For years, development in Eastern Europe* has been a preferred choice for IT outsourcing among many leading companies from the US and Western Europe. The region boasts a huge talent pool, good tech education, well-developed IT infrastructure, a high level of digital technology adoption, and a number of other benefits.
* Top Eastern European outsourcing destinations are Ukraine, Poland, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Romania. The combined number of software developers in the EE region exceeds 1,457,000 experts.
There are over 3,100 Eastern European software development companies. How do you choose a reliable partner that will help you meet your specific business needs and develop a robust custom solution? The main goal of our research was to create a list of the most reliable companies from Eastern Europe to help you make an informed business decision and find a trustworthy partner. Let’s explore the best Eastern European software development service companies together.
About the white paper
The white paper gathers information and statistics from 30+ sources. It is based on the research provided by international advisory companies, award associations, dedicated vendor listings, business associations, and other reputable sources. The report includes findings by Forbes, Deloitte, A.T. Kerney, IAOP, IT European Software & Excellence Award, Clutch, LinkedIn, and others.
Selection methodology
We created a list of over 100 software development firms that either have a significant presence in Eastern Europe or were established in the region. They have development centers in one or several EE countries and offer nearshore and offshore development services. We’ve selected companies with 1,000+ employees as they have established development processes, the capacity to deliver solutions of various complexity and scale, wider domain and tech expertise, and numerous case studies of successfully delivered projects both for medium businesses and enterprise-level customers.
Then, we have matched this list against The Global Outsourcing 100 (2016 through 2022) by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) and the European IT & Software Excellence Award (2019 and 2020/21) by IT Europa to select the vendors whose achievements have been recognized by the leading industry associations.
If we speak about tech and industry expertise in Eastern Europe, software development outsourcing comes in all forms and shapes. So, for your convenience, we have analyzed the companies’ websites for their technological competencies, industry expertise, and public case studies that describe the projects they have delivered. Also, we considered certifications, partnerships, and the biggest clients.
Part I. Top 15 software development companies in Eastern Europe
The main criteria for selecting a service provider for software outsourcing in Eastern Europe include cost-effectiveness, company size, technological and domain expertise, and communication, to name a few. In this report, we have considered all the essential vendor selection criteria and made a list of the best vendors in Eastern Europe. Custom software development by EE vendors has already turned into a measurable business value for IBM, Microsoft, Panasonic, OpenText, Volvo, and other industry leaders.
We also added essential vendor information, including when the company was founded, the number of employees, HQ, development centers in Eastern Europe, and key clients to make the selection process easier.
We have also matched the software vendors list against The Global Outsourcing 100 (2016 through 2022) by IAOP and European IT & Software Excellence Award (from 2019 until 2022) by IT Europa to select the vendors whose achievements have been recognized by the leading industry associations.
1. N-iX
N-iX is one of the top global software development companies with 2,000+ engineers on board and development centers in Eastern Europe, namely in Poland, Ukraine, and Bulgaria. Since 2002, N-iX has formed strategic partnerships with global industry leaders, including OpenText, Lebara, Gogo, Fluke Corporation, Currencycloud, several Fortune 500 companies, and over 50 other medium and large businesses. With delivery centers across Eastern Europe, N-iX possesses strong expertise in custom software development, tech consulting, Data Analytics, Cloud and DevOps, embedded software and IoT, and other services.
The company is one of the key figures in Eastern European custom software development, and that is proven by multiple industry awards, including the IT Europa Awards, GSA UK, Software 500, etc. Also, it has been recognized among The Global Outsourcing 100 providers by IAOP for 6 years in a row.
Related: Everything you need to know about software development in Bulgaria
2. Software Mind
This representative of Polish software development companies was founded in 1999. The vendor specializes in custom software development, enterprise app modernization, the implementation of AI solutions, and mobile app development. It has R&D centers in Poland, Romania, and Moldova. This company works mostly with midsize vendors from industries such as fintech, telecommunications, e-commerce, and others.
