Oleksandr Fesak
CEO
How to hire a developer for startups in Ukraine
2022-05-09
When you run a startup, you definitely can't risk wasting your time or budget. Your specs have to be followed, and things need to go as planned. There is no room for pitfalls or failures. So it's only obvious that the choice of a software development company needs to be made with the utmost caution.
Fortunately, Ukraine is a reliable outsourcing destination for hiring software developers for startups. This article will give you an in-depth look into:
- Why you should hire Ukrainian developers
- How to hire software developers in Ukraine
Why is Ukraine a good fit for software development outsourcing?
There are countless reasons that make Ukraine one of the best places in the world to outsource your software development. Before I dig deeper into the details, here’s a short list of the top reasons for hiring Ukrainian developers:
- More dollar-for-dollar value - A Ukrainian software development agency can provide the same quality services you can expect from an EU- or US-based firm at a much lower rate.
- Intellectual property protection - Ukraine respects intellectual property rights across the globe. This means you won’t need to worry about your software development partner lifting proprietary code.
- Dedicated teams - Ukrainian developers are known for burning the midnight oil to meet strict deadlines. If you have a problem, rest assured that they will quickly solve it.
- Top-tier talent - Ukrainian software development and IT industry are exploding right now, and the market is packed with highly educated Ukrainian programmers ready to help you with the web and mobile development.
- Staggered time schedules (for US clients) - Ukrainian working hours take place while you’re fast asleep. So if you make a request past sunset, your development company could have it delivered by morning.
These are just a handful of reasons why you might want to outsource software development to a Ukrainian company. There are many more that I will address.
Engineering and Mentality in Ukraine
What is undeniably true about Ukrainian developers is their positive mindset and determination.
In fact, Ukrainians have earned a strong reputation as hard workers. It’s their tenacity that makes them well-suitable for custom software development positions. This is a role that requires them to constantly invent innovative digital solutions to stay one step ahead of their competition and become top software developers in Ukraine.
Resourcefulness
Ukrainians are also known for their passion and resourcefulness: two essential qualities you want to get when outsourcing software development. Meeting strict deadlines often takes a level of ingenuity that only comes from a truly dedicated service provider.
Responsible Teams
Another core trait associated with Ukrainians is their strong sense of responsibility. Software developers in Ukraine will treat your project as if it’s their own. They want to do their job right and will take any steps necessary to build world class software products that will make your project successful.
Communication and English proficiency
A major benefit of outsourcing software development to technology companies in Ukraine is that about 70% of Ukrainian developers have an intermediate to upper-intermediate level of English proficiency.
Strong communication is a key in project management, so it’s important to have a dedicated team with a firm grasp of English in your corner.
With such a high level of English proficiency, you won’t need to worry about miscommunications when dealing with software developers in Ukraine.
Ukraine is a hub for software development companies
From 2015 to 2017, the number of Ukrainian software developers grew from 74k to 166k. In 2020, it reached as many as 166k. Yearly, this number grows on average by 30k of new specialists, who are usually the graduates from Ukrainian tech universities.
With the largest number of C++ and Unity 3D developers and the second-largest number of JavaScript developers, it's no wonder why Ukraine is listed among "Top 10 Countries with the Best Software Developers in the World" (source: HackerRank). Yet, the variety of programming languages in this talent pool is much bigger.
Giants and global corporations like Microsoft, Samsung, and Oracle have already discovered the tech talent of Ukrainian developers and thus keep hiring them on an ongoing basis. In fact, companies of different sizes often feel lucky to have found a great development team for a long-term partnership at a fair cost.
IT market and development costs in Ukraine
The average rate of skilled software developers in Ukraine of middle-to-senior levels varies from $40 to $50 per hour, depending on the technology stack and technical expertise. Lower rates (e.g. $30 per hour) are relevant to mostly junior developers, they can be a part of an experienced software development team in a startup, but not to be its skeleton.
Potential risks when hiring a software development company for a startup
Below are some specific risks that startups might face when hiring software developers. These insights are based on real-life stories that the clients have shared with my team.
- Inappropriate or faulty tech decisions made by software developers, insufficient technical skills, low-quality of deliveries and quality assurance.
- Product performance issues. Delivered website or web application is either slow or unstable upon high traffic load.
- Security issues. The delivered product (or any of its components) comes with vulnerabilities like XSS or Insecure Deserialization.
- The delivered software is poorly usable and imbalanced/outdated in terms of UI/UX.
- The delivered software fails to meet expectations. Developers demonstrate a poor understanding of business goals, no respect for the mission, and are not committed to the idea of building a successful startup.
- Software developer doesn't meet the timeline or budget constraints.
The above-listed issues can be relevant to any country, and they are mostly caused by ineffective check-up of soft and hard skills.
The ways how EcDev Studio prevents the above problems can be read in my separate article.
How to hire a Ukrainian software developer for your startup?
As said above, Ukrainian software developers have earned an excellent reputation for providing quality and affordably priced services for their partners all over the world.
Yet, it does not necessarily mean that the hiring process is a 1-day job. Once you’re ready to hire Ukrainian software developers, these are the steps you should take when building relationships with the outsourcing companies and looking for the reliable candidate:
- Evaluate the local IT industry market.
- Analyze your potential vendor's portfolio.
- Check the reviews and compliances.
- Set up a call with the vendor and evaluate their soft skills.
- Evaluate the hard skills.
- Get involved in the engagement process.
