With more and more Russian-speaking clients, we set out to learn what people are saying about Compare Suite on Russian sites, what users think of the program, and what the program is being used for. We found a number of interesting facts to share.
Russian users prefer the Professional version
Compare Suite is available in both Standard and Professional versions. But Russian-speaking users almost never buy the cheaper Standard version, instead immediately going for Professional. This is a normal state of affairs for corporate users but a pleasant surprise on the part of home users. The explanation, of course, is that these “home” users are in fact very technically sophisticated.
Many speak English but prefer software in their native language
A simple web search shows how popular the program has become in the last few years on the Russian-speaking market. While it certainly helps that the program has been constantly upgraded and refined – users always appreciate this – the crucial fact is that the program was expertly localized into Russian. Note “localized”, not merely “translated”: such a well-written localization would not have been possible without the team at Alconost.com, which helps our company both with European languages and with such exotic languages as Chinese and Arabic.
Don’t fall for fakes
Some versions of the program, unfortunately, have been found on torrents. We say “unfortunately” because users then are forced to use old versions of the program that lack the new features and fixes added in recent years. Anti-virus software often displays alerts regarding these torrented copies as well. The good news is that, sooner or later, devotees of the program switch to a paid version of the program and use the program as it was meant to be used.
Russian customers are sophisticated
Compare Suite has been the subject of both serious publications, such as ComputerPress and 3DNews, and ordinary users who write on forums to ask “what is a good program to compare two Excel files”.
We were impressed that compared to Western users, the Russian audience is quicker to grasp the product’s importance and features: kakprosto.ru, for example, lists Compare Suite as a simple solution for comparing files.
Another example: in the article mentioned above on 3DNews, methods for comparing files are discussed and Compare Suite is, unsurprisingly, noted as the easiest to use multifunction solution.
A tutorial at teachvideo.ru calls the program interface “easy to use” and “uncluttered”. Considering all of the functionality packed into the program, we have to consider this the highest possible praise for our interface designers.
Separate thanks is due to bloggers who have written about Compare Suite. Gregory Liokumovich from St. Petersburg, for example, posted a short review of the program with practical information. It is always a joy to read such reviews and find probing technical analysis of the program and how to use it.
Growth in the corporate sector
Corporate clients are an increasingly large share of the Compare Suite user base. How do such companies as Rostelecom use Compare Suite? There is no one-size-fits-all answer here, since companies approach their purchasing decisions differently than home users do.
What usually happens at large companies is that IT specialists recommend the programs that they are used to on their own home computers. Naturally, management takes its own look at the product’s intuitiveness and feature set as well – powerful tools such as Compare Suite are meant to be used both by technically minded users and by ordinary employees who need to compare documents for their everyday work.