Formation and development of digital ecosystems based on technological and telecommunication companies in Russia

Introduction

Deep digitalization has an active impact on all production processes and activities in the economy. The growing value of data and digital technologies is reflected in their high market capitalization, and their growing role has far-reaching consequences for all economic activity ^[12]. The digital economy is becoming an integral part of global economic processes, being the engine of growth and development of companies ^[8]. In this context, the intangible assets of companies, information software tools that allow managing the company's value chain at each stage of the development and implementation of products and services come to the fore. The largest companies against the background of universal digitalization not only create new services, products and services to meet the needs of their customers, but also actively work on the transformation of their business models ^[2]. One of such innovative business models is the digital ecosystem.

The relevance of the research topic lies in the fact that despite the presence of a large number of separate studies on financial and banking services, including those provided by non-core organizations, as well as studies on digitalization, development and active implementation of financial technologies in the activities of individual organizations, there is no comprehensive analysis of the activities of digital ecosystems formed on the basis of technology and telecommunications companies. According to the authors, in the medium and long term, digital ecosystems, including their financial services, can have a significant impact on the paradigm shift in the provision of financial services and the financial sector of the economy as a whole. However, the main problem in this case is competition with traditional market participants who have both significant expertise in their field and a strong brand and a large customer base. Under the current conditions, the non–core companies under consideration - digital ecosystems that develop financial products, services and services are forced to rely on their strengths to resort to non-traditional forms of development, including by meeting the financial needs of an existing customer base, as well as due to a large and quite diverse pool of services provided. The purpose of the article is to study the directions of development of digital ecosystems based on technological and telecommunications companies in Russia and to determine the validity of the development of companies by building and developing digital ecosystems. The purpose of the study will be achieved by solving the problem of studying the structure of digital ecosystems, including financial services of companies such as Yandex, MTS and VK Group. The methodological basis of the study was the scientific works of foreign and Russian researchers, financial and operational reports of these companies. The methodological basis of the research consists of analysis, synthesis, ascent from the abstract to the concrete, logical and historical method, as well as other general scientific methods. Among the specific economic methods, the authors used the analysis of statistical data. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the study of the features, stages and directions of the development of digital ecosystems based on technological and telecommunications companies in Russia.

Literature review

Before directly analyzing the activities of digital ecosystems based on technological and telecommunications companies in Russia, the authors consider it necessary to study some aspects of ecosystem theory and thereby determine the degree of elaboration of the topic of the article. The concept of ecosystem has long existed and is actively used in biological sciences and was used for the first time in scientific doctrine in a study by British botanist and ecologist Arthur Tensley entitled "Use and abuse of plant concepts and terms", who introduced the concept of ecosystem to denote the unity and integration of the biological community and its physical environment as a fundamental unit of ecology ^[13]. The development of the concept of ecosystem in the humanities is primarily associated with socio-economic changes observed in the second half of the 20th and early 21st centuries ^[7]. In particular, the impetus for such changes was the disintegration processes that began to occur as a result of new trends in industry, microelectronics, as well as in information and communication technologies and subsequent integration processes in the economy ^[15].

