Do you know which country is in the top 10 of the best developers in the world and has one of the fastest-growing economies in Europe? That’s Poland!
Software development outsourcing to Poland: a market overview
According to Clutch, there were over 900 software development companies in Poland last year, which makes the country on the Vistula river one of the best IT outsourcing destinations for businesses from Western Europe and the US. Interestingly, the talent pool in Eastern Europe counts over 1 mln IT specialists and almost 30% of them are located in Poland. There is no surprise that more and more companies search for a reliable IT partner to support complex tech projects.
Why should you consider outsourcing software development to Poland?
Poland is primarily known for its vast talent pool of IT specialists. The country’s recognition is constantly growing thanks to a huge number of award-winning, highly-skilled developers and a solid and reliable service sector.
Apart from the highly educated and experienced IT specialists in innovative technologies, Poland competes on convenient time zones, affordable rates as well as agile, flexible, and communicative culture.
There is more to that: Polish economy has proven to be fairly resistant to economic crises and provides a business-friendly environment to investors. Well then, let’s get down to business, quite literally, and explore Poland’s greatest assets which make it a perfect outsourcing location.
Location: benefits of software outsourcing company in Poland
Poland is the European centre of nearshoring with a number of advantages.
Positioned right in the meeting point of Eastern and Western Europe, Poland ensures trouble-free collaboration. The GMT+1 time zone enables effective communication and allows engineers to quickly respond to challenges and meet clients both online and in person.
Speaking of the latter: with 15 international airports in Poland and an extended network of affordable flights, there are no problems with frequent contact. In fact, only in 2021, Polish airports handled more than 18 million foreign passengers (1). With this strategic location in Central Europe, you can travel to and from major European cities in just 1 up to 3 hours. Also, working days in Poland are mostly aligned with Western Europe schedules, so getting in touch is smooth and seamless.
Talent: trusted software developers in Poland
Poland is one of the largest academic hubs in the European Union.
Information Technology continues to be among the most popular fields of study, with almost 14,000 graduates (2) in the academic year 2020/2021 alone and more than 44,000 new IT students (3) in 2022. As a result, Poland has turned into a fully-fledged IT and technology outsourcing location.
What’s more, most developers speak fluent English. According to the 2021 Education First English Proficiency Index (4), Polish citizens are among world’s best speakers of English with 13th position (5), showing a very high level of proficiency, which is constantly improving.
As a “software development paradise”, Poland is 7th in the 2022 ranking of the World’s Best Developers (6), with a score of 55,07%, and 5th in Europe. Poland’s IT outsourcing community is is known for code quality (7) and advanced knowledge of cutting-edge technologies. According to the 2021 Global Skills Report (8), Poland is competitive in terms of business, technology, and data science skills. No wonder then that well-educated Polish IT specialists and scientists are highly sought-after and appreciated employees.
Business: process outsourcing to Eastern Europe
Poland is one of the most steadily growing European countries with a well-developed business environment.
Poland has the 6th biggest economy (9) in the European Union — its GDP doubled in the last 10 years (10). The country is steadily developing, welcoming more and more modern technologies in its infrastructure. As a member of the CEFTA, the EU, and the Schengen zone, Poland has become one of primary software development outsourcing destinations in Europe, with international trade made easier.
In the face of the recent economic crisis, Poland is recovering faster than the rest of Europe. In fact, according to the 2022 Doing Business in Poland Investor’s Guide (11) by the Polish Investment & Trade Agency, Poland remains a safe investment environment which has achieved stable economic growth
Additionally, Poland is recognised by the UN as a very highly developed country (12) due to its high Human Development Index (data for 2022). In the 2021 Global Innovation Index (13), Poland is 40th, with outstanding knowledge and technology outputs.
Culture and cultural differences
Poland enjoys a high level of connection and proximity to Western Europe.
Common ground and understanding are crucial factors that can make or break an outsourcing relationship. When it comes to culture, Poland is very close to other European countries (14), so the risk of facing a large cultural gap is next to none.
Polish professionals are comfortable with providing suggestions for improvements, ideas for a better solution or letting their partners know if there is a problem. They are also experienced in working efficiently in remote environments.
