The global trend of recent years has manifested that outsourcing software development is the most dependable way to boost the development process, focus on core business, reduce labor costs and preserve competitiveness in the software development market.
The statistics speak for itself:
- In 2019, the global outsourcing revenue reached $92.5 billion.
- Almost 54% of businesses cooperate with a third party to meet their client’s needs.
- 78% of respondents feel positive about their outsourcing experience.
- By 2020, the contract value of the IT outsourcing market is predicted to grow to over $409 billion.
- In 2020, 1.4 million computer specialists’ job openings are predicted to appear in the market. And as a result, universities will face difficulty to fill even 30% of talent.
Having faced the shortage of skilled and experienced software developers in familiar locations, businesses are forced to look for new software outsourcing destinations.
Eastern European software development has taken the game up a few levels during the last decade and now represents one of the best places to find programmers around the globe. Profound expertise, attractive salaries, and a big number of experienced and knowledgeable software developers in Eastern Europe allow the companies situated in the region to win multiple awards in the sphere and take top places in the outsourcing rates by country.
So what exactly makes Eastern Europe a top software development destination?
Time and location proximity that favors efficient custom software development
Productive cooperation with a development partner requires mutual feedback, constant updates, meetings, etc. A large difference in time zones can destabilize the partnership. It is highly inconvenient to follow the meetings schedule when one or both parties are forced to work at night or early in the morning. The countries in the region use mostly Central and Eastern European Time. If you’re located in Western Europe, the difference is almost nonexistent, ranging from 1 to 3 hours. For those residing on the West Coast of the US, the difference will be 10 hours max, which is manageable even within standard working time. East Coast companies face only 6-7 hour differences. For comparison, India is at least 10:30 hours ahead of the East Coast.
Furthermore, outsourcing software development often requires visits in person to strike a deal, meet the team, or see the finished product “in flesh”. This again is much simpler for people from Europe. For example, it would take about 3 hours to reach Lviv, Ukraine from London and an hour less if your starting point is in Berlin. US citizens are also fairly set up. A trip from New York’s JFK to Warsaw, Poland, will take 10 hours and 25 minutes. With a wide variety of direct or one-stop flights, there should be no problem to get to Eastern Europe any time of the year.
A large talent pool of software developers
Various reports provide a different number, but one can be stated confidently: there are over one million software developers in Eastern Europe. These are both renowned experts in the field and young specialists or university graduates.
The mixture of ages, skills, and mindsets makes Eastern business software development very dynamic and flexible in tackling new problems and tasks. Let’s look at the top countries in more detail:
Poland
Home to 254,000 software developers. Around 40% of the R&D centers in the regions are located in the country, turning it into a solid location to outsource software development. 15,000 people graduate from technical universities per year.
Ukraine
With over 160,000 IT software developers, Ukraine has one of the most rapidly developing tech sectors with software engineering being the core part of it. 38,000 graduates are ready to fill the vacant spaces each year. Universities invest in engineering faculties and STEM programs, while IT companies launch new programs every year to educate new high potential software developers.
If the trend lives, Ukraine is projected to surpass Poland in the number of quality software developers in a couple of years.
Romania
Over 30,00 people graduate from universities annually. Keeping in mind 118,000 of professional software developers, one can certainly put Romania at leading places in terms of how fast the IT workforce is growing there.
Czech Republic
Barely breaking through the 100,000 software developers milestone, Czech Republic is home to 7,000 tech university graduates annually. While outsourcing to the country is much cheaper than in the US or the UK, it is still on a higher pay grade than Ukraine or Romania, for example.
Western-oriented mindset
Capitalism and globalization have leveled the mentality of Eastern Europe with that of the West. Both managers and software developers share common corporate values and work with the end product in mind.
Digitalization is implemented across the company, increasing the value of transparency and openness. Clients from the US or Western Europe will feel from very little to no difference while communicating with the software developers in Eastern Europe.
While talking to Eastern European software developers, don’t expect blurry exaggerated promises. You will get questions, suggestions, alternative views — all to make the product better.
Eastern Europe has one of the most thriving IT ecosystems
While the region is home for many self-published products, the software outsourcing game is super strong as well. There are hundreds of companies that only provide the latter services and employ hundreds of thousands of skilled technicians.
Stable industry growth
Young economies leave enough space for innovation and software engineering takes its spot gladly. Here’s how the IT market is growing annually across the countries in Eastern Europe:
- Ukraine: 20% on average
- Romania: 15%.
- Poland: 8.6%
- Bulgaria: 11-13% revenue increase
The numbers across the region are high and promising. The companies have the funds to invest in better facilities, R&D efforts, personnel training, and more. The industry is blossoming and all the talent keeps developing in the best possible circumstances and environment.
Workshop, tech talks, events
The IT segment is consolidated around mutual partnership and regional development. Local IT clusters tackle issues and improve education alongside work efficiency. Software developers are constantly boosting their skills via courses and workshops, sharing their knowledge at tech talks, and more.
Large events are held to gain experience from some of the world’s best and share local breakthroughs with the public. Wolves Summit and IT Arena are the prime examples of how big and how professional the whole IT in Eastern Europe has become.
Governmental support
Governments in the region see big potential in IT and aid Eastern business software companies in developing the industry. Cities adopt digital development strategies to help the best software development companies with attracting high-profile clients and simplify the daily business routines for company owners.
High English proficiency
According to the English Proficiency Index, all countries from Eastern Europe maintain high positions concerning the level of spoken and written English there. The figures will naturally go higher in the IT industry and other technological spheres. Such proficiency in English destroys all mental barriers and allows clients to speak directly to any member of the team without the fear of misunderstanding.
This aspect also aids in better professional communication and learning capabilities. Local software developers feel no discomfort while traveling abroad for a conference or taking an advanced English online course, packed with terminology.
What should you consider when choosing a software engineering partner in one of the Eastern European countries?
Finding the right company for outsourcing is sometimes a tedious and lengthy process. Mainly due to the number of factors that the client must take into account:
- Cooperation model
Dedicated team, flexible full-scale development offshore, or anything else — the partnership model is pivotal for the success of the whole affair. It incorporates both everything the client expects from the cooperation (the ways to manage the team, set milestones, and get results) and everything the outsourcing company can or can’t offer in return.
For a more detailed explanation, check our guide for choosing the right cooperation model, it will fill some black spaces.
- Budget and requirements
A derivative of the cooperation model and expectations from the software engineering companies. Money can determine whether the client is ready to consider the whole of Eastern Europe or look for more cost-effective areas like Ukraine or Belarus.
The same goes for the requirements: the client should aim for the best execution of the plans and thus top-quality expertise in the field is required, which adds another layer of complexity to the search.
- Miscellaneous
Always wanted to visit Ukraine? Here’s an amazing chance to combine the pleasure with business. Whether it be the time zone, the frequency of direct flights to a certain location, or the previous partnerships the client may have had: it all contributes to the final success of the product. And therefore requires some thinking beforehand.
Why you shoud outsource software development in Eastern Europe with inVerita?
For years we’ve been representing the region in the global IT arena. Our case studies include success stories with business leaders from different parts of the world. Growing value for each individual client and employee, we build software solutions with multiple technologies and in various industries. Our dedicated software outsourcing teams have profound expertise in everything regarding development from apps to Clouds and DevOps services.
So if you’re currently considering cooperation with an outsourcing software development vendor, don’t hesitate to contact us to get more information about our partnership model.
