Foreign companies in Ukraine with R&D centers

In this article, we provide a list of foreign countries that have already set up their R&D offices in Ukraine, overview some problems related to setting up a remote development center, and explain how to establish remote offshore development centers with the help of a trusted partner. 

Many companies like Google, Samsung, and Reddit have already opened remote development centers in Ukraine, and they are reaping the benefits of this well-thought-out decision. 

Ukrainian IT experts are in the global top 10 in terms of their skill level, so many global companies value Ukrainian software developers for their profound expertise. Foreign companies value quality, efficiency, and security when looking for an offshore development center location. With its strong educational background, reasonable costs, and drive for results, the Ukrainian IT industry would be a perfect fit for your business. 

 

• Ukraine’s tech potential has been steadily rising in recent years: Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, Dnipro, and Odesa house around 4,000 Ukrainian tech companies.

• Additionally, the Ukrainian tech pool accounts for software developers with a broad list of proficiencies: Java, JavaScript, PHP, and .NETsoftware programming languages, which attracts many foreign companies.

• Ukraine’s IT clusters are the business environments that pass on the needs of the IT industry to the government, so developers stay in touch with the foreign companies’ needs and latest trends.

Learn more about the benefits of hiring Ukrainian developers. 

• The total costs of hiring software developers in Ukraine is significantly lower than in the US, UK, Germany, and the Netherlands. For example, the total cost of hiring a software developer in the US would cost you $157,570, while hiring a Ukrainian developer with the same level of expertise would cost $45,000–50,000 a year.

• Despite a 7-to-10 hour time difference with the US, Ukrainian and US tech teams manage to communicate adequately by handing off the results when the working hours are over. In that way, US teams pass on their work to Ukrainian experts, increasing development time. European countries are only one hour behind Ukraine, leading to flawless communication and even better outcomes.

An R&D center is a tech company based in a foreign country that supplies you with services in software development. The idea is to open software development centers located in a country other than the main office. 

Countries hosting R&D centers are usually cheaper and allow companies to maintain and even improve their current performance by hiring more experienced professionals at a fair rate. A remote team of software engineers contributes to your project by using their extensive list of competencies and skills. 

Easy-peasy, huh? Although it might sound like it is, companies aiming to open offshore centers should understand the complexity of the task and dedicate their responsibilities to the most qualified experts in the field. 

Research & development centers have already opened their doors all across Asia and Europe. Today, we will open your eyes to the possibility of opening an offshore development center in Ukraine. We will also tell you about foreign companies that already have offices here, and explain why Grid Dynamics R&D center service will be the answer to all your questions.

• Snap
• Samsung
• Reddit
• Google

The Ukrainian IT industry is appealing for several global companies, so many didn’t resist setting up their offices in Kyiv and other big cities. Among the lucky ones who dared to enter the Ukrainian market are Oracle, Cisco, Opera, Huawei, Ubisoft, Samsung, Rakuten, Wix, and many others. They are now reaping the benefits of the decision.

• Snap

It makes sense for global corporations to open branches in Ukraine because it is relatively cost-effective, and they can find many highly experienced professionals. One famous international corporation opened its office in Ukraine several years ago. Snap (formerly Snapchat), which owns Snapchat messenger, Spectacles smart glasses, Bitmoji, and Zenly services, opened a representative office in Kyiv’s UNIT.City technopark, owned by a businessman Vasily Khmelnitsky.

• Samsung

Samsung Research and Development Institute Ukraine (SRK) is a local branch of Samsung Technologies, which opted for an opportunity to hire Ukrainian experts in cybersecurity, AI, virtual and augmented reality, new types of multimedia content, and “green” technologies. Therefore, the ambitious branch is hiring different experts while providing opportunities for growth, a learning environment, trainee programs, and many more.

• Reddit

Reddit is among the most popular communication platforms. However, it’s not that popular among Ukrainians. The R&D center located in Kyiv is currently hiring front-end and back-end developers to contribute to their “mission”—tell the Ukrainian audience more about the platform, develop Ukrainian-themed subreddits, and work on experimental technologies and resources. Reddit Ukraine is heavily funded, so they suggest competitive salaries and an opportunity to work in an international company.

• Google

I bet a mention of Google gained your interest, huh? Yes, there is a Google R&D center in Ukraine! In November 2019, Google bought CloudSimple, a company based in Kyiv. In January 2020, the employees of the Kyiv CloudSimple started working for the Kyiv-based Google office. It is now the 3rd of Google’s 8 offices in the CEE region with an R&D center. The other two are Google Poland and Google Hungary. So far, the Ukrainian branch has primarily dealt with local advertising providers. Currently, CloudSimple defines itself as a VMware Public Cloud service. VMWare products create virtual machines on physical servers. Virtualization allows businesses to deploy multiple independent and isolated projects (websites, mail servers, databases, etc.) within a single physical server and simplify the migration process between servers. CloudSimple has created a solution that allows you to conveniently migrate virtual machines designed by VMWare products from your physical servers to public clouds, such as Google Cloud or Microsoft Azure, while remaining in the familiar VMWare environment. As for now, it appears that Google is delighted with its choice to open an R&D center in Ukraine, and they’re just picking up momentum!

All these examples prove that opening an R&D center in Ukraine is a great opportunity. Why? It is efficient and cost-effective, and the Ukrainian IT community is willing to contribute to the development of your product.

But how can you set up an offshore development center and hire a core team of software engineers? You can do that by:

• using an outstaffing company services,

• searching and hire software developers directly from the market, and

• delegating work to software developers in an outsourcing company.

However, companies should be aware of the many things to consider for building offshore development centers. Even the most professional and experienced legal adviser working for a global company might face many problems, including:

• understanding the local legal system and carrying out legal processes individually. A trusted local partner or a business advisor will take the load off the company’s mind.

• carrying out procedures like equipment and furniture acquisition. They are significant headaches, so depending on a competent “companion” will be a relief.

• dealing with the language barrier, because most talent acquisition platforms are in Ukrainian or Russian.

• taking time to consider each candidature. Most local developers have many offers, so you are likely to lose out by wasting too much time.

These and other problems might make your experience opening an R&D office in Ukraine almost unbearable, but there is a solution. Grid Dynamics remote office service will take the load off your shoulders by ensuring smooth communication between you and software developers.

For more information, read the article: What’s the Cost of Opening an Offshore Development Center? A Detailed Calculation.

An offshore development center (ODC) model is a tool that allows businesses to minimize expenses on software development. Also, entering into a foreign company’s talent pool will grant a foreign company several benefits from lower labor costs to highly skilled software developers. 

We will help you deal with talent shortage by locating the best experts to help you fulfill your business-related needs. Ukraine has the highest workforce capacity of 250,000 IT experts in Europe, so we will quickly connect you with the best developers to satisfy your demands. 

All you need to do is provide our team with the specific requirements to evaluate their competency and set up interviews to help you build strong tech teams. We also assist the new employees working for you to make their experience as pleasing and charming as possible. Finally, we take responsibility for all the paperwork to make your “adventure” stress-free.

Although the process might be pretty complicated, Grid Dynamics’s remote office service dedicated team will help you deal with all potential issues linked to the development and management processes. 

By opening an R&D center, our experienced team of professionals does the following to improve your experience:

• helps you recruit experienced software engineers,

• manages all legal and documentation issues, 

• ensures smooth cooperation between the customer and the core team, and

• provides you with an office space and a workstation.

Helping you establish brand presence and locate a team of top-notch product developers is within our purview.

If you’re interested, feel free to contact us, and our experts will reach out to you shortly.