First period. Elements of telework. Traditional means of telecommunications

Originally (in period ONE), Nicotech made software projects for its western clients (companies L+T and Consist, the Netherlands), and it communicated with their western counterparts by the traditional communication lines. The programs were developed in Moscow, on computers installed in Moscow office. The projects had to be well documented, very often in excess of the normal documentation level. This was especially valid for the initial documentation, which had to describe the project in all the details for the fear of the misunderstanding. The initial documentation for Nicotech and the designs made by Nicotech traveled by conventional means, namely by DHL post or by the fax. The source code of the programs also traveled (in both directions) in hard copies, on the diskettes and on the tapes. For everyday communications the parties used the long-distance calls.
Nicotech had their own work procedures, and only the end-date was adjusted to the other side. After the end-date, i.e. after the moment when the programs were sent to the western counterpart, the customer has its own schedule for the testing and acceptation. And it could very well be, that if the customer had any problems or questions in the testing phase, there was nobody in Nicotech who previously developed this part of the program, and who would be able to resolve the problem.
The parties had independent criteria for selecting the personnel, and independent programs for personnel development. Each party used its own calendar of holidays. Work in Moscow started at 8.30-9.00 hours (6.30-7.00 CET), so the parties had at maximum six hours for operational communications.
We see that in this period the telework in Nicotech was virtually non-existent. It was a plain offshore software development with only slight elements of the teleworking.

Period ONE lasted approximately 18 months, until the end of 1993, when low-speed Internet became available in Moscow.