3. SoftServe
Founded in 1993, this software outsourcing company from Eastern Europe specializes in IT outsourcing services and partners with many international businesses. The vendor has development facilities in Ukraine, Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria. The company was shortlisted among the leading vendors in the Global Outsourcing 100 by IAOP for several years in a row.
4. GlobalLogic
This software development company from Eastern Europe has a worldwide presence and development centers in Poland, Ukraine, and Romania. The software vendor offers web app development, UI/UX design, and quality assurance. It builds custom iOS, Android, web, wearables, IoT, and VR solutions. The company works with clients in a wide range of domains, including social networking, traveling, media, taxi booking, productivity, and others.
5. Infopulse
This Ukrainian company has over two decades of experience in IT outsourcing. It has over 2,300 professionals and offices in Ukraine, Poland, and Bulgaria. The vendor’s services include custom software development, IT managed services, IT strategy consulting, cybersecurity, and enterprise app modernization. This software outsourcing company from Eastern Europe provides development services for automotive, banking, finance, energy, healthcare, fintech, and other industries.
6. Ciklum
This is a reliable IT outsourcing service provider that has over 4,000 experts working in its software development centers in Poland, Ukraine, Bulgaria, and Romania. It provides a wide range of services, namely custom software development, e-commerce development, BI and Big Data consulting, application testing, and more. This company works with a number of clients, including small businesses and enterprises in information technology, retail, financial technology, and other domains.
7. IBA Group
This is one of the largest software development companies in Eastern Europe, with more than 2,700 professionals. Headquartered in Prague (the Czech Republic), IBA Group also has software development centers in Poland, Ukraine, and Bulgaria. The company mostly partners with midsize companies and large enterprises from the USA and Western Europe.
8. ELEKS
Initially founded in Lviv (Ukraine), this company has several delivery centers across Eastern Europe. With over 2,000 experts, this vendor provides a variety of IT services, including Cloud consulting, Big Data consulting, Artificial Intelligence, and IT staff augmentation. Its expertise also includes Data Science, enterprise mobility, QA and testing, IoT, R&D, and custom software development.
9. Andersen
This software development company was founded in 2007, and since then its tech team has grown to 3,400 experts. With development centers in Poland and Hungary, this vendor specializes in custom software development, mobile app development, application testing, and UI/UX. The company has expertise in fintech, healthcare, e-commerce, logistics, and other domains.
10. Lohika
The engineering centers of this IT service company are located in Ukraine: in Lviv, Odesa, and Kyiv. The company’s services include blockchain development, Cloud consulting, IoT development, and mobile app development. The company has a track record of cooperating with global businesses in the automotive, security, manufacturing, and other industries. It has helped over 100 clients improve their products and bring them to market.
11. Endava
It is one of the largest Eastern European software development companies with over 4,800 IT experts and development centers in Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Macedonia. The firm has over 20 years of experience and focuses on custom software development, IT strategy consulting, and enterprise app modernization. This vendor primarily works with midsize and large companies in financial services, media, telecom, and transportation.
12. Sigma Software
Sigma Software is an Eastern European software vendor with over 2,000 professionals on board. Headquartered in Lviv (Ukraine), Sigma Software has development centers in 5+ destinations across Ukraine and Poland. This company specializes in mobile app development, BI and Big Data consulting , web as well as AR/VR development. The vendor partners with midsize and large-scale companies and has extensive expertise in advertising & marketing, automotive, and financial services.
13. MentorMate
Established in Bulgaria in 2001, this IT outsourcing vendor works predominantly with midsize businesses and enterprises. The company offers a wide range of services, including web development, mobile app development, and UI/UX design. Among the vendor’s key industry focus areas are education, manufacturing, healthcare, and fintech.
14. Grid Dynamics
This software vendor was founded in 2006. With over 3,000 experts, this software engineering company has development centers in Ukraine, Poland, Romania, and Moldova. Its services and areas of expertise include web development, application testing, cybersecurity, and e-commerce development. The vendor has experience working with companies in retail, advertising, and marketing, as well as consumer products and services.