In the humanities , the concept of ecosystem was first formulated in the sociological sciences by A. Haley in 1986 . An ecosystem has been defined as: "interdependence in a population in which everything acts as a whole and thus maintains viable ecological relationships" ^[14]. The first economic definition of the ecosystem concept was formulated in 1993 by Harvard University Professor J. F. Moore, as follows: "firms should not be considered as separate members of one industry, but as members of a business ecosystem consisting of firms of various industries, as well as biological ecosystems, since developing over time they have an impact on each other. a friend of influence in terms of innovation, cooperation and competition" ^[16]. According to the authors, J. F. Moore almost completely transferred the biological concepts of the competitive environment to economics. Researchers M. J. Jacobides, K. Kennamo, A. Gaver distinguish two main approaches in the literature on the definition of the concept of ecosystem. In the first approach, the ecosystem is considered as a group of organizations to a certain extent, interdependent with respect to factors of production and output, and in the second approach, as a system of interconnected technologies ^[15]. In this case, it is worth noting that these researchers consider the ecosystem as a whole, without paying due attention to the narrower concept of a business ecosystem or a digital ecosystem. Another researcher who has made a significant contribution to the development of ecosystem theory can be called R. Adner, according to whom the study of ecosystems can be divided into two main areas: ecosystems as affilations (ecosystems as affiliation) and ecosystems as structure (ecosystems as structure). In this case, the ecosystem, as an affinity, focuses on the destruction of traditional industry boundaries and the growth of interconnections and symbiotic relationships between companies, both within the same industry and at the intersectoral level. In the case of an ecosystem as a structure, emphasis is placed on the study of the creation of a value proposition and actors who need to interact to achieve a certain value proposition. R. Adner, unlike other researchers, proposed the study of ecosystems at the level of the ecosystem structure, separating this study from the macro and micro levels of ecosystem analysis. R. Kapoor defining the concept of ecosystem considers the relationship between the the supply and demand side of the main value proposition, as well as consideration of actors from various sectors of the economy who contribute to the development of this value proposition by the most important factors characteristic of ecosystems, and also notes the high complementarity and interdependence between ecosystem actors ^[11]. R. Kapoor also studying the ecosystem at the level of its structure determines the importance of a single value proposition, which should be at the forefront of the development of ecosystems. Among Russian scientists, a special place should be given to the research of G. B. Kleiner, the most important factor of the ecosystem, who considers the interaction between the "notebook" - an object subsystem in the form of a cluster, an environmental subsystem in the form of a platform, a process subsystem in the form of a network, a project subsystem in the form of a business incubator ^[5], in turn, which is capable of long-term independent functioning due to the circulation of goods within the system ^[6]. According to the authors, all of the above approaches to the definition do not take into account the Russian realities of the formation and development of digital ecosystems directly. Therefore, it is also worth noting the definition given in the Report for public consultations of the Bank of Russia, which explains the concept of a digital ecosystem ^[17]. According to the authors, in the conditions of universal digitalization, it is necessary to be based on a narrower concept – a digital ecosystem and, in turn, define a digital ecosystem as a set of companies, services and products (including from different sectors of the economy) interdependent and mutually complementary, united around one organization, including a platform for more effective satisfaction of the needs of the end user. the recipient of benefits and increasing their own competitiveness in the market, within the framework of a single seamless integrated process. Also, according to the authors, from a practical point of view, a complex or universal digital ecosystem should meet the needs of its audience in four main areas: finance, information technology, entertainment, daily needs (life-style services) ^[1]. Thus, having studied the approaches to the definition of the concept of ecosystem, it can be concluded that the topic of the formation and development of ecosystems is insufficiently developed, in the Western literature the concepts of ecosystems, business ecosystem and digital ecosystem are interpreted by different researchers depending on the objects of research, and in the Russian doctrine only occasional attention is paid to these concepts.

Conditions for the formation and development of digital ecosystems in the world and in Russia.

Traditionally, five American technology companies are considered the largest international digital ecosystems: Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft (the so-called GAFAM) and two Chinese ones: Alibaba and Tencent, also Baidu (the so-called BAT) can be attributed to Chinese digital ecosystems. These technology companies, due to high digitalization and a large pool of services that satisfy a significant part of their customers' needs within their own ecosystem, have both positive financial results and a significant client audience. For example, Amazon Inc., one of the largest American and global digital ecosystems, was established in 1994 as an online bookstore. Today, the digital ecosystem of Amazon Inc. consists of a large number of different services. The central link of the ecosystem is the e-commerce platform, however, a number of services also have a significant share in both the company's revenue and profit, as well as in audience engagement. AliBaba Group, in turn, is the largest Chinese and also one of the world's largest digital ecosystems. The company was established in 1999 as a trading platform for small and medium-sized enterprises. The AliBaba Group ecosystem currently includes more than 700 different services and companies.

