Outsourcing Software Development to Ukraine: The Main Pros and Cons

Both large corporations and small companies resort to outsourcing. Nonetheless, when you have decided to entrust the software development to a team from another country, there are a lot of things to think about: What country is the most profitable in terms of cost? Where can you find decently skilled professionals? And many others.

Ukraine IT outsourcing started to become popular from the first decade of the 21 century, with the growth of IT companies in the world. By 2021, the country has received a fair amount of authority among many broadly known companies around the world.

Now, Ukraine is one of the best IT outsourcing destinations in Europe. There are more than 185,000 IT professionals and 1,600+ IT companies in Ukraine. Ukrainian developers have been recognized by such rankings as TopCoder and SkillValue. 

Want to find out why IT outsourcing to Ukraine may become your best business decision? Then don’t delay reading our article.

Why Do Many Companies Outsource Custom Software Development to Other Countries?

• Outsourcing allows saving money since the costs for the development differ by 3 – 4 times in different countries. This way, you can find a developer from another country with lower rates than similar professionals charge in your country. 

• You can save on the operational costs as you won’t have to rent an office for your team, pay for utilities, and buy hardware and software required for the development. When you use the outsourcing method, you are paying not for the development process, but for the ready product.

• Dedicating the task to the team of professionals, you can be sure of the quality of the product.  

• It takes a short time to hire a qualified professional. If you are not exactly sure that your team can accomplish the task, you will lose a lot of time and resources in the case of failure. Searching for a team of developers to delegate your project to won’t take more than a month. And these guys are ready to take responsibility for the quality of product and deadlines. 

• Outsourcing does not require your direct participation in the process. Of course, you can join the development team at any stage of the process if you wish so, but, if the team knows exactly what to do to satisfy your needs, there is no need to do so. And, while the developers work on your project, you may use that time to focus on the other aspects of your startup. 

• Searching for the in-house workers, you are limited by your city/region. The outsourcing allows you to choose the professionals from any country in the world.

• If your team is busy with another project, outsourcing may be the best option.

Pros of Ukraine Outsourcing: Why It’s An Attractive Idea? 

1. There are many highly qualified Ukraine developers

Ukraine has a large software engineering community. There are more than 76,000 highly qualified IT professionals that can be found only in Kyiv, not to talk about the whole country. Moreover, KyivPost has calculated that there will be a 23% increase in tech specialists in 2024. 

Ukrainian developers are skilled in the most sought-after programming languages such as Java, JavaScript, PHP, etc. So, you will surely find a pro in any programming language in Ukraine.

Of course, you most likely had an idea that the language barrier could be a problem, but don’t worry: the vast majority of Ukrainian tech specialists know English at an intermediate and upper-intermediate levels. 

2. Outsource software development to Ukraine is recognized on the global level

Ukrainian IT companies hold a place in various international tech-related rankings. For example, Ukraine takes 20th place in the Global Services Location Index by A.T. Kearney. 

In 2021, 11 Ukrainian companies were included on the list of top 100 Global Outsourcing companies, composed by International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP).  This association rates the companies based on such criteria as client’s reviews, certifications and awards, innovativeness, etc.

Ukraine is also frequently rated as #1 IT destination in Eastern Europe (by Outsourcing Journal, for example). 

The Ukrainian IT sphere keeps on strengthening its positions on the world stage and will probably attract even more attention in the future.

3. High level of tech education

Thousands of talented, skilled professionals graduate from the universities in Ukraine every year. The IT Ukraine Association reports about more than 20,000 tech students that graduate in Ukraine each year. There are more than 400 universities that provide education in the IT field in the country. Those universities frequently cooperate with local IT companies to ensure that their students are always aware of the latest technical trends. Many students take courses and participate in different programs at large tech companies and academies to obtain and improve their professional skills.  

