8 Benefits of Outsourcing Software Development to Poland
Poland is increasingly being recognized as a top destination for software development outsourcing, with growing success rates. The key to this success lies in finding the right partner company. Companies looking for talented developers, fast results, and reasonable costs should include Poland in their search. Polish developers bring up-to-date skills and expertise, manage projects using the latest methodologies, and have a strong track record in the industry — particularly for clients in Europe and neighboring countries.
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Outsourcing is a bit like dating — it can be difficult to find the right partner. And just like dating, it helps to know what you’re looking for so you recognize it when you find it.
Why do companies choose software outsourcing instead of doing it in-house? Usually it’s one of three reasons: they lack time, they lack skills, or they lack the money to establish and maintain their own in-house developers.
As more and more companies outsource their software development, Poland is increasingly recognized for its skilled developers. According to a recent report by Alcor, the IT outsourcing services market in Poland is experiencing significant growth, underscoring the rising demand for Polish tech talent. This popularity is no surprise, as English is the lingua franca of the software development industry. In addition, many Polish graduates are fluent in other European languages such as German, French, or Spanish, which facilitates direct and accurate project communication.
Defining our terms: “Outsourcing”
Before we get to the main part of this article, let’s make sure we all mean the same thing when we read the word outsourcing.
The simplest definition states that outsourcing is the use of external companies or organizations to provide specialized services that you cannot or do not want to perform in-house. In other words, an outsourced software development company will build, test, and deliver your app, website, or platform for you.
The outsourcing company provides custom software as agreed with its contractor. Depending on the agreement, it may also handle future development of the app (known as scaling) or its support — both technical and business — and that is also what we offer our partners. Outsourcing can also be understood as a broader concept, not just the delivery of simple software solutions, but also dealing with other software- or business-related aspects. This is how we understand software outsourcing at Boldare.
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To break the definition down a little further, “offshore” refers to outsourcing to a provider in a different and distant country, while “nearshore” describes outsourcing to a nearby region or country. Depending on your location, Poland can be an offshoring or nearshoring destination and offers clear advantages no matter where you are — although Polish software services often bring the greatest benefit to European partners and clients.
An experienced company will provide its services across different time zones without difficulty. Boldare has built innovative products for companies in the United States, Canada, and Australia with no timezone issues.
What are clients looking for in IT outsourcing — Poland?
As mentioned above, a company looking for IT outsourcing services in Poland needs to be clear about exactly what is driving their search — if they want to find the perfect match.
Most prospective clients face one or more of the following challenges:
- Talent — Simply put, software development is not their business and they don’t have the necessary skills in-house.
- Cost — The resources required to recruit (and train) an in-house team don’t offer good value for money.
- Time — The digital product needs to be ready by a specific date, and any attempt to meet that date without external help runs into one of the two difficulties above.
- Trust — Launching a digital product is usually a high-profile event for any company, and there is the question of who can be trusted to deliver that product.
8 reasons why it’s worth choosing software outsourcing to Poland
Eastern Europe — and Poland in particular — has established itself as the global number one for IT outsourcing. Here are eight reasons why; the first four are universal, while the latter four apply more to clients in and around Europe.
The software development talent pool
Poland is renowned for its software development talent, and this is influenced by the focus of its education system. Technical skills are an increasingly popular field of study, and technical universities focused on STEM subjects can be found in the larger cities (18 public universities and five private ones, to be precise). A New York Times article a few years ago noted that 40% of people in Poland aged 25–34 hold a university degree. What’s more, this one country produces 10% of all IT graduates in the European Union (approximately 40,000 graduates per year), and McKinsey reports that the Polish outsourcing market as a whole employs 160,000 people — a figure expected to rise to 600,000 by 2025.
Modern skills
Graduating is all well and good, but we’ve all met people with a university education and zero ability to translate it into practical skills. The fact is that Polish software skills are often cited as among the best in the world.
According to HackerRank’s latest analysis, Poland remains a top contender on the global programming scene. Polish developers consistently rank highly in international coding competitions such as Microsoft’s Imagine Cup, Google’s Code Jam, and TopCoder. This strong performance underscores the excellent technical education and skill development in Poland, making it a preferred destination for software development outsourcing.
The success of Polish developers in these global challenges demonstrates their ability to tackle complex programming tasks effectively. This makes Poland an attractive option for companies looking to outsource their software projects.