Speaking about the world's largest digital ecosystems, it is worth noting that initially historically digital ecosystems, in particular those formed on the basis of technology companies, were not interested in traditional financial products, since financial markets, as a rule, are characterized by low margins and are largely regulated. Entering the financial market for such digital ecosystems implies an additional dialogue with financial regulators, as well as work on additional risks not provided for by the business model. However, the functioning of a full-fledged digital ecosystem, in particular, the need for seamless provision of services, improvement and expansion of services provided requires the availability of financial products, which at first are usually complementary in nature within the business. It is also particularly worth noting the transactional data about consumers received by the digital ecosystem during the use of financial services by consumers. The main financial services in the framework of digital ecosystems are payments for purchases of goods and services and P2P transfers, further we can call lending, insurance and investment services, account management services ^[10]. The types of financial services provided in digital ecosystems directly depend on the geographical model of ecosystems. Financial services can be provided through partner companies of the digital ecosystem, as well as through various intermediaries, which is inherent in the American model. The availability of own financial services within the digital ecosystem, in turn, reduces transaction costs, this approach is used in the Chinese model.

According to the authors, the peculiarity of the Russian model of the formation and development of digital ecosystems is that it simultaneously moves in two directions: on the one hand, on the basis of and within the banking sector of the economy, and on the other hand, within those technological, telecommunications and other companies that actively use innovative technologies to increase competitiveness.

The general trend of development of the two main areas is to combine services in four main areas: finance, information technology, entertainment, services to meet daily needs (life-style services) into a single ecosystem that can provide a full cycle of user service. But these directions of development differ in that they have different goals and different approaches to achieving it. Banks seek to go beyond the financial services they provide by cooperating, acquiring or creating non-financial companies and services within their own structure ^[9]. Large technology and telecommunications corporations, on the contrary, create or acquire and integrate banks into their structures to join them to their digital ecosystems. There are many such examples: the company "Mail.ru Group" (VK Group) began to cooperate with "Sber" within its ecosystem, the large telecommunications corporation "MTS" created its own bank "MTS-BANK", the telecommunications company Megafon has MegafonBank, the marketplace "Wildberries" acquired the bank "Standard-Credit" and renamed it to Wildberry's Bank, the Ozon marketplace acquired Oney Bank and renamed it Ozon Bank, and Yandex bought Acropolis Bank and renamed it Yandex Bank ^[4]. Analyzing the digital ecosystems formed on the basis of credit institutions , it is worth noting the following

According to the authors, three companies can be called full-fledged or universal digital ecosystems forming on the basis of technology companies in Russia: Yandex technology companies and "Mail.ru Group" (VK Group), a telecommunications company "MTS". However, it is worth noting that such major players in the field of e-commerce as Ozon and Wildberries, and telecommunications companies Megafon and Beeline may also announce the formation of digital ecosystems on their basis in the medium and long term, since today they have everything necessary for this, both technological and other practical possibilities.

Analysis of the development of digital ecosystems based on Yandex, VK Group and MTS.

Further, for a deeper understanding of the situation on the Russian market and the practical architecture of Russian digital ecosystems based on technology and telecommunications companies, the authors consider it necessary to analyze the activities of such major Russian digital ecosystems as Yandex, VK Group and MTS. Figure 1 shows a part of the services of the digital ecosystems of Yandex, VK Group and MTS in four main directions, which confirms the universality of these digital ecosystems.

Fig.1. The main directions of digital ecosystems based on technological and telecommunication companies.

Source: compiled by the authors on the basis of data from the companies represented.

*The figure shows only a part of ecosystem services.

Yandex was founded in 1998 and initially operated as a classic Internet search engine. Further, for many years, Yandex's activities were built around media products and services, and the main monetization was achieved through contextual advertising tools. Since 2010, the company's strategy has been aimed at developing a wide range of online and offline products and services, and since 2017, Yandex has announced the formation and development of a digital ecosystem. One of the advantages of Yandex is a single flexible developed technological infrastructure: when launching the next service, all the technologies available in the company, as well as other components of the ecosystem (brand, back office, advertising network) are at the disposal of this internal service. Today, Yandex is the largest technology company in Russia. The Yandex digital ecosystem has more than 90 different proprietary services in four main areas identified by the author of this work, a significant part is represented within its own structure, and there are also partner services, joint services with partner companies and other digital ecosystems. Figure 2 shows a map of the main services of the Yandex digital ecosystem.

Figure 2. Map of Yandex ecosystem services.

Source: compiled by the author on the basis of Yandex operational reporting.

