Increased demand for skilled workforce and limited access to the talent pool are two key challenges in the global IT industry. According to the McKinsey report, 87% of the companies worldwide admit that they have already faced the talent gap issue or are likely to deal with it in the future. So, what is the way out of the situation?
Outsourcing software development to distant locations might help you save time and money on staffing. One of the prominent outsourcing destinations you might consider extending your team to is Eastern Europe. According to the ABSL report, over 710K of skilled developers engaged in IT outsourcing reside in the region. If you search for more specific coordinates on the EE outsourcing map, you might want to explore Ukraine, in particular, its biggest IT hub — Lviv. With an active engineering community and congregation of top engineering vendors, this city has become a new center for tech innovations. But how to find your best engineering partner in Lviv that will combine both top-notch expertise and solid experience? In this article, you will read about ten credible Lviv IT companies and learn how to choose the vendor that will match your unique requirements.
Continue reading: Top IT outsourcing destinations of Eastern Europe: Market report
Selection criteria
To help you choose from numerous trustworthy IT companies in Lviv, we created a list of the ten best local software development vendors. To make up the selection, we referred to Clutch as a credible source of reviews and rankings for tech companies. Here are our search criteria that helped us distinguish the most reliable candidates:
- First of all, we searched for top software development companies with R&D centers in Lviv that employ more than 250 tech specialists. Our list includes only mid- and large-size enterprises since such vendors usually provide quick access to a lot more IT experts as well as have their development processes optimized.
- We are confident in the companies’ credibility since all of the vendors on the list have at least three verified reviews on Clutch. Moreover, we selected only companies with the highest review scores (4.7+/5).
- Our selection includes only vendors that have 10+ years of proven industry experience.
- While choosing among the variety of Lviv IT companies, we opted for engineering vendors that have the extensive portfolios of successfully delivered projects.
Lviv — a major hub for software developers in Eastern Europe
Lviv is a prominent spot on the map of software development destinations. Located in the heart of Eastern Europe, the city offers promising career opportunities and has an active community of tech specialists. In 2021, DOU named Lviv the second most comfortable city for IT specialists in Ukraine. The analysis was based on numerous criteria including average compensation for tech professionals, career prospects, cost of living, CS education opportunities, and many more.
Tech community in Lviv is thriving. The center for engineering innovations and industry development in the region is Lviv IT Cluster. N-iX and other cofounding companies take an active part in the organization’s projects. Among the most prominent initiatives are Lviv IT Cluster Academy, EduFund, and IT Expert, all aimed at promotion of CS education and its modernization in state educational institutions.
Moreover, being home to around 180 IT companies, Lviv provides tech specialists with many career prospects. Only during 2020-2021, there were over 14,700 open vacancies in the IT industry. In addition, a big number of software developers residing in the city have high IT competence levels. As of 2021, Lviv IT Cluster Research showed that most of the Lviv-based engineers have the Middle level of qualification (41%), followed by Seniors (25%).
Since the start of full-scale Russian aggression against Ukraine (February 24th), Lviv became the temporary place to stay for tech specialists from all around the country. As stated in the study by DOU, since the outbreak of the invasion, the number of IT specialists residing in Lviv has tripled and now has reached around 100K. Despite the situation in the country, relocation allowed software developers to continue delivering amidst a war: up to 90% of Ukrainian specialists are already effectively working on their projects.
Related: What is it at stake for the European tech industry in the light of war in Ukraine?
Outsourcing software development to Lviv: IT companies to consider
According to Clutch, there are 180 IT companies in Lviv that provide high-quality engineering services. Around 10% of them are mid- and large-size vendors that can provide you with the required talent.
1. N-iX
N-iX is a trustworthy software development company with around 21 years of experience in custom software development for clients from Western Europe and North America. Being one of the largest IT companies in Lviv, the vendor staffs over 2,200 well-versed tech specialists with expertise in big data and data analytics, cloud development, business intelligence, embedded software implementation, and IoT.
The vendor’s reliability is proven by numerous long-term projects for manufacturing, healthcare, telecom, agritech, and other business verticals. N-iX established long-term partnerships with multinational market leaders, including Fortune 500 enterprises. Since the company was set up in 2002, it has delivered projects to over 30 prominent market players, namely, Currencycloud, Fluke, Ringier, AVL, and many others.
In addition, N-iX is a knowledge-sharing space for a vibrant local community of developers. During the series of N-iX Meetups, the company’s specialists share their best practices concerning data science, .NET, front end, and other expertise. Moreover, the company supports local higher educational institutions: N-iX has opened an Innovation Lab for CS students at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv.
