

Of course, at this point to compare the scale of business, “1C” and scale “Logneksa” impossible. But the founders did not sit idly by, now they vozglagayut high hopes for the recently announced partnership with the service firm “SKB Kontur”, which ensures delivery of tax returns via the Internet (right now its services are used by nearly one million customers across the country). “SKB Kontur” develops a portal SaaS-applications, the guys are hoping that “my store” will be one of them. Rakhimberdiev prepares to expand, looking for a new investor, and hopes that the negotiations will have easier, because now you can easily show the perspective of the project. ” And SaaS is no longer a rarity in – in June 2010 «1C» also began to rent their software products. So far, however, theirs are more expensive service than the “Logneksa.”