As can be seen from the service map in Figure 2, the Yandex digital ecosystem has a wide and very dynamic range of services, which is being actively supplemented with new products and services. It is worth noting that the Yandex search engine has been the largest in Russia for a long time and occupies an overwhelming market share, being the core of the digital ecosystem, for 2020 and 2021, this market share was 59.2% and 59.8%, respectively. According to the company's own reports, all services can be divided into five major areas: search and portal, taxi (MLU), Yandex.Market, media services and other business units and initiatives.

According to the reports, the total revenue of the Yandex group of companies in 2021 amounted to 356.2 billion rubles, in 2020 this figure was 231.2 billion rubles, the annual growth was 54%, respectively. The company's revenue from the search and portal direction in 2021 amounted to 165.2 billion rubles, which is 32% more than in 2020, revenue from the media services direction amounted to 18.4 billion rubles and became the fastest growing direction with an increase of 136% year-on-year, revenue from the taxi direction amounted to 131.6 billion rubles and became the second largest direction with the indicator is 94% year-on-year.

One of the first Yandex financial services was the Yandex electronic payment service, created in 2002 in partnership with the St. Petersburg company PayCash.Money, at this stage, PayCash provided a technology platform for a joint project. In 2007, Yandex bought out the entire stake in the Yandex service.Money. Since 2012, Yandex.Money became a joint service of Yandex and Sber, and in 2020 it was completely bought out by Sber and renamed YUMOPEU. Since 2015, the Yandex service.Money (YUMOPEU) supports transfers from a wallet to the Western Union system, and since 2017 - Unistream. The service also issues virtual and physical plastic Visa and MasterCard cards. Since the beginning of 2020, the service has been connected to the Fast Payment System (SPB). According to a study by MediaScope and the analytical center NAFI service Yandex.Money (YUMOPEU) in 2016-2020 was the most popular electronic money service and the third most popular electronic payment tool after Sberbank.Online and bank cards ^[22]. At the end of 2020 in the Yandex service.Money (YUMOPEU) has registered more than 60 million wallets.

After the sale of the share in the Yandex service.I will save money (Humopeu), Yandex has become faced with the need to build new own financial services. To do this, in September 2020, Yandex began negotiations on the acquisition of Tinkoff Bank, but these negotiations ended without results. In 2021, Yandex acquired Acropolis Bank, renamed Yandex.Bank in the same year for 1.1 billion rubles. In addition to the small infrastructure of the bank, Yandex received all licenses, including the universal banking license of the bank. In the same year, Yandex created the Yandex.Pay electronic payment service. According to the company's strategy, Yandex.Bank should become the basis for the development of the company's fintech direction and other financial and credit products and services. According to the authors, at the initial stages, financial services and products will primarily be related to the payment direction, for example, Yandex will focus on creating and issuing its own payment cards, which will allow consumers not only to make payments via debit cards, but also to accumulate various bonuses and have certain privileges when using other services of the digital ecosystem Yandex. Further, taking into account the presence of Yandex services such as Yandex.Market and Auto.<url>, the company will launch its own lending to consumers in these and other services. The main advantage of Yandex is the presence of a large audience, significant data about it and the demand for financial services from this audience. However, it is worth considering such a moment as the presence of a qualified team and expertise in the field of finance, which Yandex does not have today.

The second largest technology company in Russia can be called, founded in 1998, Mail.ru Group, renamed VK Group in 2021. Since its foundation, the company has systematically developed various areas of activity both within its structure and by acquiring various companies and services. Starting from 2016-2017 . Mail.RU Group (VK Group) It is also actively developing the digital ecosystem and today the digital ecosystem is represented by more than 50 different proprietary services in four directions defined by the author. Figure 3 shows a map of the main services of the digital ecosystem Mail.RU Group (VK Group).

Figure 3. Map of ecosystem services Mail.RU Group (VK Group).

Source: compiled by the author based on the operational reporting of VK Group

According to the operating statements of the group of companies itself Mail.RU Group (VK Group) all services of the digital ecosystem can be divided into four main areas, which include the following: social networks and communication services, gaming services, educational technologies and the direction of new initiatives. VK Group also has two large joint ventures: JV O2O Holding together with Beber (VK Group and Beber have equal shares of 45%) and JV Aliexpress Russia together with Megafon, Alibaba Group and RDIF, where VK Group's share is 15%.