15. Coherent Solutions
This company has been on the market since 1995, helping enterprises and midsize vendors build custom software solutions. Their portfolio includes over 1000 completed projects and focuses mainly on the development for healthcare, supply chain, e-commerce, and wellness industries.
All these vendors offer top-notch software development in Eastern Europe. However, how do you find a company with specific expertise? We narrowed down our list of top software development vendors even more, based on the most popular services.
Part II. Companies and technological expertise: Find the right vendor for your needs
Finding a reliable company specializing in custom software development is just the first step. If you firmly decide to partner with a vendor from Eastern Europe, the software outsourcing portfolio of your engineering enterprise should cover your tech requirements. So, the next stage would be to choose a company with strong technical expertise that matches your business needs.
In this section, we are going to explore:
- Software development in Eastern Europe;
- IT staff augmentation;
- Internet of Things and embedded software development;
- Cloud solutions and DevOps services;
- Vendors with strong Data Analytics portfolio;
- Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning;
- Enterprise software solutions.
Top-notch software development in Eastern Europe
In search of qualified workforce, North American and Western European enterprises turn their heads to locations with large talent pools and a wide range of companies with multidimensional expertise. Many opt for outsourcing software development to Eastern Europe, which boasts around 3,100+ vendors and over 1.4M IT specialists.
Software development outsourcing to Eastern Europe can be beneficial for virtually any industry, with a considerable number of vendors providing services for the fintech, healthcare, and automotive sectors. On the chart below, you can see the expertise breakdown by country.
In Eastern Europe, software development companies have a diversified tech specialization. Eastern Europe has a lot of developers who work with Java, .NET, JavaScript, Python, and other programming languages and technologies that cover all the major tech tasks and challenges nowadays.
The best software development vendors in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe has a lot of firms of all sizes and specializations. To narrow down the software vendors list, we have selected the firms that offer custom software development, analyzed their websites, looked over relevant case studies, and shortlisted the companies with the strongest expertise:
Case studies from companies’ websites
- N-iX has partnered with Orbus Software, helping them modernize the tech stack of their software products, extend their functionality, and increase the performance and scalability of their solutions.
- Another example of a success story in custom software development is N-iX's partnership with Currencycloud, a global payments provider that has collaborated with N-iX on its cloud-based platform that processes over $400M in 35 currencies every month.
- Infopulse has helped Agillic with an application for the flexible management of marketing campaigns.
- ELEKS has partnered with SafeSide to implement a web solution to optimize online insurance purchases.
- To help their client streamline business processes, IBA Group has created a system that automates document recognition, processing, and classification.
IT staff augmentation
Team extension is widely used in the USA, United Kingdom, and Western Europe to speed up the development process and bring their products to market faster. Many industry-leading businesses, such as Microsoft, Mercedes, Lebara, Gogo, Rakuten, and others, chose to expand their teams with highly-qualified tech experts from Eastern Europe.
Clutch lists around 430 Eastern European companies that offer staff augmentation services to their clients. With a tech talent pool of over 1.4M software engineers [2], Eastern Europe has become a gold mine of staff augmentation for the US, the UK, and Western Europe.
Read more: Staff augmentation outsourcing: benefits, top destinations, and best practices
The best companies for IT staff augmentation in Eastern Europe
We have cross-checked the list of companies from this report with the services they offer and case studies matching this service.
Success stories
- A leading UK fashion retailer PrettyLittleThing (a part of Boohoo Group), has chosen N-iX for staff augmentation to increase the speed-to-market of their e-commerce solutions.
- N-iX has also helped a fintech leader that offers a P2P lending platform to expand their development capabilities and migrate their solution from a monolith to the microservices architecture.
- Avid Technology, a digital media solutions provider, has chosen GlobalLogic to expand their in-house software development and testing teams.
- A tire production company (under NDA) partnered with IBA Group to design and develop the Approver Maintenance Application (AMA) as a part of an in-house development team.
