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Battle of the Dev Firms (Part II) -- Central Eastern Europe vs. India

As more and more companies invest in their digital infrastructure, global spending on enterprise software continues to soar. In fact, expenditures on enterprise software are projected to reach $426 billion in 2020. However, with established corporations and SMBs alike staking their futures on increasingly sophisticated software, it’s never been more important to use your IT spend well.

Whether you’re near-shoring or off-shoring, you have some critical decisions to make — and questions to ask — when it’s time to invest in your digital infrastructure. For example:

• What regions offer the best developers?
• How should you choose between near-shoring and off-shoring?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

In the second installment of our series on regional development firms, we’re discussing off-shoring in India versus off-shoring in Central Eastern Europe — Poland in particular. We’ll also help you understand where VentureDevs fits in and how we can help your team.

• Top global tech talent — Polish developers rank 3rd in the world
• Polish IT market growth is up from 5% to 10% year-over-year
• Strong English skills — Poland ranks 11th out of 100 countries and received a “very high proficiency rating”
• Similar legal frameworks and cultural values
• Competitive pricing compared to onshore development firms

• A young population of competitive, ambitious developers — the average age is only 25 years old
• Large talent pool means it’s possible to find specialists in key tech areas, such as AI, data analytics, and mobile development

• Different time zones can be challenging if firms don’t make their teams available for clients in other parts of the world
• Surplus of Polish development firms may make it hard to find the right one — but we can point you in the right direction ;)

• Cultural differences and language barriers can significantly slow project delivery
• India ranks a mediocre 31st on lists of countries with the best software developers
• Indian developers tend to be rookies — potentially possessing a “learn as you go” mentality which could leave more room for error

• You can get higher quality, cost-effective results from CEE compared to onshore options — and more reliability than cheaper regions such as India
• Massive pool of world’s top software developers — more than 254,000 in Poland — means that nearshoring or offshoring won’t compromise developer skills

• India’s development market has the potential for considerable growth — the number of developers expected to surge from 2.75 million in 2017 to 5.2 million by 2023
• Lower costs relative to onshoring means that you can save on IT costs — although you’ll need to be sure you’re still getting high quality, white glove work
• Supportive government policies — the current administration has offered tax incentives to help the Indian IT industry grow and mature

• European IT market is highly competitive — retaining top talent could be challenging
• Time zones don’t overlap extensively — although this means that Eastern European teams can work on projects around the clock
• Variation in quality depending on firm and country (i.e. Poland, Ukraine, Belarus)

• Significant time zone difference can cause repeated scheduling issues for the duration of your software project
• A glut of development firms in India means that it can be challenging to find reliable businesses that provide high-quality work

Ultimately, the best software development firm for your business depends on your unique needs and particular software goals. While Indian dev firms do offer their own unique strengths and opportunities, it’s important to take a comprehensive view of the development ecosystem when comparing the two regions.

As explained above, HackerRank gives India an uninspiring score of 76.0, which slots it into 31st place internationally. Meanwhile, Poland scores an impressive 98.0, coming in 3rd. While Indian development firms may boast cheaper prices compared with other popular development regions, businesses need to take total costs into account.

For example, if an Indian firm quotes a lower price to develop your enterprise software but the quality of work is subpar, you’ll likely need to commission another developer to fix it — or start entirely from scratch. That doesn’t save you money in the long run.

With competitive pricing, skilled talent, and a burgeoning tech scene, Central Eastern Europe is emerging as a leading hub of software development talent. No wonder it’s an increasingly popular development market for US-based firms looking for cost-effective software development solutions and Western European companies on the hunt for convenient and reliable near-shore options.

To learn more about working with the region’s premier tech professionals, reach out to VentureDevs today and ask about our product development and team augmentation services.