According to the statements of VK Group, the company's total segment revenue for the fourth quarter of 2021 increased by 12.4% compared to the same period last year to 37,053 million rubles.. The company's total segment revenue for the whole of 2021 increased by 18.2% year-on-year and amounted to 125,752 million rubles^[1].

VK Group has its own payment system VK Pay, created in 2018. In October 2020, VK Pay was connected to the SBP (Fast Payment System) and launched an installment sale product. In March 2021, VK Pay launched a virtual card and an additional bonus program. In June 2021, VTB became VK Pay's partner bank. As of the end of December 2021, the number of VK Pay service users amounted to more than 20 million people. During the whole of 2021, more than 700 million purchases were made using VK Pay, a significant part of which was carried out in installments. In annual terms, the number of installment purchases increased 3.5 times, and the average purchase receipt doubled. It is worth noting that in addition to cooperation with Sber within the framework of O2O Holding, VK Group also cooperates in many financial projects. According to the authors, taking into account the partner vector of development of the VK Group digital ecosystem, the probability of further development of financial services in the short term within the framework of partnership with traditional market participants, which are Sberbank and VTB, is quite high. However, it is also worth considering the fact that financial services themselves are the most important services within the digital ecosystem and the need for high flexibility in their functioning will be a key factor in the medium and long term to fully develop financial services within its own structure by either acquiring directly banking and other licenses or acquiring an existing credit institution with licenses, the existing practice on the market.

The largest Russian telecommunications company is MTS, established in 1993. Over the past ten years, MTS has been systematically increasing various digital services. In 2019, MTS announced the CLV 2.0 (Customer Lifetime Value 2.0) strategy, the formation of a digital ecosystem based on its telecommunications business with a set of products and services also outside telecommunications services. To date, the number of services of the MTS digital ecosystem exceeds 40 main services in four directions defined by the author. Figure 4 shows a map of the main services of the MTS digital ecosystem.

Figure 4. Map of MTS digital ecosystem services.

Source: compiled by the author on the basis of MTS operational reporting.

According to MTS reports, the MTS digital ecosystem can be represented in the form of four main areas: telecommunications services, fintech services, media services and a fairly new direction – cloud services ^[24]. The core of the digital ecosystem remains the main direction of telecommunications services.

According to the operating statements of MTS Group in 2021, the subscriber base in Russia amounted to 80.4 million users, which is 2.5% more than the same indicator in 2020. At the end of December 2021, the number of users of the My MTS application amounted to 25.1 million people, which is 5.4% or 1.3 million more than the indicator for the same date in 2020 At the end of In 2021, the number of pay-TV subscribers amounted to 8.4 million users, which is 27.2% or 1.8 million more than in 2020. The number of users of the OTT platform (Internet TV) at the end of 2021 amounted to almost 4 million users, which is 1.6 times more than on the same date in 2020.

MTS Group's consolidated revenue in 2021 increased by 7.9% compared to 2020 and amounted to 534.4 billion rubles. Revenue grew in all business areas, including telecommunications, fintech, media and the new direction of cloud services. In the fourth quarter of 2021, revenue increased by 7.5% compared to the fourth quarter of 2020 to RUB 143.7 billion. It is worth noting that 97% of the MTS Group's revenue is made up of business areas in Russia. The group's revenue structure can be presented in the following form: revenue from communication services, revenue from sales of goods, revenue from MTS Bank and other revenue. In 2021, revenue from communication services amounted to 416.5 billion rubles, which is 5.1% of the 2020 figure. Revenue from sales of goods amounted to 68.9 billion rubles, which is 10.2% more than in 2020. The highest figures were observed at MTS Bank, whose revenue growth for 2021 compared to 2020 was 37.2%, in absolute terms , reaching 47.2 billion rubles . Other services within the group brought in 6.3 billion rubles, which is 32.8% more than in 2020. The number of offline points of sale of the MTS digital ecosystem at the end of 2021 amounted to 5,636 salons, which is 392 salons or 7.4% more than in 2020.