- Agree on the estimation, delivery plan, and payments.
- Sign the contract and get your software development process started.
How Can EcDev Studio Help with Your Software Development?
We will provide you with a one-on-one consultation regarding your startup so we can understand what tech approach is the most suitable for your software projects. This will also be a decisive factor in planning your budget and time constraints. Our goal is to provide premium-quality custom software development services, and in-depth analysis is the first step in this process.
After we understand the scope of the project and all the planning processes are done, we assemble a team of dedicated developers who are perfectly qualified to build your product based on your software concepts and specifications. Rest assured that our engineers are highly vetted and deliver reliable, well-tested solutions.
Hiring a Ukrainian software developer: Final Thoughts
The choice of the right software development company is a crucial step toward bringing your software idea to life. You want your future product to thrive and bring value to your clients — not die on the vine. That's what we focus on when building our company values.
Software development is like rowing a boat with a team. Either everyone works together, or you’ll spin in circles and never reach your destination.
For your startup, you’ll need to pick capable performers who can deliver complex custom software development solutions so you can surpass your competitors. Working with software developers in Ukraine is a winning strategy, and that's what millions of success stories can prove.
If you’re looking for a software development firm you can trust, contact us for a free consultation.
Frequently asked questions
Speaking of web development outsourcing, Ukraine has become one of the most popular destinations in Europe. There are three reasons why: booming technology ecosystems, which are expected to reach US$8.5 billion of industry export volumes by 2025, a talent pool of more than 250,000 IT professionals, and strong tech education. Which is why, more and more companies, both startups and established corporations, have a growing need to find a dedicated development team from Ukraine.
Over the last five years, exports of IT outsourcing services in Ukraine have grown steadily: 29,3% in 2018, 31,4% in 2019, and 20,4% during the global pandemic in 2020.
From 2011 to 2022, the number of software companies in Ukraine grew from 1,050 to 5,200. Some of the top IT outsourcing companies in Ukraine have crossed the 10,000-employee threshold and keep growing even more.
Nearly 2,500 startups are based in Ukraine. Among them are Grammarly, Reface, Preply, Ajax, Jooble, DepositPhotos, GitLab, and PetCube.
In addition, in Ukraine, web developers provide a wide range of services including web & mobile app development, UI/UX design, quality assurance, and testing, dedicated team building, R&D services, IT consulting, big data, and analytics. Considering that in Ukraine web developers keep polishing their skills, mastering new technologies and also their number is growing so dramatically, we can predict even bigger increase in this trend.
Here is a list of trending directions in Ukrainian software outsourcing:
Big Data
Business enterprises are increasingly using data to make decisions and find solutions to improve their performance. This, consequently, increases their revenue and profit. Ukraine is one of the most attractive outsourcing destinations for the services such as Big Data.
IoT
Internet of Things has become one of the most popular tech directions in the world. Accordingly, it creates a huge development demand among both startups and established businesses. In Ukraine, dedicated developers are more and more often assigned to deal with complex IoT technologies.
AI/ML
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are getting more and more frequently used in a variety of industries, such as healthcare, transportation, finance, and advertising. Consequently, it creates an increased need for businesses who serve these industries with top-notch solutions to find a dedicated development team from Ukraine that can fill their technology gaps in building competitive AI/ML products.
AR/VR
Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality are popular adoptions for those businesses that want to stand out and offer better service to their customers. Such niches as education and training, construction and real estate, manufacturing, automotive and others are increasingly relying on these innovative solutions. In Ukraine, dedicated developers have a proven record of building competitive AR/VR tools that solve complex business challenges for the companies of different sizes.
Blockchain
In Ukraine, web developers are fully expertised and trained to design and develop complex solutions, based on blockchain technology. Businesses in such domains as finance, data security, logistics, etc, are deeply relying on the teams that can develop, integrate and deploy various blockchain solutions that can help them meet their corporate needs.
In Ukraine, dedicated developers help companies resolve complex technology challenges. They frequently serve as problem solvers as they tend to put a lot of research into the ways how to implement the most effective solutions. It results in the best outcomes for the clients and their end consumers. A trusted dedicated development team from Ukraine is capable of not just building a complex technology product based on the provided specifications, but also suggesting the most winning solution if you are still unsure about the best implementation scenario.
When it comes to the cost of web development outsourcing, Ukraine is one of the most attractive destinations. A development team in Ukraine can provide the same quality of deliveries that you can get from US-based or EU-based agencies, but at a much lower rate. If you want to hire Ukrainian developers for your project, the hourly rate of a senior web developer would vary from $40 to $80, depending on the technical expertise. Custom software development solutions, delivered by a full-stack development team in Ukraine, are meeting high quality benchmarks in terms of performance, security, and UI/UX.
Working with remote developers might be challenging at times. Finding a reliable software development company overseas might even take a few attempts. When dealing with some remote developers, it might be difficult to monitor their performance. Or in many cases, companies find it difficult to explain their requirements to them, because remote developers have poor communication skills. You might also notice that they are attempting to make poor deliveries because they do not have respect for your business or simply do not care a lot about your project success. In one of our recent articles, you can read more about the most common pitfalls of hiring remote developers and how to overcome them.
More and more international companies, both well-established enterprises and small startups, successfully manage to establish fruitful partnership with the teams of remote developers in Ukraine. A trusted dedicated software development team is capable of demonstrating excellent communication skills, problem-solving attitude and ability to deliver advanced software development services to meet specific project goals.
