Outsourcing Development to Ukraine – Expand Your Tech Horizons

IT outsourcing companies in Ukraine proved to be the perfect outsourcing destination. Based on Altamira extensive experience working as an outsourcing partner, in this article we have gathered valuable insights, helping the customer to take the right decision and trust software development to Ukrainian experts. Get acquainted with the overall country’s IT market overview, reasons why global leaders choose Ukraine, tips to avoid risks, and the checklist to choose the best team of developers.

Ukrainian IT cluster overview

For more than 20 years, Ukraine has been occupying the leading position on the global IT arena. Ukrainian developers rank 5th among the best software developers in the world with an average score index of 93.17%. Within Europe, Ukrainian software developers take 4th place (SkillValue’s 2019 Report).  According to the Ukrainian Tech Market Overview, despite the pandemic and economic situation, the Ukrainian IT sector is skyrocketing, and it is proved to be the third-largest exporting sector. The IT cluster in Ukraine has gained governmental support, being able to establish offshore development centers and supply the solutions to global leaders.

The National Bank of Ukraine presented the external sector statistics, which states that the IT services export surpassed the $5 billion turnover mark, which was almost 20% (USD 853 million) higher than the same figure of the previous year.

Demand exceeds the supply, and according to the DOU report, the number of open positions for software engineers has already exceeded the mark of 10 000 and continues to grow. The percentage of most sought-for open positions is the following:

With the increasing demand for software engineers and customers that outsource development to Ukraine, the salary rates have also grown. The main increase is traced when it comes to hiring senior specialists and leadership positions. However, those salaries are still lower than the average ones in the USA and EU. The average rates of specialists from IT outsourcing companies in Ukraine are the following:

The biggest Ukrainian IT hubs

The Ukrainian IT market is flourishing and expanding its impact to the country’s financial, cultural, and industrial aspects of life. IT outsourcing companies in Ukraine take active participation in turning the local initiatives and projects into reality with expert tech support. More than 20 Ukrainian cities have established stable IT clusters. The largest ones belong to Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, Odessa, Zaporizhia etc.

Most popular technologies and industries

Among the programming languages, the leading position belongs to JavaScript and more than 41% of developers are highly proficient with it. Java lags behind and experiences negative dynamics. Concerning frameworks and libraries in use, React.js, Node.js, and Angular.js are the top three in the popularity ranking .Net and Spring occupies the closest positions.

Most IT experts have Academic degree

The important factor which has a tremendous impact is the educational system. Thanks to educational opportunities, IT outsourcing companies in Ukraine receive thriving tech professionals with a university degree. Each year Ukraine gets 20 thousand technology graduates.

Ukraine ranks #1 among European countries for the number of tech graduates. Ukrainian universities provide 16,000 qualified IT specialists and 130,000 general engineering professionals every year.

Ukraine has over 150 higher educational institutions that enable young people to study information technology and computer science. Around 80% of Ukrainian Software engineers have a higher education degree, 6.8% have two degrees, and 2% hold the Sc.D degree.

According to the World Economic Forum, Ukraine is included into the list of top 10 countries globally by the number of engineering, manufacturing, and construction graduates, producing an annual total of 140,000 graduates.

Outsource development in Ukraine keeps a prominent position on the global IT market having created the best possible climate for the prosperous development of the IT cluster. Apart from that, Ukraine has solid governmental support, friendly legal regulations, freedom of activities, absence of third-party business interference as well as necessary Human Resources.

Get to know more about the IT market in Ukraine in our latest research!

Trends that are the most popular 

Among the technology trends that have gained tremendous popularity are Data science and AI-powered tools. Data science functions by sourcing, cleaning, and processing data to extract valuable data insights for analytical purposes and make your business more data-driven. Artificial Intelligence uses a combination of logic and decision trees. Machine Learning uses statistical instruments and connects Data science and AI, enabling you to extract insights and enhance your CRM and ERP.

Altamira on the homeland arena

Outsourcing development to Ukraine can compete on equal terms with software suppliers from all over the world. Altamira, a team of developers from Kyiv and Zaporizhia, has successfully proved it. We were established as a team of enthusiasts around a decade ago and became advanced outsourcing experts with cross-industry expertise. Many of our clients are great examples of companies that grew substantially digitizing their businesses with the solid support of advanced reliable tech partnerships.

• We have more than 100 highly-skilled members in our team capable of creating a top-notch web or mobile app from scratch. 
• Our uniqueness and value lie in the ability to put the client’s idea into reality with the highest speed, advanced cross-industry expertise, and best quality. 
• Transparency of all processes, efficient communication, and diligent dedicated approach to work allowed us to gain the trust of global market leaders. 
• Offering a wide range of services, our team can satisfy the requirements of the most scrupulous and demanding client by being reliable and expert.
• Passion, professionalism, and responsibility are our key drivers to successful project fulfillment and trust of our clients, who tend to return for further boosting of business processes operation.
• The core technologies Altamira employs include Data science as well as ML and AI. Thanks to extensive experience in the field, our experts have gained many clients’ trust by making their businesses data-driven and taking their CRM and ERP systems to the next level.