A separate place in the digital ecosystem is occupied by the fintech direction, which is primarily represented by MTS Bank. In February 2012, OJSC Moscow Bank for Reconstruction and Development, owned by AFK Sistema, announced a name change to MTS Bank PJSC, and in October of the same year MTS PJSC announced the purchase of a 25% share of the authorized capital in MTS Bank PJSC. At that moment, active interaction between the bank and the telecom operator began within the framework of the development of banking and other financial services on mobile devices and in MTS retail service points. In July 2018, MTS PJSC increased its share in the authorized capital of MTS Bank PJSC to 55.2%, and by the end of 2019 to 99.7%, which is explained by the need to achieve greater synergy between the structural divisions and areas of the MTS digital ecosystem. It is also worth noting that in September 2017 MTS acquired 30% of the authorized capital of LLC UK Sistema Capital for the provision of investment services, and in October of the same year 50.8% in the authorized capital of LLC Cloud Retail, which owns the LiteBox trademark, providing solutions for servicing corporate clients in the provision of cloud cash registers.

According to the MTS Group's operating statements, at the end of 2021, the number of MTS Bank customers amounted to 3 million people. The monthly number of active users of the MTS Bank application has reached 1.8 million people, and more than half of MTS Bank's customers use other services of the MTS digital ecosystem.

MTS initially independently developed the fintech direction, first within the framework of a partnership, and then completely buying out a stake in MTS Bank. And the financial direction of the business is still a key direction today, which in turn shows high growth rates.

It is worth noting that the most important services and products of digital ecosystems are not individual services that meet the needs in four main areas, but so–called ecosystem services (tools) - unified solutions for authorization and registration. The companies analyzed in this article are: Yandex ID, VK ID and MTS ID, as well as subscription tools for ecosystem services: Yandex Plus, VK Combo and MTS Premium.

Fig.5. The number of subscribers of Yandex.Plus, MTS Premium, VK Combo services.

Source: compiled by the authors based on data from the analytical agency Frank.RG.

According to the data of the analytical agency Frank.RG Yandex Plus, VK Combo and MTS Premium are among the top three in terms of the number of subscriptions.  It follows from the agency's report "Rating of subscription services in Russia 2022" that at the moment more than 20 million people use subscription services in Russia and an average of one and a half subscriptions per user ^[25]. Yandex Plus has the most subscribers — 10 million, MTS Premium - 7.4 million, VK Combo — 4.5 million and Sber — 4 million.. According to Figure 5, over the past 3 years, each of the services has shown an annual almost twofold increase in subscribers. According to a study by the Frank agency.RG, by the end of 2023, the growth of subscriptions will increase by 30-40%, and by 2030 their number may reach 50 million users.

Conclusion

According to the analysis, it can be concluded that the largest technology and telecommunications companies are actively expanding the number of services, products and services in almost all spheres of human activity. At the same time, it is worth noting that when creating and acquiring new services, products and services, digital ecosystems based on technology and telecommunications companies actively use their already formed business architecture. In addition, by providing a whole range of products and services by digital ecosystems, in particular due to a high level of digitalization and the use of seamless digital integration, there is a synergy effect and economies of scale, which allows you to provide products and services for fewer operational interactions and costs. The most important products (tools) of digital ecosystems are unified solutions for authorization and registration: Yandex ID, VK ID and MTS ID. As well as subscription tools for all or certain ecosystem services: Yandex Plus, VK Combo and MTS Premium.

Financial services provided by telecommunications and technology companies in the Russian scientific doctrine are given only occasional attention. However, according to the authors, financial services of digital ecosystems can play both a complementary function and be the most important services of the ecosystem. Within the framework of the studied digital ecosystems formed on the basis of technological and telecommunication companies, the authors came to the conclusion that in the Russian model of digital ecosystems, to a large extent, financial services of digital ecosystems play an important role. This is primarily due to the fact that, on the one hand, financial products and services are of great importance to consumers, and on the other hand, a large audience of digital ecosystems needs these financial services, respectively, meeting the financial needs of customers within digital ecosystems is both an economic necessity and an additional channel for attracting and retaining consumers, and an additional channel for revenue and profit.

Thus, it can be concluded that the most important goal of technological and telecommunications companies in Russia that form ecosystems is to develop a customer-centric approach to attract consumers through various services, keep them within the products and services of this digital ecosystem and increase the duration of the consumer's stay in the ecosystem by focusing on his needs, increasing his loyalty and providing him with favorable conditions when using a range of products and services.

*The main indicators are presented in accordance with the company's aggregate segment financial data and differ from the IFRS reporting.