Custom software development is a complex process that you’d like to hand over to the most reliable specialists. To work with the people who you can see and talk to is much easier and probably seems like the best option. But this is far from being so easy. 

Outsource development often becomes the best option for companies that need to optimize their expenses at software development without losing the quality of an end-product. So, many would seek offshore specialists for custom software development from the countries that are known for raising professionals.

One of such countries is Ukraine. This is the country that is a birthplace for startups like Grammarly, education platforms Preply and Prometheus, Petcube that keeps track of the home pets; and many other IT-products. So, it is clear; Ukraine is a home for a lot of technical specialists that are capable of great deeds. 

But what is it about Ukrainian developers that makes them so different? Let’s discuss it right now!

The advantages of custom software development in Ukraine 

Kearney GCLI has put the Ukrainian software development services in 20th place in the Global Services Location Rating. This is already a quality indicator, don’t you think? Ukrainian IT-specialists managed to outperform Latvia, Poland, Czech Republic, France, Canada, and many others who were seen as market leaders before.  

It’s important to note that 3 Ukrainian companies have places in GoodFirms top-100 rating, and one of them has even made it to the top-10 by taking 7th place.  

What do you also need to know about Ukraine as a place for offshore custom software development?

Rapid growth in technology

We’re not joking. Ukraine has 1st place in the Science & Technology segment according to the Good Country Index. The impact Ukraine has made into the world of technology is easy to evaluate according to the International Trade Center that claims Ukraine to be one of the top-25 intellectual products exporters. 70% of this export we’re talking about is information technologies. 

And to even more recent events, on November 13th, 2020, Ukraine has become one of the 9 countries that signed a contract with NASA on the Artemidis program. 

The education in IT

One of the strongest areas in Ukraine's education is in the field of information technology. The thing is that everyone who wants or needs a degree can get an education here, and the most talented students study for free at the expense of the state. Every year about 36 thousand technical specialists graduate from Ukrainian universities.

The quality of the development  

And for dessert, here goes the ranking of developers in European countries by SkillValue. 

Ukraine is one of the most popular countries for outsourcing, even for such giants as Oracle, Github, and others. Yes, software development in Ukraine is what Github partially used to create their minimal viable product. 

People ordering software here are 91% satisfied with the services of local specialists, which puts Ukraine IT-services in 8th place out of all the Eastern European countries. This is our proof of quality. Famous giants would not seek development from unreliable countries for outsourcing.

The cost of development in Ukraine 

Pay attention to the average cost of projects on the Clutch rating. You most likely will see there a price tag of $25,000 for a complete project with a great number of hours spent on development. On average, Ukrainian developers work for $25-50 per hour. The reason for this pricing is not that the skill level of specialists is lower than in other countries, but rather it lies in the lower average cost of living in this country. 

Typically, the cost of development is formed depending on the city in which the development company is based. So, for example, the development in the IT-center of Ukraine - Lviv, and Kyiv - will be more expensive than development in the peripheral cities such as Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi, etc. 

The level of English  

You have probably heard about patriotic Europeans with everything written only in their native language. But nevertheless, despite the overall rather low percentage of language skills among the whole population in Ukraine, specialists in the IT-sector really do know English very well. They have accepted English verbal puns as a market has accepted Artificial Intelligence - quickly, easily, and with pleasure. 

According to a study by the Ukrainian local news resource Ain.ua, about 75% of technical specialists have advanced English. 

The time Magic

Magic indeed. Just think about it: while you're having your healthy 8-hour nap, the employees of the development company start an 8-hour workday. The time difference between Ukraine and the United States builds a well-established pattern of work that has been working successfully for a long time. When the office morning starts for you, you already have a job to check out, give feedback, and keep the workflow going at an uninterrupted pace. And the reliability of most Ukrainian developers allows you to keep a comfortable rhythm throughout the entire project development process.

