CROC

JSC CROC incorporated () is an international IT company. The company provides a range of IT solutions, including systems integration and managed B2B and consulting services. In addition, CROC offers off-the-shelf products and promising end-to-end technologies, such as Big Data, blockchain, artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, Internet of Things, robotics, and machine learning. The company also provides cloud and data center services based on its own data centers.
CROC has been operating in the IT market since 1992 and has been ranked among the top 3 systems integrators in Russia; top 3 IT service providers in Russia; top 5 consulting businesses in Russia; and top 10 IT companies in Russia (IDC 2018, Expert Rating Agency, 2019).
The company is headquartered in Moscow.
History.
1992–2000
Founded in 1992 in Moscow, CROC first partnered with Compaq Computers, a US computer vendor, offering computers, peripherals and network equipment from the US in Russia, as well as maintenance and support. The Moscow News editorial office became CROC’s first large customer.
In 1994, CROC established a regional network of 20 Compaq authorized service centers and completed the State Historical Museum archive automation — one of Russia’s largest IT projects in the 1990s according to the company’s management.
In 1995, CROC focused on systems integration as its core business, and started developing new projects, as well as serving Western business branches appearing in Russia at that time.
In 1996-1998, CROC expanded its portfolio with computing and structured cabling systems, networks, enterprise telephony, and storage systems, while also completing projects in the government, banking and energy sectors. Despite a business growth slowdown in mid-1998 due to the economic crisis, the company managed to exceed its 1997 performance in 1999.
2000–2010
In 2000–2001, CROC intensively cooperated with government agencies, including supporting the Russian Presidential Elections, and increased the number of its regional Compaq authorized service centers to cover Arkhangelsk, Barnaul, Irkutsk, and Bratsk. Also, in 2001, the CROC North-West branch was opened in St. Petersburg.
In 2002, CROC’s revenue skyrocketed by 54 % YoY, mostly due to the growing number of projects involving the deployment of multi-service networks, security and IP telephony, video conferencing, data storage and processing, and automated engineering systems. The same year, the CROC Siberia branch was opened in Novosibirsk.
In 2002–2004, the company ranked #1 among the top 10 systems integrators in Russia and as one of the largest national IT service providers, with its support and maintenance team serving 3,900 local offices by the end of 2004. In addition, the company launched its new CROC Ural branch in Ekaterinburg.
In 2005–2007, CROC completed some 300 projects per year, boosting overall revenue to approximately $800 million, while also focusing on the creation and support of data storage and processing systems.
Addressing the economic recession of 2008–2009, the Computing Systems Team completed more virtualization projects, container data center implementations and relocations, as well as outsourcing and consulting engagements, while also boosting proceeds from the deployment of video conferencing and AV systems. In early 2009, all four of CROC’s offices moved to a single headquarters located at Volochaevskaya Street, Moscow.
2010–Present
In 2010, the company launched Russia's first domestic cloud platform.
The first alternative energy projects were completed in 2011. The next year, CROC innovative force started to implement virtual reality (VR) projects for customers in the training, R&D, design, and other domains. By 2014, CROC boasted 900 customers and some 2,000 projects per year. The same year notable for the Olympic Games in Sochi, CROC held and supported many sports and socially-oriented events, particularly the 11th Paralympic Games and its own festival.
In early 2015, the company rolled out its corporate social network for employee and customer communications, with the project winning the INTERCOMM-2014 prize in the ‘In-house Communications and Corporate Culture’ category. In 2015, CROC became the first Russian company within the Global Presence Alliance, uniting AV solution suppliers and systems integrators worldwide.
In 2016, CROC Disk was launched, a secure and handy corporate file exchange service. By the end of the year, the company signed a partnership agreement with VR Consortium for joint development of VR technologies. CROC installed security, TV broadcasting, telecom, and multimedia systems, as well as solutions for automation and dispatch control of engineering systems at Krasnodar FC Stadium, and also won the ‘Project of the Year 2016’ contest organized by the Global CIO portal in ‘The Best Regional Project’ category.
In 2017, CROC revised its product portfolio, withdrawing from selling low-margin equipment, licenses and services from some vendors in favor of managed and cloud services. The same year, CROC became the first Russian company to be awarded Service Advantage Partner: Implementation Foundations Specialization status by Commvault, while design and deployment efforts involving Avaya-based advanced communication solutions for Cherkizovo Group were awarded the ‘Project of the Year 2017’ prize in the ‘Best Industry Solution’ category. As part of this project, in order to make local contact centers more transparent and reduce maintenance costs, CROC unified all operations into a single and centrally managed contact center, which was then upgraded, thus enabling Cherkizovo Group to reduce communication costs from ₽28.9 million to ₽17 million. In addition, the company finished its consulting contribution to a 3-year deployment of an earthquake-resistant data center in Turkey.
In 2018, CROC deployed an intelligent building management system and created an advanced multimedia infrastructure at SIBUR’s Moscow office, with the project winning the prize at the ninth national ProIntegration Awards. In November 2018, CROC and Bitfury Group, an international blockchain company, announced the establishment of the blockchain competence center in Russia with the aim of improving blockchain awareness and expansion in the enterprise sector. In May 2018, CROC joined the information technology committee of the Airport Association of Civil Aviation in order to contribute to airport infrastructure upgrades and security policy drafting.
In 2019, CROC deployed an AI-powered robot to supervise and optimize first-line technical support at M.video-Eldorado Group.