Today I would like to take you on a journey through software outsourcing in Ukraine. We’ll cover the large and small IT outsourcing companies in Ukraine, their services, primary industries they cater to, and their preferred marketing strategies.

Top IT Companies. Ukraine Market Overview

Let’s research the software development in Ukraine and the industry’s most prominent representatives. Every outsourcing development company falls under one of the categories:

1. Ukrainian companies;
2. International outsourcing establishments in Ukraine.

Top Of The Large Ukrainian Outsourcing Companies

Among the leaders of IT software outsourcing in Ukraine in 2018 that are renowned on the international arena are:

• SoftServe (Lviv-based, 4500+ employees);
• Ciklum (Kyiv-based, 2000+ employees);
• Infopulse (Kyiv-based, 1500+ employees);
• ELEKS (Lviv-based, 1000+ employees);
• Sigma Software (Kharkiv-based, 800+ employees);
• Intellias (Lviv-based, 800+ employees);
• Miratech (Kyiv-based, 700+ employees);
• N-iX (Lviv-based, 700+ employees).

These top IT outsourcing companies have establishments for outsourcing in Ukraine:

• EPAM (USA-based, 5500+ Ukrainian employees);
• Luxoft (Switzerland-based, 3500+ Ukrainian employees);
• TEAM International Services (USA-based, 300+ Ukrainian employees).

They concentrate the outsourcing software development in Ukraine in: Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Zaporizhzhya.

Most of these companies employ hundreds of specialists and work on six-figure projects for international corporations. Few of them would be interested in a small-time startup contract. If your budget is only 10,000 to 15,000 USD, and you have 2 to 3 months to get your idea off the ground, I suggest you steer clear of large providers and hire an outsourcing team of a smaller scale.

IT Outsourcing In Ukraine. Small to Medium-Size Companies

Let’s discuss the prospective nearshore software development partners for startups, their services, and the best ways to learn more about them before signing the contract. Small outsourcing companies are harder to find, as the media rarely mention their names. Clutch.co, GoodFirms.co, and UpWork.com are the best websites for selecting a Ukrainian web application development company with 250 employees or less.

To develop a list of 100 top outsourcing companies in Ukraine, I used these criteria:

• Ukraine-based headquarters
• Up to 250 employees
• The development services range including:
• Web development;
• Mobile development for iOS and Android;
• UI/UX Design;
• Quality Assurance.

The corporate website traffic analysis for the hundred companies using SimilarWeb and SEMrush indicated that less than 25% of Ukrainian IT outsourcing vendors possess monthly traffic of 250+ unique users. The average traffic rate is 20 to 50 users per month, most of them come from direct jumps. These numbers prove that 75% of small Ukrainian IT companies do not use the corporate website to attract new clients.

The in-depth traffic research of the remaining 25% of Ukrainian IT outsourcing vendors demonstrated common trends:

• Ukrainian IT vendors utilize two traffic generation strategies:
• Organic traffic generation through frequent content posting on multiple platforms;
• Offshore software development services advertising to attract clients seeking software outsourcing partners.
• January and February are the lowest traffic months, which means the low workload for IT vendors. As a result, this time of year is perfect for starting a new project at a low rate or getting discounts for the ongoing projects. Most companies are willing to negotiate a price when they have no other pressing tasks.
• 5% of the researched 100 companies spend over $1,000 on advertising per month. The cost per click (CPC) varies from $3.5 to $27.5.
• Only 10% of the chosen vendors get over 1,000 of organic users per month.
• Only 35% to 60% of organic leads belong to the target audience. Target regions include the USA, Canada, Australia, and Western European countries that make up the vast majority of Ukrainian outsourcing providers’ clients pool.
• For over 75% of small Ukrainian IT outsourcing vendors UpWork and personal connections are the only available customer acquisition channels.

With these numbers in mind, let’s take a closer look at the companies from the top 25% of the list. For this analysis, I have chosen seven vendors:

1. Yalantis (Kyiv and Dnipro-based, est. 2008, 150 employees);
2. RubyGarage (Dnipro-based, est. 2013, 150 employees);
3. Cleveroad (Kharkiv and Dnipro-based, est. 2011, 150 employees);
4. SteelKiwi (Odessa and Vinnitsa-based, est. 2011, 100 employees);
5. FreshCode (Zaporizhzhya-based, est. 2014, 110 employees);
6. GBKSOFT (Kyiv and Zaporizhzhya-based, est. 2011, 100 employees);
7. IT CRAFT (Kharkiv-based, est. 2001, 150 employees).

