A wide range of US and UK companies see countries of Eastern Europe and Asia as appealing destinations for IT outsourcing. Such countries as Ukraine and the Philippines offer access to skilled and qualified workforce and provide favourable conditions for establishing a viable partnership with a software development provider. Combination of these factors guarantees timely and efficient project delivery while meeting the highest quality standards.
Ukraine is one of the most popular IT outsourcing countries in Eastern Europe, while the Philippines is one of the most attractive offshoring destinations in Asia.
To learn more about IT outsourcing in Asia, read this post.
To help you make the ultimate choice in favour of the country which best meets your needs, we have carried out an analysis of IT outsourcing services in Ukraine and the Philippines.
IT industry in Ukraine
IT outsourcing industry in Ukraine is developing at a breakneck pace. It engages more clients, investment, and talented engineers every year. There are over 192,000 IT specialists working in 1,600+ IT outsourcing companies in Ukraine.
What’s more, Ukraine has a solid educational background and strong technical heritage. The country has been listed as the top one in CEE by the number of graduates who join the workforce market. Every year, 16,000+ ICT students graduate from higher education establishments. Additional, more than 23,000 specialists graduate annually with STEM-based degrees.
Around 80% of developers have a conversational level of English and a good command of tech vocabulary. Most companies in Ukraine provide English language courses to their employees. What’s more, it is often obligatory to attend the courses and constantly upgrade the English language knowledge.
As a result of the rapid sourcing industry development, Ukraine was named the Offshoring Destination of the Year by Global Sourcing Association (GSA) and was included in Gartner's Top 30 offshoring and outsourcing destinations. What’s more, 15 companies from Ukraine (including N-iX) were rated among top global IT service providers.
There is a wide range of private IT organizations which promote IT industry in Ukraine, such as Lviv IT Cluster, BrainBasket Foundation, Kyiv High Tech Cluster, Kharkiv IT Cluster, and more. Ukraine hosts many countrywide and international IT events and conferences across a wide range of technical and business topics.
Also, the country has many international airports and an easy transportation access to major cities in Europe, the USA, and Asia. Ukraine is 2-3 hours away from the UK and other Western European countries. Time zone is GMT+2, and business hours in Ukraine and Europe virtually overlap. Another big advantage of the partnership with Eastern European companies is cultural proximity, which helps to prevent potential communication bottlenecks.
Many global companies across a wide range of industries have opened their R&D centers in Ukraine. They include such market leaders as Microsoft, Samsung Electronics, Apple, Wargaming, Boeing, Skype, eBay, Siemens, IBM, and more.
IT outsourcing to the Philippines
The Philippines is one of the leading IT outsourcing destinations in Asia. Many companies choose the Philippines as their IT outsourcing destination as it houses a wide range of software development providers and gives access to a great IT talent pool. Furthermore, the industry is propelled by the strong governmental support.
According to the data provided by PSIA (Philippine Software Industry Association), the country is home to about 190,000 developers, and the number is predicted to rise to 210,000 by 2022. The value of the software industry in the Philippines amounts to $3.2B, and it is expected to grow up to USD $5B by 2020.
PSIA president Jonathan De Luzuriaga stated that the Philippines global IT market share will go up from the 12% to about 15%. As World Bank estimates, the IT industry in the Philippines will produce about 11% of the overall country’s GDP.
What’s more, the development of the industry is enticed by the government support initiatives such as the one granted by the Board of Investments (BOI) and incentives under the Philippine Export Zones Authority (PEZA).
Most of the population in the Philippines is fluent in English, and that is a beneficial factor for successful cooperation. In fact, a 2012 Global English study findings placed the Philippines among 30 countries with the largest number of specialists fluent in English.
According to A.T.Kearney’s report, the country is advancing in such domains as engineering and legal BPO. However, the unstable political situation causes the economy of the Philippines to slow down.
Wrap-up
Both Ukraine and the Philippines are great IT outsourcing destinations thanks to extensive IT talent pool and favourable business climate. Many European and US companies outsource software development to these countries or have their R&D centers there. However, the countries of Eastern Europe including Ukraine have a more familiar mindset in terms of communication and doing business. Cooperation with Ukrainian IT vendors is also more convenient thanks to the slight time difference and easy transportation access to any point in the world.
In case you have any further questions, please contact our experts.