2. Yalantis
An example of a successful mid-size Lviv IT company, the vendor has delivered many fruitful projects to market leaders in supply chain, communication, and healthcare business verticals. Their teams are experienced in cloud, DevOps, business intelligence, big data, IoT, high load systems implementation, and UI/UX design.
3. ELEKS
Among other engineering vendors in Lviv, companies like this stand out for their experience—the tech enterprise was founded in 1991. Over 30 years on the market, the company opened its R&D centers in Estonia, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, and other locations. Apart from custom software development, their tech specialists offer help with product design, application development, cloud migration, and more.
4. SoftServe
With over 12,000 skilled software developers on board, this is the largest IT vendor on the list. The company was founded in 1993 and since then, has earned a reputation of a reliable solutions provider for healthcare, retail, electronics, and many other industries. The vendor’s key focus areas are cloud development, DevOps, big data, IoT, AI, and machine learning.
5. Symphony Solutions
This is another reliable IT company in Lviv that provides software development services to clients from gaming, healthcare, and e-learning business verticals. The vendor employs over 600 tech specialists with expertise in the agile development of custom solutions. Apart from Lviv, the tech enterprise also has R&D centers in Amsterdam, Krakow, and many other international IT hubs.
6. Skelia
One more trusted IT company from Lviv, this vendor, was founded in 2008 and since then has handled engineering projects for 70+ clients. Their teams implemented innovative solutions for e-commerce, digital media, banking, and other domains. The vendor’s service list spans mobile app development, robotics process automation, software testing, and IT consulting.
7. Abto Software
Being one of the mid-size IT companies, this engineering vendor staffs over 250 tech professionals. This software development enterprise has established cooperations with clients from the EU and North America. Their industry expertise covers government, fintech, healthcare, real estate, e-commerce, and other domains.
8. Sigma Software
Among well-known IT companies in Lviv, this is one of the leaders in terms of talent pool accessibility. The vendor staffs over 1,500 tech experts well-versed in application development, embedded and IoT implementation, automated testing, and UI/UX design. Over 20+ years in the market, the company has also opened offices in Poland, Sweden, and other countries around the globe.
9. Perfectial
In Lviv, IT companies of a medium size have proven to be reliable outsourcing partners. Staffing around 500 tech professionals, this vendor has a solid experience in blockchain, data science, chatbot development, and enterprise applications. Its main client focus is mid-size vendors from the US that specialize in advertising, finance, retail, and real estate domains.
10. TEAM International
This software development vendor has over 30 years of experience in the international market. Their team counts over 1,000 IT specialists that can help with data analytics services, application customization, and IT consulting. 50% of the company’s engineering efforts are dedicated to custom software development, making it the vendor’s key expertise area.
How to select a trustworthy IT company in Lviv?
It might become a challenge to choose among a wide range of reliable Lviv IT companies. To help you select the best candidate for cooperation, we listed key criteria that distinguish a credible partner:
- Vendor’s size. Mid- and large-size companies usually have available human resources and optimized development processes. Therefore, while outsourcing software engineering services, we recommend going for larger vendors if you want to launch your project within a minimal time span.
- Relevant tech expertise. Check whether the company’s engineers have a solid knowledge of the technologies you require. Before embarking on a partnership, write the list of skills you will need and look for the matching expertise on the vendor’s website.
- Cybersecurity guidelines. The next step is to find out about the security policies the selected company adheres to. Among trusted cybersecurity guidelines are ISO 27001 and ISO 27002 frameworks, as well as GDPR and HIPAA regulations.
- Rich portfolio. Research the company’s previous cooperations. It will be a huge plus if your potential partner already has fruitful cooperations in a similar domain.
- Client reviews. The client testimonials and verified reviews on Clutch will tell you everything about the company’s market reputation.
More on the topic: IT development outsourcing guide: How to partner with the best provider?
Why choose N-iX as your outsourcing partner in Lviv?
- N-iX is a trusted European IT vendor that has been on the engineering market for more than 21 years and has provided custom solutions for manufacturing, telecom, healthcare, agritech, retail, energy, and many more business verticals.
- Their tech experts have sound knowledge of cloud solutions development, embedded software implementation, big data and data analytics, business intelligence, Internet of Things, UI/UX design, and many more.
- The company’s client list spans international market players, such as Fluke, Currencycloud, OpenText, PrettyLittleThing, and many Fortune 500 companies.
- N-iX complies with the globally recognized cybersecurity guidelines and policies, namely, ISO 9001:2015, ISO 27001:2013, GDPR, and PCI DSS.
- The vendor has established cloud partnerships with Microsoft and AWS.
- N-iX is well-recognized in the industry, being included in the Top 100 Global Outsourcing ranking by IAOP, as well as listed as one of the top Modern Application Development Services providers in the Forrester report.
