Last year, Ukraine overcame an extremely difficult challenge – a blackout. The blackout particularly threatened the IT sector, which literally depends on electricity and communications. However, Ukrainian business has coped with the difficulties and is preparing for new threats to the country’s energy system. Crazy neighbors from the east have already started trying to destroy it, so IT companies are taking precautionary measures in case of new blackouts.
The European Association of Software Engineering (EASE) conducted a survey among its residents to find out how Ukrainian IT companies are preparing for possible blackouts and blackouts.
Elogic Commerce
Pavlo Okhrem, managing partner of Elogic Commerce, assesses the risks of blackouts as high and notes that one must be prepared for the worst-case scenarios. The experience of the past year helps in preparing: even during the first attacks on the power grid, all the company’s offices were equipped with generators, and some even with batteries and hybrid inverters. Starlink was also purchased for all offices, allowing them to continue working even in the face of prolonged power outages. Most employees have access to Elogic’s offices, which have provided everything they need for comfortable work.
The most memorable situation in the company is the one that happened to an employee during the first power outage. The employee established an Internet connection via his smartphone. He lives in an attic apartment, but the indoor connection was poor, so he placed his phone on the roof. With an uninterruptible power supply, he worked normally during any blackouts.
SmartyAds
IT company SmartyAds is also preparing for a tough winter. Vladyslav Khilkovets, Operations Manager at SmartyAds, notes that in addition to generators and Starlink, which are used in all offices in Kyiv, Mykolaiv, and Odesa, all employees are provided with power banks and mobile modems for communication. There is also plenty of food and water in the offices, so employees can even spend the night in the office if necessary.
However, the issue is not solved by the arrangement of offices, as the problem is not only the lack of electricity. Because of the instability caused by the war, some foreign clients have become suspicious of the Ukrainian IT sector But SmartyAds has both product and outsourcing businesses. Since the company operates in foreign markets, support and account managers must always be in touch. It is thanks to the constant support of employees that the business has not had any significant problems.
Last year, a large part of the SmartyAds team was temporarily relocated to Western Ukraine, which was less affected by the shutdown, so that the business could continue to operate and employees could be comfortable and safe. Now the company also has a backup plan for relocating employees in case of a critical situation. And, of course, SmartyAds is constantly growing, so it hires employees not only in Ukraine, but also actively seeks Ukrainians abroad, as they face less risk.
LNOKS
Nazar Mysholivskyi, CEO and co-founder of outsourcing company LNOKS, also does not rule out that the situation with the power grid may be even more difficult than last year. As a result, energy saving will be a must this winter, so it’s worth having backup options for uninterrupted power supply during the workflow.
Since LNOKS is a full-service company, most of its employees are located in different cities of Ukraine. In order to ensure maximum productivity, the workspace had to be diversified as much as possible – for some, it was necessary to find a coworking space with backup power, while others were provided with power banks and generators. Moreover, this was done very quickly: within five days after the first shelling on October 10, the company obtained the necessary number of power supplies and coworking spaces. In such a short time, LNOKS stabilized the workflow for the entire blackout period.
A particular case that impressed Nazar was the day when he had to report to the clients why the team was not in touch. It was right after the first October shelling, when part of the country was without power. We expected clients to express concern, but they wanted to take part in supporting employees during this difficult period, offering help and sincerely caring about the team. This unexpected attention from customers was extremely gratifying.
This year’s preparations for the blackout are being helped by the experience of the last winter. Many businesses no longer have problems with the necessary inventory and have the necessary knowledge to overcome a possible energy crisis. This once again proves that the Ukrainian IT sector is ready for any challenges and is working to win.