Internet of Things and embedded development market overview
The IoT market reached $483.28B in 2023 and is expected to reach $2270.42B by 2028, with a CAGR of 29,4%*. With the development of wireless networking technologies, the adoption of advanced Data Analytics, and the cost reduction of connected devices, the market is expected to grow at a positive rate [12].
The top industries that dominated the IoT adoption are utilities, retail, government, healthcare, manufacturing, and agriculture.
McKinsey forecasts that by 2030 IoT products and services will have an even bigger impact on the global economy in the range between $5.5T and $12.6T [13]. In 2023, VC-backed investments in IoT solutions exceeded $171B across 58 countries [11].
Embedded software market worldwide
The global embedded software market is estimated to reach $40B by 2032. The general-purpose operating systems sector has the biggest share of the market (more than 50%), followed by the real-time operating systems with 42%.
The number of open job postings for IoT developers is skyrocketing on Indeed.com and LinkedIn.com and there’s a definite shortage of qualified experts.
Companies that want to outsource embedded software development often choose embedded software companies in Eastern European countries, such as Ukraine and Poland.
Read more: Software nearshoring to Poland: benefits, tips, and success stories
Best companies for IoT and embedded development in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe has an extensive tech talent pool with over 375,000 C and C++ developers in total. Leading IoT companies are working on projects in a variety of industries, with the largest number of clients from fintech, healthcare, logistics and supply chain, and telecommunications domains. Here’s a short software vendors list:
Examples of case studies
- As a part of the partnership with Weinmann Emergency, N-iX experts have worked on the firmware development for a defibrillator with monitoring functions. The N-iX teams have implemented predictive maintenance of the MEDUCORE Standard² device, enabling cost savings, solution reliability, and seamless operation.
- The N-iX team has also cooperated with Cardo Systems on the wireless motorcycle communication system. Working as a part of an in-house team, 10 experts from N-iX are engaged in software and hardware testing of a wide range of their connectivity solutions.
- The SoftServe team developed a blockchain environment to measure the audience reaction to different speakers at the conference by analyzing the character and noise level of applause in real-time.
- Sigma Software worked with ENAiKOON GmbH on their new product for vehicle tracking.
- ELEKS has built a network of 47 smartwatches for real-time phone-free communication and boost interactions among the AdForum Worldwide summit participants.
Keep reading: How to build a strong team for embedded software development
Cloud solutions and DevOps services
With the introduction of the Cloud, both Cloud solutions and DevOps as-a-service have been growing exponentially. According to Statista, the hosting, storage, and computing cloud services market reached over $153B in 2023 and was forecasted to grow to $168B in 2025.
Along with the growing interest in Cloud computing, the need for experts with relevant expertise is also increasing. As of the beginning of 2023, Indeed.com lists over 124,000 open job postings on the US market alone. The EU market has over 99,000 job opportunities for experts in Cloud computing and DevOps services.
So can the Eastern European market be the solution to this problem?
The best Cloud/DevOps service providers in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe has around 430 companies with solid expertise in Cloud consulting and development as well as DevOps. If you plan to outsource Cloud development to Eastern Europe, here’s a breakdown of the local talent pool by their expertise.
Here are the top companies with strong Cloud and DevOps expertise:
Success stories
The variety of Cloud services these companies offer ranges from Cloud adoption and Cloud migration to custom development of scalable, high-load solutions.
- For example, N-iX has helped Vable, a UK-based content automation platform, move their existing on-premise product to the Cloud and build a microservices architecture to enable flexible scaling and a growing customer base.
- N-iX has delivered a Cloud-based Big Data analytics platform for Gogo, which helped the company reduce infrastructure costs and ensure uninterrupted performance of their aviation technology solution.
- Infopulse has helped one of its clients replace an outdated data center with an IT infrastructure in the Cloud.
- Another recognized software vendor, Endava, partnered with a retail company to increase their system’s and business scalability by introducing Cloud architecture.