IT and business specialists in Poland have a strong work ethic (15), which makes them truly reliable IT partners. They definitely compete on the ease of communication and collaboration (16).
Cost-effectiveness of outsourcing to Polish software development company
Poland has competitive pricing and hourly rates.
Poland can be considered as one of the most cost-effective countries, since labour costs are lower than those for similar experts in Western Europe.
Recent statistics on non-wage costs in the European Union (17) show that hourly labour costs in Poland are still below the EU average.
When outsourcing to Poland, you are likely to have a good control over your budget. This is why a lot of companies from the US and Western Europe choose Poland over other countries: here, professionalism goes hand-in-hand with lower prices, offering a perfect price to quality ratio (18). As a result, you get the best value for money.
IT nearshoring to Poland: summary
Let’s take a look at more data to sum up the outsourcing strengths of Poland.
In the 2021 Kearney Global Services Location Index (19), Poland ranked as 14th as a high achiever in terms of its digital resonance, people skills and availability, and business environment. In fact, Poland saw an increase in its ranking (20) (compared to 2019), primarily due to its financial attractiveness. Also in 2021, the Tholons Global Innovation Index (21) of the Top 50 Digital Nations ranked Poland as 14th as well.
Poland has become one of the most popular outsourcing locations, especially in the IT sector. Its combination of an abundant talent pool, convenient location, friendly business environment and culture, topped off with competitive prices makes it an ideal choice for offshoring and nearshoring.
Outsourcing to Poland is the way to go if you want to successfully develop high-quality products. This is where you will find a reliable tech consultancy and software delivery partner who will successfully deliver your solution from vision to reality.
Resources:
(1) https://www.statista.com/statistics/1046763/poland-number-of-air-passengers/
(2) https://stat.gov.pl/obszary-tematyczne/edukacja/edukacja/szkolnictwo-wyzsze-w-roku-akademickim-20212022-wyniki-wstepne,8,8.html
(3) https://www.pap.pl/aktualnosci/news%2C1464487%2Cprawie-430-tysiecy-nowych-studentow-najbardziej-obleganymi-kierunkami
(4) https://www.ef.com/assetscdn/WIBIwq6RdJvcD9bc8RMd/cefcom-epi-site/reports/2022/ef-epi-2022-english.pdf
(5) https://www.ef.com/wwen/epi/
(6) https://www.pentalog.com/blog/it-outsourcing/best-developers-in-the-world-pentalog-report-2022/
(7) https://www.pentalog.com/blog/it-outsourcing/outsourcing-it-to-poland/
(8) https://cdn.theewf.org/uploads/pdf/Coursera-Global-Skills-Report-2-compressed.pdf?mtime=20211019103944&focal=none
(9) https://countryeconomy.com/countries/groups/european-union
(10) https://bridgeteams.com/blog/best-offshore-software-development-countries/
(11) https://www.paih.gov.pl/publications
(12) https://hdr.undp.org/system/files/documents/global-report-document/hdr2021-22overviewenpdf.pdf
(13) https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/wipo_pub_gii_2021.pdf
(14) https://notesfrompoland.com/2021/10/07/as-the-pandemic-boosts-its-thriving-outsourcing-sector-poland-looks-to-offer-higher-value-services/
(15) https://www.pentalog.com/blog/it-outsourcing/outsourcing-it-to-poland/
(16) https://www.ideamotive.co/it-outsourcing-poland
(17) https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=File:Non-wage_costs_(%25_of_total),_2021.png
(18) https://www.n-ix.com/it-outsourcing-destinations-eastern-europe-market-report/#Poland
(19) https://www.kearney.com/documents/291362523/291370488/The+2021+Kearney+Global+Services+Location+
Index%E2%80%94Toward+a+global+network+of+digital+hubs.pdf/24a8b740-0e9c-1180-41fa-71ffe7fd982a?t=1618484649000
(20) https://www.kearney.com/digital/article/-/insights/the-2021-kearney-global-services-location-index
(21) https://cdn.newswire.com/files/x/f9/1d/6da10df27e61a32b0eec08ecfa06.pdf