4. One of the popular outsourcing destinations for global companies

What can inspire more than the fact that such companies as Microsoft, Huawei, Samsung, and Oracle outsource to Ukraine? The Ukrainian technology market offers innovative outsourcing services packages. The professionals from this country can handle everything from all-round apps and unique analytical solutions, and up to artificial intelligence and IoT platforms. 

Ukrainian outsourcing also stands out for dedicated work, focus on the client’s needs, and better-than-average end results.  

5. Impressive number of world-known startups 

Ukraine has a decent number of super-successful startups. Let’s take a look at some of them:

1. Grammarly is a cloud-based AI writing assistant that reviews spelling, grammar, punctuation, mistakes, etc. 

2. Attendify is a service that allows creating virtual events, and is one of the pioneers in SaaS-based event technologies.

3. Jooble is an international job search website that is used by millions of people in 71 countries every day.

4. Preply is an e-learning platform for learning languages that provides private online lessons with tutors.

5. Earth.ai is a service that uses AI to increase the efficiency of mineral exploration.

6. PetCube is a technology startup that designs and develops hardware and software products for pets.

7. YouTeam is a marketplace for building teams of remote engineers.

8. Mobalytics is a personal gaming assistant for enhancing the gaming performance. 

9. MacPaw is a development company that creates useful apps and services for Mac users.

10. Depositphotos is a royalty-free content marketplace.

As you can see, there are many successful Ukrainian startups. Thus, the engineers from this country are both experienced and creative, being able to develop products that appeal to both users and investors without just strictly following the requirements. That is why many beginner startupers prefer to outsource the development to Ukraine as it’s not just a cost-effective solution, but also a profitable partnership. 

6. A financially profitable deal 

For those who are serious about the cost efficiency, IT outsourcing to Ukraine may be the best solution. This European country is far from taking a leading position in the European economy. For Western companies, this means economical investment of money. According to Cleveroad, Ukrainian developers receive from $25 to $49 per hour which is almost 3x lower than the US engineer salaries. Nevertheless, as you can see from the previous paragraphs, a reasonable price doesn’t mean low quality.  

So, it’s fair to say that Ukraine software outsourcing has an excellent value for the money.

7. Convenient and trouble-free cooperation 

The Ukrainian government constantly works on creating efficient and convenient conditions for cooperation with Western partners. This means decreased taxation of overseas businesses and IT companies in the country. That is why you can get numerous benefits when entering the Ukrainian market. 

8. Great level of protection of intellectual property

Obviously, safety of intellectual property is crucial when it comes to software development. The majority of Ukrainian software development companies follow international security requirements (ISO, PSI, HIPAA, etc.) and spend a lot of time developing effective security strategies. You may get acquainted with the audit reports of the Ukrainian IT companies if you need proofs.

9. Common values and culture

It may seem insignificant at first, but, differences in worldview and culture can make cooperation harder. In practice, working with people who share your values and culture is much more convenient than working with people who don’t. Since Ukraine is a European country, it’s related to Western countries to a great degree. Thanks to that, you can easily and quickly understand your workers from Ukraine.

Cons of Outsourcing to Ukraine: What Are The Risks?

1. You will be limited in terms of control

When you hire a remote development team, it’s impossible to control what they do in their work hours for which you are paying them. Although daily status meetings can help you track the progress.   

2. Problems with time zones

When you hire a dedicated development team from another country to work for you remotely, time zones are an important thing to consider. It may be a problem to find workers who will agree to work overnight. Ukraine is 7 hours ahead of Washington, so your Ukrainian engineers will get to work a couple of hours before you leave the office. 

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there are much more pros than cons of outsourcing to Ukraine. The country has many talented developers and its IT industry grows very fast. The level of tech education in the country is high as well which inspires the reliability of Ukrainian software developers. The list of successful Ukrainian startups is impressive as well.

Outsourcing to Ukraine is a good way to save money on the software development without sacrificing the quality. Thus, it allows you to cut down the extra expenses which may save your startup in the future.