This is more convenient than the time difference with India, because it gives just enough time to perform tasks and discuss feedback, and the working shift starts shortly after. Ukraine and the U.S. have a time difference of -7 hours (Washington), while the U.S. and India have -10 hours. 

The same applies to the time difference between the U.S. and China - here it is about thirteen hours, which becomes too much, especially for work on small/urgent projects.

A reliable development company will contact you even after working hours to clarify and resolve issues. This is the Ukrainian mentality; always try to help and meet the needs of another person.

The commitment of Ukrainian development companies to each project

Here's an interesting fact: the minimum viable product of Slack was partially developed in Ukraine. And it worked! 

Of course, it's all about professionalism, but the involvement of IT specialists also played a role. 

Here are the factors we see as those that determined the evolution of Ukrainian IT (data gave by DOU.ua): 

  • young community: 63% of employees in this area are from 21 to 30 years old; 
  • evolution: Ukrainian IT specialists (about 30%) have up to 5 years of experience. At the same time, the majority of IT-specialists are on the middle level (36%), which is an indicator of rapid professional growth of each of them.; 
  • love for your work: 78% (!) of developers in Ukraine chose this field because of their interest in technology. 63% of developers love to work on interesting tasks most of all, and 47% of all IT-specialists answer "would work further, but maybe a little less" on the question "what would you do if you didn't need to earn anymore?"; 
  • dedication: 52% of employees in IT work 40-60 hours a week. The same 52% mark this work as interesting for themselves. But sadly, 31% of developers suffer from workaholism. 

These factors are what make the Ukrainian developers so engaged, and this, in turn, is what makes their work so quality assured. Engagement means that if needed, they are ready to help and advise the best solution for your project.

If you pay attention to the ratings of Ukrainian companies on GoodFirms, Clutch, Extract, it will be very easy to notice that their scores do not fall below 4 out of 5. 

Here are a couple of reviews on one Ukrainian software development company.

While it is difficult to provide any measurable outcomes, the stakeholders believe that MassMedia Group was successful in achieving their goals. The team carried themselves like professionals and were highly-responsive and communicative throughout the project. We had a number of iterations, as the product is constantly in the development and improvement process. Initially, we had several kick-offs, and we have provided our scope and technical description of what is needed. The first version was developed and launched in production within several months, and since then we have monthly deliveries of new features, improvements, and updates, which expand the scope. The system is web-based, so PHP and SQL are key technologies there, along with some side-modules that allow integrations with external service providers, such as call center software, credit bureau, payment systems, etc.

 

  • CEO, CreditExpert Georgia LLC

 

Despite the difficulties that the development team may face, Ukrainian specialists are ready to achieve their goals. Most people working in IT are the people who love what they do, and Ukrainians are people who love a good challenge by their nature. So, the quality of their work is obvious. 

The team consistently is able to share their expertise and input with the client in order to make difficult project decisions. They organized the project into three distinctive phases to keep all parties on track toward completion. Their ability to comprehend company operations added value. The project has been to look at all the data we have available and create a template for how we can use it for our customers. We have collected all relevant data from closed and open records and pass on credit information to our customers for both national and international conditions in the business.

 

  • Chairman of the Board, MyScore AS

 

As we have said before, Ukrainian education and expertise are what helps this country outperform others. The expertise of these specialists is confirmed both by reviews and by the amount of influence the country and its technical experts have on the world. 

We wrote this article no to convince you to buy software in Ukraine, nor to talk you into cooperation with Ukrainian companies. And no, we didn't want to prove to you that Ukraine is the best country for outsourcing. 

The goal of all this was quite different. We just wanted to tell you that this place was just made for IT.

And if in the end, you have thoughts about custom software development in Ukraine (or, who knows, even about opening a department here) - it's nothing but a coincidence :)

Author's Bio: 

Andrii is a content manager at MassMedia Group software development company. He is an expert at business running processes and methodologies, software solutions and is in charge of most crazy creative ideas concerning the content and targeted marketing.