The talent shortage in the IT industry is not a new challenge but recently the demand for software developers has increased dramatically. There are a number of positions for software engineers to fill in and in terms of dynamic digital transformation, the tech talent shortage in Europe has become real trouble. How to build IT project teams effectively? What is IT nearshoring and what are the main benefits thereof? Read on to find out!
Top 5 tech skills in demand
The accelerated digital transformation resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic has deepened the problem of access to IT talents on the market. As per the CompTIA’s 2024 Workforce and Learning Trends report, over 60% of companies plan to hire more IT staff in 2024.
According to the abovementioned report, the top 5 tech skills in demand in 2024 are those related to:
- Machine Learning
- Artificial Intelligence
- Cloud Computing
- Data Science
- Programming
Where to find them? IT Outsourcing in the nearshoring model seems to be an answer. IT nearshoring companies have all skills in demand on board, and what is more – they provide their experts with access to new tools for software development and state-of-the-art solutions.
What is IT nearshoring?
IT nearshoring is one of the outsourcing types and means delegating tasks related to software development to a company operating in a country located nearby. An organization, by moving its operations to a neighboring country, gains access to niche IT competencies.
For example, organizations in Germany, United Kingdom, or Sweeden can search for IT nearshoring partners in the CEE region. Over years, Poland has become one of the top destinations for nearshore-it and Polish developers are now held in high esteem because of their level of competence in programming, their English proficiency, and wide-ranging soft skills.
5 major benefits of IT nearshoring
Convenient cooperation models – nowadays European IT outsourcing companies offer convenient models of cooperation, such as Staff Augmentation, Project Delivery, Managed Services. The external company can support you by providing the entire dedicated team for your IT project or even set up a fully functional subsidiary of your company as part of the Build-Operate-Transfer model.
- Similar working culture – deciding on IT nearshoring, you can rest assured that the project will be carried out by a company with a similar approach to work. In IT nearshoring projects communication barriers are minimized because of similar working hours and convenient time zones.
- Agile project management – according to the “State of Agile Report”, 64% of companies claim that the Agile model has a positive impact on business and IT alignment. Agility in IT projects improves efficiency and boosts product development. IT outsourcing companies in Central Eastern Europe have the know-how and use best practices in Agile Nearshore Software Development. Scrum, SAFe, Kanban are some of the most willingly used Agile frameworks as well as increasingly important DevOps culture.
- Quick team setup – nearshoring partners can offer you access to the vast talent pool of IT professionals. For example, in case of cooperation with JCommerce (Polish IT company and IT nearshoring partner), your IT project can kick-off even in 2 weeks and they are able to provide a core of the team consisting of 2-3 specialists in an instance.
- Reasonable prices – IT nearshoring companies can offer a wide range of software development services (including nearshore software development services by azumo.com, mobile and web development, testing services, Business Intelligence services) All of that at affordable prices. Not only gain you access to the competencies in demands but also get a cost-effective solution allowing you to scale project teams as you need.
What characterizes a perfect IT nearshoring partner?
Taking into account the number of software houses and new IT companies across Europe, it is not easy to find the right IT nearshoring partner for software development projects. How to minimize the risk? Here are some guidelines on what you should pay attention to:
- Proven experience – your potential IT nearshoring partner offers a wide range of IT services at affordable prices? That’s great but do not forget to ensure that they also have experience in a given area. Check case studies on their website and familiarize yourself with testimonials and references written by their clients. It is also a good practice to check their Clutch profile where clients share their opinions on IT companies. Are they satisfied with the cooperation? What was the decisive factor while choosing this particular IT company? You will find all of this on the Clutch reference portal.
- Good communication skills – software development is more than just coding. Project work is teamwork, which is essential also in the context of the projects carried out in distributed teams. While searching for an IT partner, make some effort to check whether their specialists communicate well in English and if they have the ability to work in a team. Check if they carry out multinational IT projects and if so – how many of them they have to their credit.
- Availability of IT experts – experienced IT companies take care to offer the possibility of scaling teams and provide a number of competences. While making research, pay attention to the availability of IT specialists. Check how big the company is and how many developers do they have? Also, ensure they can provide the competences you need in a timely manner.
- Organizational culture – last but not least, it is important so that an IT company had defined an organizational culture, including its mission, values, and strengths. It proves your potential IT partner’s maturity and gives you an opportunity to verify whether their corporate culture is similar to yours. All of that makes cooperation easier.
Building IT teams in Europe – the summary
In the era when digitization is gathering in pace, IT talent shortage is becoming even more challenging than ever before. Nowadays IT companies can give a hand with software development, from the recruitment process, via project implementation and maintenance of the given solution. IT outsourcing companies in Central and Eastern Europe, like Poland, with their vast IT talent pool, are a good detitanation for IT nearshoring projects.
