BALKANSWORKS.CLOUD: GET READY FOR A QUANTUM LEAP

The future of information technologies looks bright, but also scary – the advance of AI and ML-driven solutions has now become mainstream, bringing imminent and fundamental changes to our lives, societies and businesses. In such conditions, visionary companies are aware that they need to have the right IT professionals at their side to ensure they thrive in this new world.

Enter Ivan Doudin, CEO of Balkansworks.cloud. He began his career as an IT engineer in Bulgaria long before it was cool, in 1991 – a time of political turbulence and technological upheaval. Over the next three decades, he pursued new challenges and opportunities in various international positions, and in 2018 he became Regional Director of Acronis, a leading cybersecurity company. In this position, he focused on expanding the company's presence in the Balkans and Turkey, and was directly responsible for sales and revenue in the region.

In 2024, Mr Doudin took another step forward – he became the CEO of the Bulgarian unit of cloud software distributor interworks.cloud, under the Balkansworks.cloud brand.

Interworks.cloud is a leading provider of value-added cloud solutions in Southeastern Europe – a leader in cloud innovation, known for its cutting-edge solutions, transparent partnerships and world-class support. The company delivers its hallmark customer experience by enabling thousands of businesses to adopt next-generation cloud technologies and maintains long-term partnerships with leading software vendors, including Microsoft, Acronis, Google, Dropsuite, ThreatDown by Malwarebytes, AnyDesk and many others.

Cloud solutions are no longer a novelty – but what makes this field still exciting for you and the professionals at Balkansworks?

I have to agree that cloud solutions are no longer an exotic buzzword taken from some visionary presentation – they have long become a part of our everyday life. Everything from smartphones to complex banking or industrial operations is based on cloud solutions. However, the cloud is not the same as it was a few years ago, every day something new is emerging, new solutions are being developed that will revolutionise the way we do business, and this is an ongoing process that is really exciting.

What are the current trends in the field that excite you the most?

If I say AI, it will probably not surprise you. Although AI has taken a significant leap forward in development recently, it is not something very new. AI has been with us for many years, now we just have access and the ability to talk to it and use it in a simple way.

Something that is going to be a real game changer and will affect us even more is the development of quantum computing. I have been following the research into quantum computing very closely over the last few years and I can tell you that the moment when we can use it on a large scale is just around the corner.

Why this is so important – the power of computers will increase immensely. For example, if today it takes years for designers and engineers to design a new aircraft, quantum computing will allow this to happen in months and all the necessary calculations will be done in a day.

Not a single field in human activities will be left unchanged – medicine, homes, green energy, new discoveries and anything else you can think of! Combined with AI, we could wake up to something very new every day and the quality of our lives and life itself could change very quickly and significantly.

However, it is very important who uses AI – the bad guys or the good guys. Regulations are urgently needed before it becomes accessible to everyone – with good or bad intentions.

How do you implement this in Balkansworks services and portfolio?

We are closely following the development of quantum computing and we are ready for the so-called post-quantum era, especially in security and software. We can now offer post-quantum cryptography, we can help our customers and partners to identify quantum-vulnerable systems and implement hybrid cryptographic solutions and dual-layer encryption, which combines traditional security with quantum-safe methods.

When quantum computing arrives, it will be too late, and companies and organisations that may be well protected and secure today may wake up in the near future completely exposed to threat and insecure.

What is the fundamental value that Balkansworks brings to its customers in Southeastern Europe?

We support our clients by adding value in several directions. Firstly, we provide our partners with expertise in the initial phase to design and offer the best solution to their customers. Very often the end customers know what problems they have and are looking for a way to solve them. But how? This is where we come in with the right, cost-effective solutions.

We also provide extensive training to our partners and try to keep them up to date with the latest developments.

Another area where we add value is our almost fanatical 24/7 technical support team. If something is broken and not working, we understand that our customer's business is at risk and our support engineers really do try to help 24/7! This is really critical to the reliable, continuous operation of cloud solutions!

In almost 35 years in IT, you have seen a lot of change. Now that AI and ML are transforming the field once again, what current trends are you following with particular interest and why? What is their potential to bring more change in the near future?

Well, I have already mentioned quantum computing, which I believe is the next revolutionary discovery in technology. Combined with the ever-improving AI, having such fantastic resources at our disposal, we are going to see huge changes in the world!

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