Reasons why market leaders choose outsourcing to Ukraine 

Ukraine is a country that lies at the crossroads of Europe and is the center of tech innovations. As stated above, Ukrainian IT experts have gained worldwide renovation due to their level of expertise in various industry domains, governmental support, and hard work. Efforts are always paid off and today, Ukraine occupies the leading position among the countries that provide outsourcing services in Eastern Europe. 

Ukraine encounters more than 100 R&D centers owned by or working with world-leading companies, including Google, Samsung, Siemens, and Huawei. Many of them have considerably increased the number of employees and expanded.

Let us take a deeper dive into the reasons why market leaders choose to outsource development to Ukraine:

1. A big number of advanced specialists with wide domain expertise, thus outsourcing development to Ukraine has acquired global expertise recognition, according to the Skillvalue report.
2. Flexible mind, out-of-the-box solutions, and natural talent combined with full dedication.
3. High English proficiency (over 85%) of developers.
4. A reasonable number of senior developers and skillful leaders.
5. The state supports and invests in the development of tech. According to the Beetroot report, the investment has reached $544 million.
6. Smooth processes, experience in outsourcing as the result of prolonged market presence.
7. High level of code security, quality, and excellent performance.
8. High price-quality ratio, minimal hidden costs.

Well-known startups that outsourced development to Ukraine:

The startup owned by entrepreneur from Kharkiv have raised$268 million, being on the top in the rank of investment in 2019.

Grammarly closed a $90 million round of funding the same year.

People.ai, the predictive sales startup, raised $60 million.

The Restream startup, founded in Vinnytsia and headquartered in Austin, USA, raised $50 million during the Series A round in 2020.

Reface raised $5.5M in 2020 and Looksery (had been acquired by Snap Inc. for $150M in 2015). 

At the 2017 Global Sourcing Association awards ceremony, Ukraine was nominated as the Offshoring Destination of the Year.

Tips to avoid major risks in outsourcing development to Ukraine

Over the recent years, more and more companies have been choosing Ukrainian company as outsourcing partner. And for sure, apart from benefits, risks are also present in choosing this outsourcing destination. However, in case you choose the outsourcing partner, you minimize the possible risks to zero by eliminating all the concerns.

1. Unstable political situation. Over the recent years, Ukraine has gone through tough times, experienced mass protests, aggressor invasions as well as governmental change. However, now the situation is stable, Ukraine supports Euro-integration, regulates the political issues, introduces reforms, and aims to support peace in Eastern Ukraine.
2. Economic concerns. Over the recent decade, the IT sector in Ukraine has grown by more than 500%. It gets governmental support, undergoes taxation, and is legally regulated. After entering the EU, Ukraine will equally enter the global market.
3. Gaps in Ukrainian legislation in terms of intellectual property and taxation. However, renowned companies that have gained customers, such as Altamira, always sign the non-disclosure agreement and respect the client privacy as well as intellectual property rights.
4. Less control over the core development processes due to the location and time-zone difference. Ukraine has a perfect location and suitable time zone, allowing to perfectly settle the communication and allowing the customer to control all the core processes.

Still, risks cannot completely disappear, but choosing a reliable software vendor can significantly reduce your concerns.

Delegating your software development to Altamira will save your time and resources. We are a credible outsourcing partner with 10+years of experience in the local and global market arena. We have a variety of successful cases and in-time and on-budget deployment, no matter the external circumstances.

The company exists officially, pays taxes, and sticks to state regulations. We have an office with the best conditions for employees and all the necessary infrastructure. We have successfully adapted to the restrictions caused by COVID 19 and that our flexibility, mobility, and ability to quickly adapt to changes. We always sign all the necessary documents with our clients thus, you can be 100% sure in all bureaucratic issues.

Checklist to gather the best team of developers

The main task of the entrepreneur or business owner is to gather the best team of specialists and smoothly organize the workflow. It will allow the team to effectively perform the tasks and feel comfortable in the working environment.

Checklist to gather the best team of developers: 

1. Choose the outsourcing destination.
2. Choose a reliable company. Access such information as the location of the company, number of employees, experience, and philosophy inside the team. 
3. Choose the company that has your industry expertise and successful cases.
4. Your partner should have extensive experience, well-tuned processes inside the team, and be able to make decisions that will expand your business potential and upgrade existing solutions.
5. Settle a consultation with a potential partner, to discuss the key issues and tech partner capabilities to settle on objectives, budgeting, and technologies.
6. Ensure security. Make sure the development process is transparent, smooth and the company guarantees code security and legacy compliance (ISO, PCI, HIPAA).
7. Utilization of the latest technology. Make sure the team is aware of the latest market trends and supply technology upgrading your solutions that will make them competitive on the market in terms of technologies and modern approach.
8. Team scalability. Make sure the team is scalable and can adapt to the project needs.
9. Ability to choose various cooperation models. You need to understand what kind of partner will do the necessary job the best with the optimal price-quality ratio.

