By Oleksii Tsymbal, Chief Innovation Officer at MobiDev
You have probably heard about Ukraine in the latest worldwide news for nearly three months now due to the tension between Russia and Ukraine. Everyone has been on edge. Business owners in the U.S. and Western Europe monitor the situation closely, but do not rush to withdraw from deals and investments. Ukraine has proved to be a sought-after destination for software development and delivers great value to businesses across the globe.
There are a variety of reasons why businesses abroad may find it beneficial to outsource software development to Ukrainian IT firms. Thanks to a highly-skilled pool of English-speaking workers in tech, a focus on innovation, and a focus on finding solutions, Ukrainian firms are a competitive option for software development projects and staff augmentation.
What is the future of outsourced software development projects? Is it safe now to dedicate a project to a Ukrainian software development company amid the recent tension? Let’s try to tackle these difficult questions.
What impact did the conflict with Russia really cause?
The US and EU are the major markets for most Ukrainian IT companies, and the trend has grown over the past several years. At MobiDev, 70% of our clients are US-based companies, and these days clients received an official letter describing the situation and the MobiDev business contingency plan.
As you may know, the tension between Russia and Ukraine started in 2014 with the annexation of Ukrainian Crimea and the invasion of Russian troops. At that time, the conflict was unexpected. Still, with the diplomatic support of the United States and the European Union, Ukraine stopped the invasion and localized the conflict to a nearby border region.
Even under the conditions of the Russian invasion in 2014, at MobiDev we did not miss a single day of work on clients’ projects. There were no delays in delivery. And since then, many companies, including MobiDev, have put in place business contingency plans and have taken preventive actions not only to protect themselves, but also their partners.
This preemptive action paid off when the COVID-19 lockdown hit the world by storm. All business data and resources have been stored in the cloud with secure access. Because of this, the transition to remote work wasn’t challenging. Another point to consider is accessibility. To achieve this, we provided laptops to engineers to be flexible to work from any location.
We’re also ready to quickly relocate people to a safe place if the need arises. The company opened several offices in different parts of Ukraine. Each office is equipped with backup Internet channels to diversify connectivity. The company also has an office in Poland, a neighboring EU country. Needless to say, we’re ready for a worst-case scenario. Preparatory action will allow MobiDev to keep delivering projects without delay and keep our people safe. We’re glad that our clients are confident today and ready to launch new products with us. For example, in January 2022, we already started the development of three new products.
We’re aware of Russian troops near the border, but there’s no panic. Life and work goes on as usual. In fact, the actual situation is as calm as in previous years. The difference is the surging information war waged by Russia. This is not the first time they have done this to pressure nations before negotiations.
This story isn’t new. It happened at least twice, once in December 2018, and again in April 2021. Russia often utilizes Internet bots and other methods of manipulating the media through social networks. Combined with demonstrative military maneuvers near Ukrainian borders, Russia has tried to whip up panic and create tension without following through with violent action. It’s reasonable to assume that the recent tension won’t result in violence or disruption to tech corporations either.
Still, as a company, we’re monitoring the situation closely and are ready to take action to secure our team and business operations.
To summarize
Although the Ukrainian-Russian conflict has picked up steam in recent months, Ukrainian IT companies are prepared for the worst to safeguard the lives of their teams and keep projects on schedule. Thanks to a pool of highly trained English speaking technical workers in Ukraine, software development outsourcing to Ukraine is booming with activity despite the nearby conflict. With a focus on innovation and problem solving, Ukrainian tech firms like MobiDev are collaborating with clients abroad to solve real world problems and develop new technologies.
