Offering affordable top notch IT specialists, Ukraine attracts more and more businesses considering outsourcing their IT services and locating their core IT development in Ukraine.

Some time ago we have posted a series of posts about the regional structure of IT outsourcing industry in Ukraine and the largest outsourcing centers in terms of the number of outsourcing companies and number of IT specialists involved in IT outsourcing: Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, and Crimea cluster (includes cities Kherson, Mykolaiv, Simferopol, and Sevastopol).

Today’s post will be devoted to the Crimea cluster that should be also mentioned among the main outsourcing centers in Ukraine.

The Crimea Cluster

The Crimea cluster unites four cities of the South Ukraine and the Crimea. They are Kherson, Mykolaiv, Sevastopol, and Simferopol. These are smaller cities comparatively to other outsourcing centers, but there is a large pool of IT workforce centered there and a lot of outsourcing companies operate or have their R&D offices in the cities of the Crimea cluster.

These four cities together have 40 universities that allow fueling the outsourcing sector with skilled specialists. There are 7 universities in Mykolaiv, the main ship building center of the Black Sea, 8 universities in Kherson, important port on the Black Sea and Dnieper River, 8 universities in Sevastopol, one of two cities with special status in Ukraine (the other is Kyiv), and 17 universities in Simferopol, the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

About 1,000 IT specialists are involved in IT outsourcing sector of the Crimea cluster. The cities included to the Crimea cluster are the smallest comparatively to other cities mentioned. Thus they have the smallest available IT talent pool and the cheapest life rates. For example, the salaries of IT specialists in these cities are 30% lower than those in Kyiv.

It is not a problem to travel to the cities of the Crimea cluster. The cities are located not far from each other and have convenient train and road connections. Simferopol’s airport operates both domestic and international flights.

The availability of IT workforce and lower salaries and market entry costs make this region very attractive for outsourcing and setting up the R&D offices.

List of  outsourcing companies in cities of the Crimea cluster from catalogue ITOlist.eu: