8 Benefits Of Outsourcing Your Software Development to Poland
Poland is increasingly recognized as a prime destination for software development outsourcing, with growing success rates. The key to this success lies in finding the right partner company. Businesses seeking talented developers, quick results, and reasonable costs should include Poland in their search. Polish developers bring up-to-date skills and knowledge, manage projects with the latest methodologies, and have a strong track record in the industry, particularly for clients in Europe and neighboring countries.
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Outsourcing is a little like dating in that it can be difficult to find the right partner. And just like dating, it helps to know what you’re looking for so that you know it when you find it.
Why do companies choose software outsourcing over doing it in-house? Usually it’s one of three reasons: they lack time, they lack skills, or they lack money to establish and maintain their own in-house developers.
As more companies are outsourcing their software development, Poland is increasingly recognized for its skilled developers. According to a recent report by Alcor, the IT outsourcing services market in Poland is experiencing significant growth, highlighting the increasing demand for Polish tech talent. This popularity isn’t surprising, given that English is the “lingua franca” of the software development industry. Additionally, many Polish graduates are fluent in other European languages such as German, French, or Spanish, facilitating direct and accurate project communication.
Defining our terms: “outsourcing”
Before we get into the main part of this article, let’s just ensure we’re all thinking of the same thing when we read the word outsourcing.
The most straightforward definition says that outsourcing is the use of outside companies or organizations to provide specialist services that you cannot or prefer not to carry out in-house. In other words, an outsourced software development company will create, test and deliver your app, website or platform for you.
The outsourcing company provides bespoke software as agreed with their contractor. Depending on the deal, it can also take care of future development of the app (so-called scaling) or it’s support, technically and business-wise, and this is what we also offer to our partners. Outsourcing can also be understood as a broader concept, not only as providing simple software solutions, but also dealing with other software or business related aspects. This is how we understand software outsourcing at Boldare.
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To break the definition down a little further, “offshore” refers to outsourcing to a provider in a different and distant country, whereas “nearshore” describes outsourcing to a nearby region or country. Depending on your location, Poland may be an offshoring or nearshoring destination and carries clear advantages no matter where you are; though Polish software services often carry most benefit for European partners and clients.
An experienced company will provide their services to different time zones without difficulty. Boldare has created innovative products for companies in the United States, Canada and Australia without time zone problems.
What are clients looking for in IT outsourcing - Poland?
As mentioned above, a company looking for it outsourcing in Poland services needs to be clear on what exactly is driving their search – if they’re to find the perfect match, that is.
Most potential clients are faced with one or more of the following problems:
- Talent – Put simply, software development is not their business and they do not have the necessary skills in-house.
- Cost – The resources needed to recruit (and train) an in-house team does not offer good value for money.
- Time – The digital product must be ready by a particular date; and any attempt to hit that date without outside help runs into one of the above two difficulties.
- Trust – The launch of a digital product is usually a high-profile for any business and there is the question of who to trust to deliver that product.
8 Reasons why it’s worth choosing software outsourcing to Poland
Eastern Europe – and Poland in particular – has emerged as a number one global destination for IT outsourcing. Here are eight reasons why; the first four are universal while the second four apply more to clients in and around Europe.
The software development talent pool
Poland is well-known for its software development talent and this is influenced by the focus of the education system. Technical skills are an increasingly popular choice of study field and technical universities focusing on STEM subjects can be found in the larger cities (to be specific, 18 public universities and five private). A New York Times article a few years ago noted that 40% of people in Poland aged 25-34 have a university degree. What’s more, this one country produces 10% of all IT graduates in the European Union (that’s around 40,000 graduates per year) and McKinsey reports that the Polish outsourcing market as a whole includes 160,000 people; a figure predicted to increase to 600,000 by 2025.
Cutting edge skills
Graduating is all very well but we’ve all met people with a university education and zero ability to translate it into practical skills. The fact is, Polish software skills are often cited as among the best globally.
According to HackerRank’s latest analysis, Poland remains a top contender in the global programming scene. Polish developers consistently rank high in international coding competitions like Microsoft’s Imagine Cup, Google’s Code Jam, and TopCoder. This strong performance highlights the excellent technical education and skill development in Poland, making it a favored destination for outsourcing software development.
The success of Polish developers in these global challenges shows their ability to handle complex programming tasks effectively. This makes Poland an attractive option for businesses looking to outsource their software projects.
Many Polish providers can also leverage skills acquired in developing custom or complex software solutions for specific industry sectors – for example, at Boldare, we’ve successfully worked in various fields, including green energy, IT services, travel and leisure, and e-commerce.
The quality of the work done by Polish developers (whether frontend, backend, QA, design, etc.) is the foundation of their global reputation. The impressive numbers above are further enhanced by the fact that Polish developers are very focused on using the latest tools, technologies and practices on their clients’ behalf.
Language and communication competence
A difference in language can be a significant barrier between client and outsourcing provider. However, as of 2024, Poland ranks #13 out of 113 countries in the global EF English Proficiency Index, making software outsourcing (Poland) noteworthy. This is not surprising given that English is the lingua franca of the software development industry. Additionally, many Polish graduates are fluent in another European language, such as German, French, or Spanish, which makes project communication more direct and accurate.
Modern and effective methodologies
The overall progressive outlook of Polish developers, together with their wide experience, means that more fit for purpose IT projects using agile methodologies such as scrum, are preferred for outsourced software development. The use of development sprints gives clients regular and quick results, allowing them greater input to the process in motion. Furthermore, the emphasis on close and direct communication (e.g. at Boldare, our clients can access directly any member of their project team without going through a manager or other gatekeeper – thus allowing them to talk directly to the team member most knowledgeable on a particular issue) creates a more effective working environment.
The other benefit of using the latest methodologies is the clear focus on the needs – both business and user – that the digital product must fulfil. This is the kind of business focus that is often lacking in less current project management methods. (For more, read the article Agile vs. waterfall on our website).
At Boldare, we are huge fans of agile methodologies and we take advantage of them on a daily basis. For an example, we kick off each new collaboration with a product discovery workshop in which we and the client discuss and agree the initial business idea, likely direction of development and the process the project will follow.
Physical location
This is more of a plus for potential European clients but the simple geography is that Poland is very centrally located within Europe and has modern transport links and infrastructure, such as the busy airports in Warszawa, Gdańsk, Kraków, Katowice and Poznań, making it highly accessible. For many clients, it’s relatively straightforward to visit their Polish outsourcing provider, or to have the provider visit them. At Boldare we visit our clients (and vice versa!) on a regular basis including the US, the Middle East and (our closest neighbour) Germany.
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Cultural compatibility
Again, a plus point most relevant to Western clients… the workplace culture of IT outsourcing companies in Poland is strongly Western in nature. The working week is Monday to Friday, the average hours are compatible with 9 to 5. The public holidays (Christmas, Easter, etc.) are the same.
Furthermore, while a European heritage does not impede working closely with clients from other cultures, when that heritage is shared with the client, common values and cultural references can streamline project communication and ongoing cooperation.
Convenient time zone
Once more, for European (and close by) clients, Poland’s time zone is highly convenient, allowing easy project communication using tools such as Hangouts or Slack without the inevitable time lag when responses are coming from halfway around the world. In any outsourced software development project, face to face communication is essential, whether in person or via video.
A shared legislative and regulatory framework
The final ‘European advantage’ is the shared legal framework. There’s no legislative incompatibility between Polish outsourced developers and a client in another EU country. This goes much further than the question of which country’s legal system applies in the case of a dispute. The reality is that EU standards have a wide, even global impact – for example,the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) lays down strict guidelines that all software developers must keep in mind. You can rest assured that we, Polish providers, are up to date with the necessary requirements and have a great deal of practice in meeting them.
One additional (and globally applicable) advantage of software development outsourcing to Poland is the cost. We won’t claim that Polish outsourced development is the cheapest in the world (India and China are generally significantly lower-priced) but we are very reasonable. After all, the average salary of a Polish software engineers can be half of their peers in Europe which keeps costs down. Balance that against the excellent quality of the final product and the professional way in which it is achieved and software development in Poland is highly competitive on grounds of value for money.
Conclusion
The development of any digital product is a challenge, and while working with an outsourced provider is often the ideal option that kind of relationship does open the door to misunderstandings, clashing priorities and other project risks. In other words, you need the best you can find and afford and it’s a fact that some of the world’s best software developers are found in Poland. The educational environment, the embracing of new technologies and methodologies, and ease of communication are just some of the reasons why you might find your perfect software development and IT outsourcing company in Poland.
If you want to check out Boldare’s software development practice, try Clutch.co for truly independent and expert reviews (we have 54 reviews on Clutch and we know how rigorous their process is).
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