How to Hire a Software Development Team in Eastern Europe

Eastern European countries have been one of the most attractive IT outsourcing spots for the past 10 years. Many big tech companies such as Apple, IBM, Microsoft, and Google have opened their development centers in Belarus, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Poland, and other Eastern European countries. Apart from Tech Giants, SMEs from the US and EU also hire software developers from over 2,500 IT outsourcing companies in Eastern Europe.

What makes Eastern European IT outsourcing companies so attractive? The exceptional quality of IT services, diverse use of technologies and tools, development of effective and robust solutions for various industries, good command of the English language are only some benefits businesses can reap from Eastern European IT outsourcing companies.

In this article, you’ll find out why you need to outsource your software development to Eastern European countries and how to hire professional software development teams at reasonable costs.

Eastern Europe Software Development Market Overview

The Eastern European IT sector can boast of an extensive talent pool with more than 1.3 million developers. According to Clutch, the number of IT companies in this region exceeds 2,500.

A high number of IT companies in this sector is determined not only by rapid outsourcing market development but also by a solid foundation of STEM education standards laid in the Soviet period in Eastern European countries.

The most popular technical universities that educate highly qualified technicians and engineers are:

• The National Technical University of Ukraine
• Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics
• AGY University of Science and Technology in Poland
• University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest
• The Warwas University of Technology, and many others.

In the Ukraine, more than 16,000 technical specialists graduate every year. The graduates receive proper and extensive technical training and hands-on experience by the end of their studies.

QS World University Rankings states that there are 30 universities from the top European educational institutions in Eastern Europe, including Belarus, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Poland, and others.

Moreover, Big Tech companies have their own educational centers in Eastern European countries such as IBM training courses and programs, Cisco educational programs, and many others. They allow technical specialists to stay updated with the latest technologies and development approaches.

All these educational opportunities provide Eastern European countries with high-quality specialists who can compete in the international software development markets.

Benefits of IT Outsourcing to Eastern Europe

Eastern European countries offer a wide range of outsourcing services from software development to IT staff augmentation services. Here are the top 6 reasons why to choose this region over other outsourcing destinations around the globe.

1. Innovative Development

Software developers from Eastern European countries keep up with the latest innovations and technologies which they successfully implement in custom software development. For example, they actively utilize the latest technologies in the development of such software solutions like the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Augmented and Virtual Realities (AR/VR), Big Data analysis, and many others.

1. International Talent Pool

Software outsourcing companies in Eastern Europe have an extensive range of highly skilled specialists in the most popular software development spheres. It won’t be a problem to find experts who use the most effective, powerful, and latest development tools for custom mobile, web, or desktop development.

Moreover, if a business needs to develop any specific app or software, Eastern European IT outsourcing companies can provide them with narrowly focused specialists depending on the industry.

1. Lower Development Rates

The Eastern European region consists of economically developing countries. It means that the software development rates and other services will cost cheaper than in the most developed countries. At the same time, these countries have a strong educational background inherited from the past. As a result, customers get an attractive combination of expertise, quality, and price.

Above all, when a business outsources its software development or uses staff augmentation services, they exclude any extra costs they would need to pay for office rental, equipment, specialist hiring, and many other expenses.

1. Geographical Proximity

Many businesses from the EU when choosing a software development partner prefer having them nearby. Eastern European countries are just a 2-3 hours flight from any Western European country which makes this location a perfect choice for nearshore outsourcing. Moreover, traveling by any other means around Europe is quite convenient and it has well-developed public transport and roads.

1. High Level of English Proficiency

Eastern European software outsourcing companies pay much attention to the qualification standards of their employees. They encourage their developers to attend courses and software conferences. Though one aspect that they especially concentrate on is their employees’ English proficiency rates. For this, they organize English courses in the offices that IT workers can attend in their free time as well as establish rewarding systems for those employees who upgrade their English making it better and more fluent.

1. Cultural Fit

Eastern European modern culture is oriented towards European values and the locals have similar to Westerners’ mindset. Therefore, interaction with the outsourced teams and their customers isn’t impaired by any cultural peculiarities such as punctuality, conflict resolution, team management, and other issues.