You may choose the best from a variety of cooperation models:

Our real benefits, in comparison to competitors:

• Team scalability;
• Fast time to market;
• Signing the NDA agreement;
• Extensive domain knowledge and cross-industry expertise;
• Compliance with all the regulations, NDA policy;
• Agility;
• No hidden costs, reasonable and exact budget planning;
• Market research, evaluation of the competitors, and discovery phase allows uncovering the business needs and setting right project objectives;
• Polished collaboration skills inside of the team and 10+ years of experience being an outsourcing partner;
• Effective communication, smooth processes inside of the team, and transparency.

How to launch the developments process and control it at all stages

The development process is an indispensable part of all cooperation models. No matter if you want to build a new product or upgrade the existing one, starting with the initial concept is the way to go. From the initial stage to prototyping, several stages exist and some nuances should be taken into account to perfectly tune the process.

• The initial stage – Shaping the idea. The team formulates the concept based on the needs of the customer, budgeting, and market trends. At Altamira, we conduct a discovery phase to evaluate the editing market and decide on the best possible solution. While working on our ZempCenter project, the client had concerns about our understanding of the project’s specifics and abilities to put his ideas and needs in life fully. Through close cooperation and well-coordinated work, we met all client’s expectations in terms of the interface and the logic of the application.

• Product design/definition. Defining the specificities, based on business analysis, shaping the value proposition, clarifying the success metrics and KPIs. 

• MVP creation. After the market research, the team evaluates the risks, plans the development, and assigns the tasks, evaluating the product strategy based on feasibility. Then the coding starts. The final stage – the creation of the MVP. Altamira offers the ability to build MVP with the privilege features and test your idea in practice, evaluating the investment perspective. While working on the INCINQ project – dating app, our team has faced the challenge to have an effective match algorithm to find their match work precisely. The high amount of parameters and smart splitting allowed us to create a useful perfectly functioning tool to achieve remarkable results.

• Initial product design. The team gets initial feedback from stakeholders and revises all the nuances. Then you move to the validation stage.

• Validation and testing. Altamira ensures the best quality of product, starting the testing from the initial stages. Backend testing and front-end testing allow launching high-quality products. While working on the CTRL Golf project, Altamira experts faced the challenge of executing the debugging process, since the devices were prototypes and the defect source could be both device and application. However efficient cooperation with CTRL Golf team allowed to receive testing on their sensors and successfully solve the issue.

• Development and implementation of the product. Altamira offers full maintenance and support after the launch of the product.

Here is the table with the names of experts needed for a project comprising average Altamira rates:

Other bonuses you get while choosing Altamira 

• You may choose best possible form of cooperation (product development, dedicated team, outstaffing, MVP development, discovery and analysis stage, audit and consulting);
• Expert help from the team that has been outsourcing for more than 10 years and works as a perfectly tuned mechanism;
• Unique UX/UI designs;
• Best possible features design and implementation to enhance your product and make it competitive on the market;
• Testing starting from the initial stages of development;
• Regular code reviews and ensuring code security; 
• Agile pricing models;
• Absolute transparency, no hidden costs.

The successful projects we are most proud of

LEO is a web application project for a manufacturer of concrete materials for the construction industry. It is intended to provide full life-cycle tracking of every component of every project, reduce workload on employees, reduce human errors, and increase productivity. It creates short, middle, and long-range schedules to allow project managers:

• Report delivery dates and make decisions about priority
• Measure actual labor and materials against expected by project, department, and employee.
• Enforce quality assurance processes by requiring checklists and sign-offs on key tasks.

SOLJETS – unified ERP system for the jet brokerage services which is already in use by our happy client. Features:

• Advanced search;
• E-mail notification;
• Messaging system;
• Comparison tool;
• Unique design concept able to emphasize the exclusivity of the client’s business segment.

Aquiline Drones – Android and iOS native applications that allow you to order the delivery with the help of drones and track it until the package is received. Features:

• Geolocation;
• Ability to book orders with an extensive range of options;
• Choose a drone seeing the basic parameters like cost and available time;
• Ability to create a profile with personal information;
• Stylish and minimalist design.

To Sum Up

Ukraine diligently occupies the place within the top European countries that provide outsourcing services. Now is the best time to take the decision and trust your software development to Ukrainian development companies. Developers from Ukraine guarantee long-term and successful partnerships. Western partners can bargain for favorable contracting conditions and advanced tech expertise. Being aware of the main risks and knowing how to gather the full team of experts and launch a successful project.

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