Keep reading: DevOps outsourcing: How to make it work
Data Science, Big Data, and Business Intelligence market overview
Acumen research and consulting forecasts that the Data Analytics market size will reach $329.8B by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 29.9%. In addition, the Big Data industry revenue is expected to generate over $473B revenue by 2030.
According to Google Trends, interest in Data Science specialists has skyrocketed over the decade. The number of searches for “Data scientist” went up by 200% between January 2013 and January 2023. Both American and European markets are looking for affordable specialists with excellent tech expertise and a strong reputation.
While looking for Data Scientists, you should pay attention to the number of skilled experts in the country. Let’s take a look at the number of DS specialists in this region:
The best Data Analytics companies
We have compared the software vendors list based on their technical expertise and narrowed down the companies with the strongest Data Science and Big Data portfolio. Here are the top vendors:
Examples of case studies
- N-iX provides Data Analytics expertise for Lebara, Gogo, a Fortune 500 company under NDA, and other businesses – global leaders in healthcare, telecom, and information management.
- Lohika, a Ukrainian software vendor, assisted Tidemark in speeding up the development of their Big Data SaaS solutions.
- SoftServe has helped a manufacturing enterprise forecast future demand for their goods, enhance production resources planning, and optimize their day-to-day operations,
Read more: Data Science services: 5 tips to choose the best vendor
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence is changing our understanding of technology across all major industries. From virtual personal assistants and face recognition to smart cars and robotic helpers – AI-based solutions are taking over our personal and business lives.
The global Artificial Intelligence (AI) market reached $119.78B in 2022 and is projected to reach $1,597.1B by 2030, marking a 38.1% CAGR during the forecast period.
Consequently, the need for developers with relevant skill sets and experience is growing. As of January 2023, the US has more than 23,000 job opportunities for experts in AI and ML, while the European Union has over 7,200 open vacancies.
Let’s compare it to the Eastern European tech talent pool. LinkedIn lists around 11K Scala experts, over 6,800 Hadoop specialists, and 9,600+ Python data experts.
The best AI companies in Eastern Europe
This area of software development in Eastern Europe is one of the fastest growing. The number of vendors that offer AI and ML expertise has grown 4 times since 2018. Poland has the largest number of AI & ML providers in Europe. As of 2023, Poland has almost 200 vendors with sufficient AI expertise, followed by Ukraine with 140+ and Germany with 70+ companies.
If you are looking for a reliable partner in Eastern Europe, here’s the software vendors list of companies with strong data expertise:
Examples of case studies
- N-iX specializes in real-time Data Science and the development of self-taught analytical tools, AI algorithms and applications, natural language processing solutions, and fraud detection systems. The company has helped Gogo improve operations and customer experience by applying Machine Learning and Data Science expertise to user behavior and flight information.
- Ciklum has helped SeeTree, an agritech company, build an AI-based solution for tree monitoring.
- Grid Dynamics has developed an AI-powered product Grid Genie, an experimental open omnichannel conversational commerce platform.
Enterprise software solutions
In 2021, global spending on enterprise software solutions reached $273B and is expected to reach $424B in 2025. Enterprise software solutions range from payment processing and automated billing systems to complex enterprise content management (ECM), customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), Business Intelligence (BI) systems, etc. Many industry leaders have outsourced their development to Eastern Europe.
Top enterprise solutions companies
Enterprise software development covers a wide range of services, including enterprise automation, enterprise mobility, professional services ( e.g. SAP), etc. The main tasks enterprises have today include improving inventory management and productivity. They also want to reduce maintenance costs and machine downtime, increase speed to market and boost flexibility to meet customer demand. To address all these challenges, companies use advanced analytics, Cloud, DevOps, AI, and other technologies. We have shortlisted the initial software vendors list to companies that have both development capabilities and deep expertise in creating large-scale solutions for enterprises around the world:
Examples of case studies
- N-iX has helped Fluke Corporation increase equipment uptime, reduce maintenance costs, as well as improve performance, customization, and scalability of Fluke’s products.
