Why You Should Cooperate with Ukraine: Here’s Why Hiring IT Experts Makes Sense!

You may already know that Eastern Europe offers some of the best solutions proven by time. However, not all countries from this region are equally good in software development and IT in general.

Here you go again stuck with the vital decision: to hire IT experts for your project elsewhere or rely on your in-house team. You can solve this dilemma by having a look at your business goals and milestones, as well as analyzing the world’s outsourcing market in general. So, are you looking for the best IT countries to cooperate with in order to bring your product to life or simply provide it with worthy maintenance and post-support?

You may already know that Eastern Europe offers some of the best solutions proven by time. However, not all countries from this region are equally good in software development and IT in general. We can say with 100% confidence that Ukraine performs way better than its neighbors. For instance, did you know that the Ukrainian IT industry grows by about 26% year over year? This field expands its horizons in this country. In fact, it is known as the second-largest IT outsourcing market in CEE. You may learn more from this report. So, first, let’s have a look at some cases and facts that prove the competence of UA developers, and then briefly sum up why they might be the best fit for your project.

As you may know, Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer within the Volkswagen Group, specializing in the production of cars under the Audi brand. The market cap of this company is 90.30B. This giant can afford to spend plenty of money. However, out of all countries, possible partners, they’ve chosen Ukraine for their new Audi e-Tron Q4. This way, they have obtained a unique technology to impress their customers even further. That is head-up navigation on the windshield. Except for Audi, only two other vehicle brands have similar technology — Mercedes and VW (VW and Skoda). The system in the latest Audi helps drivers navigate the road in a completely new way and is technologically superior to the solutions in Mercedes and VW. Few people know that this system was developed in Ukraine.

This breakthrough for the Ukrainian market became possible thanks to Luxoft. That is one of the largest outsourcing companies in Ukraine. The local experts were involved in projects for car manufacturers. Today, software for the automotive industry is also designed by other Ukrainian outsourcers, such as GlobalLogic and TietoEVRY (Infopulse). They have actively participated in developing navigators, smart maps, various tools to prevent road accidents, and other features for the drivers and their passengers.

Another revolutionary company from Ukraine that has brought the entire automotive industry to a new level is Apostera. Its developers developed a completely new approach to road safety and navigation. These guys removed the need to be distracted from the road by having to look at the map. They promised that it would be enough to look through the windshield to find out how to get to the pharmacy, theatre, park, or else. There will be no need to count the ramps and/or compare the buildings.

The primary goal of Apostera is to design solutions that would make GPS navigation systems secure enough. Thus, they contribute a lot to road safety, preventing accidents. That is how the local development teams caught the eye of Audi. Here is what Apostera offered. Why create a digital copy of what we already see? Instead, on top of the real picture, you need to superimpose digital information that will tell you where to go, leveling the mental task of comparing two pictures. It takes less time, allowing the driver to stay focused on the road.

To conclude Apostera with its strategic R&D is on the market with a “hot” offer both today and in 3, 5, and more years. The market for heads-up displays is in its infancy, and it is predicted that this market will grow rapidly in the next 5–7 years for devices for automotive. The best thing is that this market was born in Ukraine thanks to the local software developers and tech talents. Yeah, we can really say so!

Sure thing, it does not always happen this way that native Ukrainian outsourcing and IT companies make wonders. Some of the companies from this category that are located in Ukraine actually have their head offices overseas. However, their main products and services are released in UA. Why? What are some of the examples? Find out below.

Global IT Companies That Have the Development Centers in Ukraine

Forbes along with AVentures Capital has prepared a list of well-known international companies that have large development offices in Ukraine. It means that they hire the local pools of IT talents as they know how they can benefit from the UA labor. The list includes Samsung, Wargaming, ABBYY, Magento, Yandex, and some other well-known world companies. Shouldn’t it be the best proof that hiring developers from Ukraine or even opening development centers here makes sense? Let’s quickly have a look at the most distinguished names from the list.

• Samsung. According to recent estimates, the company’s Ukrainian office is in the TOP-10 of the largest development companies in this country. In May of this year, Korean Samsung announced the expansion of a research center in Kyiv, as well as the opening of a center in Kharkiv. In 2013, the company used to invest about $63 million in both. Currently, the R&D center in Kyiv employs about 1.1 thousand people.
• Playtech. British Playtech creates software for virtual gambling; 150 specialists work for it in Ukraine.
• Yandex. This is the largest company of the Runet, and its revenue for the last year amounted to $947 million. The Ukrainian office of the company has been operating for seven years so far. It has 150 employees.
• ABBYY. The Ukrainian office of the Russian company ABBYY was launched back in 1995. It has more than 200 employees. The company is actively involved in initiatives against software piracy.
• Magento. Magento’s Ukrainian office has more than 250 developers. The company ranks 25th in the rating of the largest developers in Ukraine for August.
• Wargaming. Belarusian Wargaming, the publisher of the popular CIS MMO game World of Tanks, bought the Ukrainian company Persha Studia in 2011, and the Ukrainian company was working on World of Warplanes.
  

  Summary: Why Hiring IT Experts and Developers in Ukraine Makes Sense

  As you can see from the previous sections, Ukrainian tech organizations are run by entrepreneurs with a global mindset. They understand what consumers from different countries wish to see, taking into account all the cultural differences. According to such respectful sources as Outsourcing Journal, The Good Country Index, Gartner, Bloomberg, and Forbes, we have come up with the major reasons to pick Ukrainian IT specialists for your project.

Employment Сapabilities

There are some technical universities in every major city of Ukraine, and more and more young people are choosing tech majors. Everyone knows that Ukrainian IT professionals earn more than others, so applicants think about their future, and the competition for IT specialties only goes up.

There are no strict legal limitations or trade unions in UA. The local political instabilities do not affect the web and mobile development market by any means. This sector is gully immune to economic fluctuations as well. The local pool of IT talents is expanding all the time, making around 200,000 experts in this area available annually.

Convenient Time Zone

The time zone of Ukraine is GMT + 2. It is rather convenient for Europe as the working hours are the same. Even for companies from the US, Ukraine is the best choice compared to the time zones of Russia, India, or China.

Fast and Affordable Broadband Internet

In the rating of Internet speed, Ukraine occupies the 21st place in the world. For some reason, such ratings never include the fact that in any large Ukrainian city it is possible to connect to a 100-megabit connection in one day, and it costs no more than $5 per month!

No Threats of Natural Disasters

Ukraine is located on a plain, far from oceans, volcanoes, and other dangers. There is no chance of a tsunami, earthquake, tornado, or anything like that.

Acceptable Level of Business English

It is impossible to become a programmer without knowing English at least at the Intermediate level as documentation is written in English. So, Ukrainian developers know the language at a sufficient level to do their job well. Project managers, account managers, and team leaders can boast an even higher level of English, both spoken and written.

Every large outsourcing company in Ukraine has either full-time teachers or contact with the best language school in the city. IT professionals work on their English at least twice a week.

The largest share of the outsourcing market among the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, 16,000 IT graduates per year, pro-Western orientation, WTO membership, and the highest level of democracy among all post-Soviet non-EU countries — all this makes Ukraine an attractive country for transferring IT projects for outsourcing.
The country’s infrastructure is developing, government spending on education is high, and the number of qualified IT specialists is growing. The expertise can be proven by numerous global companies, and the list is far longer than in this post. We hope that this information will help you make the right decision when working on another IT project.