I concentrated on the companies that are based outside Kyiv, as regional development agencies offer lower rates. They get fewer clients, though their quality is on par with the capital-based companies. Startups should look for partners with up to 150 employees offering a full range of web app development services.

I have selected these outsourcing software development companies because they have significant experience and employ enough app developers in Ukraine to suit the startup’s needs. All seven of the providers outsource iOS development, produce turnkey Android and Web solutions, and offer ongoing support and maintenance after launch and deploy.

Each of the seven companies has completed 100+ projects for clients from all around the world, including the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, Denmark, Israel, UAE, Sweden, and more.

Over the last four years, UpWork competition has seen a dramatic increase along with the availability of vendors willing to offer low rates. As a result, Ukrainian companies looking for clients exclusively through UpWork waste an opportunity to get more orders. The web and mobile application development company shortlist I have chosen for the analysis concentrate their efforts on turning websites into customer acquisition tools.

Yalantis, RubyGarage, SteelKiwi, And Cleveroad Overview

To attract the target audience to their websites, these companies utilize blog articles and detailed case studies.

• Their blog posting plan includes 2 to 4 longreads per week.
• Articles are then posted via LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and independent platforms, like Medium. Posting frequency is 5–6 articles per week.
• The companies acquire backlinks to increase corporate websites’ domain authority. The backlink cost varies from $100 to $500, depending on the resource authority and the number of links acquired.
• The articles are aimed at industry representatives and offer business solutions. For instance, most of the Yalantis’ posts cover Mobile development for Logistics, Real Estate, Healthcare, and E-Commerce industries.

FreshCode, GBKSOFT, And IT CRAFT Overview

These companies’ customer acquisition strategy is two-fold and includes both organic traffic growth and advertising. Monthly advertising budgets exceed $2,000 and can vary depending on the need for new clients. Cost per click (CPC) is over $6.

These IT vendors specialize in Web development. Most clients are startups in need of MVP development with an average budget of $7,000 to $15,000. At the same time, the companies’ portfolios include high-profile clients, like KPMG, Intel, and Pepsi.

These companies on my software companies list possess experience in developing small to large-scale projects for:

• Real Estate;
• Education;
• Business Analytics;
• E-commerce.

Advertising campaigns lead potential customers to:

• Website pages offering
• Application development outsourcing services (Web or Mobile);
• Programming languages expertise;
• Specific types of applications and products development.
• Landing pages offering niche services and unique projects development.

Every two months on average, the vendors test marketing hypotheses and launch new landing pages for advertising and social media traffic.

To attract organic search traffic, the FreshCode, GBKSOFT, and IT CRAFT update blogs and publish articles via social media and industry-specific platforms. Backlinks are bought to improve corporate websites’ domain authority. These vendors do not limit themselves to attracting organic traffic, compared to the previous four. They publish 3 to 6 longreads per month.

Ukrainian IT Outsourcing Market In a Nutshell

Ukraine is among the top IT outsourcing countries though the vast majority of the contracts are reserved for large companies. Only 25% of the small and medium-sized IT vendors actively seek to increase customer acquisition scope, while others settle for freelance marketplaces with low rates and cutthroat competition.

Today we have identified several leading companies working on their online presence through corporate websites, SEO, and SMM.

How To Find The Right IT Outsourcing Provider in Ukraine?

There are many ways to reach the full stack development company you are interested in. You can use:

• Google search;
• Business platforms, like Clutch or GoodFirms;
• Social media outreach through professional profiles;
• Networking and personal recommendations.

If you have no time to spare, there are two more efficient ways to outsource web application development.

1. Reach out to the web development company’s CEO or CTO via LinkedIn or Facebook. This way you can talk directly to the top manager without going through the sales department first. Outline your project’s requirements, timeframe, and budget to quickly get an answer about whether the outsource web development company would be interested in developing your idea.
2. Visit IT trade shows and conventions to network with local agents of outsourcing companies from all over the world. Face-to-face communication will allow you to explain the particular requirements of your project and exchange contact information with a promising offshore software development company or ten.

I recommend you read our 6-step guide on choosing the perfect IT software outsourcing company to make an educated decision before you hire software developers.

Ready To Try IT Outsourcing In Ukraine?

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