- GlobalLogic collaborated with BMC on numerous projects, including database automation suites and user experience monitoring solutions.
Continue reading: How to succeed with enterprise automation: 5 growing trends
Wrap-up
Back in 2020, when the world was forced to introduce social distancing and shifted to the work-from-home mode, the line between on-site and remote development teams became hardly visible. Business leaders realized that offshore talent was closer than ever before and started to consider outsourcing software development to Eastern Europe.
In the report, we explored the advantages of partnering with Eastern European software development companies and the expertise this region has to offer.
- Eastern Europe remains one of the most attractive outsourcing destinations due to the excellent price-quality ratio, constant growth of the IT industry, and strong technological expertise.
- Eastern Europe has a large tech talent pool of 1M professional developers. Poland, Ukraine, and Romania are leading the Eastern European software development market, offering a vast availability of IT experts.
- Software development in Eastern Europe is a major business enabler of digital transformation and acceleration.
The research explores the leading software development companies in Eastern Europe and examines their expertise, partnerships, case studies, awards, and industry recognition. All the companies on the list have a proven record of delivering top-notch custom software products to clients all over the globe. They are well-known IT outsourcing vendors with experience in many industries.
- Eastern Europe has over 3,000 IT outsourcing vendors with strong expertise in fintech, healthcare, education, and other industries.
- There are 430+ Eastern European companies that offer staff augmentation services to their clients.
- The Internet of Things and embedded development market is thriving as the region has over 375,000 C/C++ developers.
- Eastern Europe has over 430 companies with substantial expertise in Cloud consulting and computing, as well as DevOps services.
- The number of companies that offer AI and ML development in Eastern Europe has gone up 4 times since 2018. Now, Poland houses almost 200 vendors with strong AI/ML expertise, followed by Ukraine with 140+ companies.
You may also be interested in:
- IT outsourcing market in Eastern Europe [report]
- Software development in Ukraine: 2019-2020 IT market report [PDF]
- Where to outsource: Talent pool, billing rates, expertise
References
- Press releases Businesses preparing for a slowdown in sales and cash flow challenges due to COVID by Deloitte
- State of European Tech [2022 report]
- The 2021 Kearney Global Services Location Index
- The Global Outsourcing 100 by IAOP
- European IT & Software Excellence Awards 2020 by IT European Software Excellence Awards
- Software industry in Eastern Europe [Report] by N-iX
- The European Large-Scale Pilots Programme Driving IoT Innovation at Scale in Europe by European IoT Pilots
- Virtual reality and its potential for Europe by Ecorys
- Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality in Europe by CBI.eu
- 15 top IT outsourcing companies in Ukraine by N-iX
- Internet of Things from VentureScanner
- The European market potential for (Industrial) Internet of Things by CBI.eu
- McKinsey Report The Internet of Things: Catching up to an accelerating opportunity
- Virtual Reality from VentureScanner
- Global big data analytics market size 2021-2029 by Statista
- Enterprise application software market revenue worldwide from 2017 to 2025 by Statista
- Global hosting and cloud computing market 2010-2020 by Statista
- Dynamics of Data Science skills: How can all sectors benefit from data science talent by The Royal Society
- Artificial Intelligence Intelligence Quadrant from VentureScanner
- Machine Learning Leads AI Exit Activity by VentureScanner
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) Market Study by Precedence Research
- Enterprise software - Statistics & Facts by Statista
- Global Market Insights: Embedded software market 2023
- 2016 Global Outsourcing 100, 2016
- The 2017 Global Outsourcing 100 2017
- The 2018 Global Outsourcing 100, 2018
- The 2020 Global Outsourcing 100, 2020
- The 2021 Global Outsourcing 100, 2021
- The 2021 Global Outsourcing 100, 2022
- Finalists 2019 by European IT Excellence Awards
- Finalists 2020/2021 by European IT Excellence Awards
- Finalists 2022 by European IT Excellence Awards