Many Polish providers can also draw on skills acquired while developing custom or complex software solutions for specific industry sectors — for example, at Boldare we have successfully worked across various areas including green energy, IT services, travel and leisure, and e-commerce.
The quality of work delivered by Polish developers (whether frontend, backend, QA, design, etc.) is the foundation of their global reputation. The impressive figures above are further reinforced by the fact that Polish developers are highly focused on using the latest tools, technologies, and practices on behalf of their clients.
Language and communication skills
A language difference can be a significant barrier between a client and an outsourcing provider. However, Poland ranked 13th out of 113 countries in 2024 on the global EF English Proficiency Index, which makes software outsourcing to Poland particularly noteworthy. This is no surprise, as English is the lingua franca of the software development industry. In addition, many Polish graduates are fluent in another European language such as German, French, or Spanish, making project communication more direct and accurate.
Modern and effective methodologies
The overall progressive mindset of Polish developers, combined with their broad experience, means that more fit-for-purpose IT projects with agile methodologies such as Scrum are preferred for outsourced software development. The use of development sprints gives clients regular and rapid results and allows them greater input into the ongoing process. Furthermore, the emphasis on close and direct communication (e.g. at Boldare, our clients can access every member of their project team directly, without going through a manager or other gatekeeper — meaning they can speak directly with the team member who is best informed on a particular topic) creates a more effective working environment.
The other advantage of using the latest methodologies is the clear focus on the needs — both business and user-related — that the digital product must meet. That’s the kind of business focus that is often missing from less current project management approaches. (For more, read the Agile vs. Waterfall article on our website.)
At Boldare, we are big fans of agile methodologies and use them every day. For example, we start every new collaboration with a Product Discovery Workshop, in which we and the client discuss and agree on the original business idea, the likely direction of development, and the process the project will follow.
Physical location
This is more of a plus for potential European clients, but the simple geography is that Poland is very centrally located in Europe and has modern transport connections and infrastructure — with busy airports in Warsaw, Gdańsk, Kraków, Katowice, and Poznań — making it highly accessible. For many clients, it is relatively easy to visit their Polish outsourcing provider or have the provider visit them. At Boldare, we visit our clients (and vice versa!) regularly, including in the USA, the Middle East, and (our nearest neighbor) Germany.
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Cultural compatibility
Again, a benefit most relevant to western clients… the workplace culture of IT outsourcing companies in Poland is strongly western in character. The working week is Monday to Friday, average hours are compatible with 9 to 5. Public holidays (Christmas, Easter, etc.) are the same.
Moreover, while a European heritage doesn’t hinder close collaboration with clients from other cultures, shared values and cultural references — when that heritage is shared with the client — can streamline project communication and ongoing collaboration.
Favorable time zone
Once again, for European (and nearby) clients, Poland’s time zone is very convenient, enabling easy project communication using tools like Hangouts or Slack without the inevitable delay when responses come from the other side of the world. In any outsourced software development project, face-to-face communication is essential, whether in person or via video.
A shared legal and regulatory framework
The final ‘European advantage’ is the shared legal framework. There is no legal incompatibility between Polish outsourced developers and a client in another EU country. This goes much further than the question of which legal system applies in the event of a dispute. The reality is that EU standards have a broad, even global impact — for example, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) sets strict guidelines that all software developers must keep in mind. You can be confident that we, as Polish providers, are up to date with the necessary requirements and have plenty of practice in meeting them.
An additional (and globally applicable) advantage of outsourcing software development to Poland is cost. We won’t claim that Polish outsourced development is the cheapest in the world (India and China are generally significantly cheaper), but we are very competitive. After all, the average salary of a Polish software engineer can be half that of counterparts elsewhere in Europe, which keeps costs low. Balance that against the excellent quality of the end product and the professional manner in which it is achieved, and software development in Poland is highly competitive in terms of value for money.
Conclusion
Developing any digital product is a challenge, and while working with an outsourced provider is often the ideal option, this type of relationship opens the door to misunderstandings, conflicting priorities, and other project risks. In other words, you need the best you can find and afford — and the fact is that some of the world’s best software developers can be found in Poland. The educational environment, the adoption of new technologies and methodologies, and the ease of communication are just some of the reasons why you might find your perfect software development and IT outsourcing company in Poland.
If you’d like to review Boldare’s software development track record, try Clutch.co for truly independent and expert reviews (we have 54 reviews on Clutch and we know how rigorous their process is).
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