Offshore software development in Poland: All you need to know

Along with Ukraine and Romania, Poland is one of the most alluring destinations for offshore software development in Eastern Europe. The country boasts a vast talent pool of experienced professionals, developed infrastructure, and favorable business conditions. 

Here are the factors that contribute to the popularity of offshore development in Poland:

• The country has an impressive tech talent pool of 295,000+ IT specialists.
• Clutch lists 696 Polish tech companies, which is one of the most significant numbers in Eastern Europe. In comparison, Ukraine is home for 1,600+ IT outsourcing companies, and around 1,000 companies reside in Bulgaria and Belarus combined.
• Such tech giants as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and others have chosen Poland to establish their R&D centres here.

What are other reasons to opt for offshoring software development in Poland? How to choose a reliable vendor in Poland? How to make the most of offshore development in Poland? Let’s find out together. 

Offshore development in Poland: Market overview

In this part, we will cover critical aspects that define Poland as an offshore software development destination. 

• Poland boasts the biggest GDP in Eastern Europe, which amounts to $585.5B, with the share of IT export $4.6B;
• As an EU-member, Poland is a reliable and secure offshore development destination. Also, the country is subject to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR);
• It is a favorable location for business, according to Doing Business 2020, where the country is ranked 40th among 190 countries around the globe;
• A.T. Kearney recognizes Poland as one of the most prominent (24th) outsourcing destinations for its financial attractiveness and favorable business environment.
• Poland is ranked 15th among the top 50 digital nations, according to the Tholons Services Globalization Index 2020;
• The professionalism of Polish specialists is proven by various rankings. For instance, developers from Poland have made it to the third place in the SkillValue ranking, and to the fifth in the TopCoder;

Offshore development in Poland: Education and tech expertise of Polish developers

Poland is home to over 295,000 IT experts. According to the recent ABSL report, nearly 33% of experts are working for Shared Services Center (SSC) / Global Business Services (GBS) companies, 32% are working for IT outsourcing vendors, and an additional 18% are employed by BPO outsourcing firms.

• Experience

Poland houses experienced talent: 43% of the overall number are middle developers and 34% are senior specialists. The largest part of junior experts is among QAs and developers. 

The largest share of Polish professionals (14%) has two years of experience in the tech branch. 

• Tech and industry expertise

As for the technology stack in the country, the most popular programming languages and technologies are Java, JavaScript, C#, .NET, and C++. 

Polish professionals leverage their tech experience to help businesses from a wide array of industries. Finance and Banking, Security, Education, Energy, Travel, and Tourism benefit from the cooperation with Polish vendors the most. 

• Higher education

According to the Bulldogjob report, the vast majority of Polish software engineers have a university degree. 41% of professionals have Masters degrees and 32% have Bachelor’s or Engineer’s degrees. 

Every year about 17,000 ICT students graduate from Polish universities and about 74,000 students are studying to become software developers. 

Over half of Polish tech professionals (64%) have a technical education and 24% have studied science.

• Language proficiency

Developers in Poland have strong command in foreign languages. According to Bulldogjob, 100% of surveyed speak English. That is also proven by the English proficiency index where the country is listed 11th (very high proficiency) among 100 countries in the world. Other languages that appeared in the survey were German, Russian, French, Spanish, Italian, and others.  

• Professional conferences

34% of surveyed specialists state that conferences and meetups are an important source of new information. One of the reasons for it is that many tech conferences are conducted in the country. For instance, the ACE! Agile conference, the largest tech event in Central Europe, takes place in Krakow.

Now, we will explore Polish IT hubs such as Warsaw, Krakow, Wroclaw, Katowice, Tri-City, Lodz, and Poznan. 

Major IT hubs for offshore software development in Poland:

Poland is known as the country with the most significant talent pool in Eastern Europe (295,300 professional developers in 2019). The country has seven major hubs, which are home to over 85% of all tech professionals in the country. The vast majority of them live in Warsaw and Krakow. 

1. Offshore software development in Warsaw (Poland)

Warsaw houses over 65,600 Polish software professionals. However, the competition for talent in the capital is fierce as the number of outsourcing companies and R&D centers here is one of the most significant in Poland.  The city is recognized by Tholons Services Globalization Index 2020 as one of the best cities in terms of digital innovation. 

Also, Warsaw is a source of annual talent inflow with over 3,000 ICT graduates entering the market annually. 

2. Offshore software development in Krakow (Poland)

Krakow boasts the most significant number of tech professionals in the country. This number exceeded 70,000 experts in 2019. The number of IT outsourcing companies is lower in Krakow, as compared to Warsaw, so the competition for tech talent is also lower. 

On par with Warsaw, Krakow is also recognized as one of the top cities in terms of digital innovation in the world. 

Also, Krakow houses over 200 startups, including Brainly, Callpage, Elmodis, kontakt.io, Estimote, and others. The city has also been recognized as one of the top 60 startup- and scale-up cities in Europe, according to European Digital City Index.

3. Offshore software development in Wroclaw (Poland)

Wroclaw is home to a talent pool of 47,500 professional developers. The city is known for its collaboration with city authorities to create a healthy business environment and the availability of offices across the city.

4. Offshore software development in Katowice (Poland)

Katowice houses a rather impressive number of Polish software developers. In 2019, the number of tech professionals in the city reached almost 24,000. 1,400 ICT graduates join the market annually in this IT hub. 

IT outsourcing vendors in Katowice work mainly with businesses from Poland, France, and the UK.

5. Offshore software development in Tri-City (Poland)

Tri-City is a combined area of Gdansk, Gdynia, and Sopot and has united a tech talent pool of 25,500 software developers. Due to developed city infrastructure and the highest availability of offices in the country, this region is known as an alluring outsourcing spot. 

Сompanies of Tri-City work with clients from the US (32%), Poland (17%), and the United Kingdom (18%), according to ABSL.

6. Offshore software development in Lodz (Poland)

Unlike other IT hubs in Poland, Lodz companies cooperate primarily with Asian countries. Also, local professionals have experience in collaborating with businesses from Nordic countries.

The business services sector in Poland 2019 report by ABSL recognizes Lodz for both availability of skilled talent as well as cooperation with local education institutions.

7. Offshore software development in Poznan (Poland)

Poznan is known for working primarily with Polish businesses: 19% of local IT companies offer services to Polish clients. 13% of clients that opt for offshore software development in Poznan are based in Germany. 

This city is the smallest on our list and houses only 16,800 professional developers.

Now, let’s proceed to the main reason why you should opt for offshoring software development to Poland - cost-effectiveness. What are the rates of Polish professionals? 

Offshore development in Poland: Rates

The cost of living in Poland is lower than in other Western European countries. The cost of living index amounts 40.04, as compared to Germany with 65.26, the United Kingdom with 67.28, and the USA with 71.05. 

No wonder that the rates are also 20-50% lower than those in Western Europe or the United States. The average salary of a developer differs between the cities. Warsaw and Wroclaw have the highest monthly rates. On average Polish software engineers in the capital get around $2,500 per month which is almost three times lower than the same salary in the USA, according to PayScale. However, that does not hamper the quality of services provided, as the cost of living, as mentioned above is also lower. 

What’s more, the country boasts favorable tax conditions for businesses. Krakow, for instance, is one of 14 special economic zones, which grant income tax exemptions to the interested investors. In doing so, the local government creates favorable conditions for the growth of the tech market.

How to choose a reliable partner for offshoring software development in Poland?

1. Analyze the major IT hubs of offshore software development in Poland in terms of their rates, availability of talent, and the experience of the local developers;
2. Compile a long list of vendors in the chosen location and assess them based on their services quality, expertise, and security standards, such as ISO 27001:2013, PCI DSS, ISO 9001:2015, HIPAA;
3. Keep in mind the size of your potential provider of offshore development in Poland as mid-size and large vendors are more likely to have enough recruitment capabilities and resources you need internally;
4. Look for a provider of offshore development in Poland with a strong portfolio of software products similar to yours, preferably in your industry;
5. Review the customer references and testimonials of your potential provider of offshore software development in Poland;
6. Make sure your provider of offshore development in Poland complies with key crucial international security regulations;
7. Ask your potential partner for offshore development in Poland these questions to make sure that the provider is reliable. 

Wrap-up:

Poland is a prominent IT outsourcing country that provides high-quality services to businesses worldwide. This destination has both human capital and versatile expertise that make businesses opt for offshoring software development to Poland over other countries. 

Here are the top three reasons for offshore software development to Poland:

1. Vast tech talent pool (almost 300,000 tech professionals);
2. Versatile expertise in different industries;
3. IT hubs all over the country and convenience of the location.

Why choose N-iX as your offshore development partner in Poland?

1. N-iX has been a major player in the global IT market since 2002. The company has provided offshore development services to such industry leaders as Lebara, Opentext, Gogo, Currencycloud, and a wide array of others. 
2. With offices in Krakow (Poland), Lviv and Kyiv (Ukraine), as well as Sweden and Malta, this vendor will help you to tap into a vast talent pool of top-notch professionals;
3. N-iX boasts an excellent reputation that is supported by the industry recognition (awards by Clutch, GoodFirms, OpenText and Microsoft partner, GSA, Inc. 5000, Software 500, IAOP, and many others);
4. The company offers various services and expertise, including Big Data, Cloud, DevOps, Machine Learning, BI, and others to meet your business requirements.

Sources:

1. The 2019 A.T. Kearney Global Services Location Index
2. The Tholons Global innovation index 
3. Polish IT community report by Bulldogjob
4. Business services sector in Poland 2019 by ABSL
5. Ease of Doing Business. A Worldbank Group Flagship report
6. TopCoder Country Rating
7. EF English Proficiency Index 2019
8. European Digital City Index
9. PayScale