Software Development in Eastern Europe: Top Countries to Outsource IT Projects

When choosing a software outsourcing company, businesses need to consider what part of their software development process they want to outsource, budget, talent pool, location of the company, and some other aspects.

Here are the best Eastern European countries to outsource software development.

Poland

• Number of IT professionals: 295,300+
• Number of IT companies: 1,300+
• Popular programming languages: Java, SQL, Python, C++
• Popular development areas: algorithms, tutorials, Shell
• Tech cities: Krakow, Wroclaw, Warsaw, Lodz

Poland is one of the fastest-growing economies in Eastern Europe. This country has a wide talent pool of software development experts with 8 developers per 1000 citizens. Poland’s revenue in the tech sector mainly comes from IT services, software distribution, and equipment sales. Its tech market is expected to reach $13 billion by 2023 with consistent growth of 50 – 10% per year. That’s why outsourcing software development to Poland seems a reasonable decision.

Poland services are highly popular in Western European companies as its developers have a good command of English, German, French, and Spanish languages.

Ukraine

• Number of IT professionals: 200,000+
• Number of IT companies: 5,000
• Popular programming languages: Ruby, Java, Python, PHP, .Net
• Popular development areas:  distributed systems and security development, FinTech, eCommerce, Enterprise development
• Tech cities: Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Lviv, Odessa

Ukraine is one of the Eastern European countries that often gets into the top charts among global IT outsourcing destinations.  Its government actively develops the IT-sphere by simplifying the legal system and financial regulations, making them easier to access for international businesses. According to Clutch, the main Ukrainian IT outsourcing companies work in eCommerce, Enterprise sector, and FinTech spheres.

Belarus

• Number of IT professionals: 55,700
• Number of IT companies: 1,500
• Popular programming languages: Java, .NET, PHP, C++, JavaScript
• Popular development areas: Custom software development, eCommerce, Banking&Finance.
• Tech cities: Minsk, Brest,  Vitebsk, Mogilev

The Belarussian IT sector is a relatively new entity. Though Belarussian IT outsourcing companies provide their services to customers from over 50 countries around the world. And the number of programmers is steadily rising with the density of 6 programmers per 1000 residents in the country.

Most Belarussian IT outsourcing clients make the US and Canada with 45% and Western European countries with 30%. Belarussian IT is largely aimed at outsourcing and IT outsourcing companies make 60.5% of the Belarussian IT sector.

Romania

• Number of IT professionals: 119,100
• Number of IT companies: 430+
• Popular programming languages: PHP, Java, JavaScript, .Net
• Popular development areas: Web development and FinTech
• Tech cities: Bucharest, Cluj Napoca, Timisoara, Brasov, Iasi, Sibiu

Romania’s IT market is one of the fastest-growing in the country. It’s expected that the IT sector in Romania will increase to 12% of the GDP in 2025 from the current 6% of the GDP. Being a member of the EU, Romania is one of the leading outsourcing markets in Europe mainly aimed at outsourcing services to the US and Europe. It was ranked the 28th in the 2019 Global Services Location Indel by A.T. Kearney, being labeled as an “outsourcing valley” by its international partners.

Czech Republic

• Number of IT professionals: 165,000
• Number of IT companies: 700+
• Popular programming languages: Java, Javascript, PHP
• Popular development areas: Web design and development
• Tech cities: Prague, Brno, Olomouc, Ostrava

Czech Republic is another EU member with a large tech capacity. High tech is one of the principal industries in the Czech Republic and its IT exports have reached $1.78 billion. It’s ranked 27th out of 82 countries with “overall technological readiness”. The country has a fast-growing tech talent pool with 7K tech graduates every year and 10 developers per 1000 citizens in density.

Conclusion

Eastern Europe is one of the most attractive destinations for outsourcing IT services. This region includes a number of countries considered the world leaders in outsourced software development and provision of other IT services. They offer their customers professional and innovative custom software development services.

Many US and EU businesses prefer Eastern European software development as they can significantly reduce the development costs and get a high-quality solution fitted with the latest technologies and developed by highly knowledgeable professionals.