How to Find Affordable Software Engineers?

Be it mobile applications, a website, or a robust business system - their journey from an idea to a fully-fledged software solution takes engineers with relevant skills to go smoothly. Often, you will find yourself in a position where moving forward without external partners will jeopardize the whole project. But how to find affordable software engineers in the age of skills shortage?

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Finding affordable software engineers step by step

There’s plenty of aspects to take into consideration when it comes to looking for the right software team. Cost is usually an important factor, but actually finding the right value for money can be time-consuming and frustrating when done wrong. To help you avoid fishing in the ocean and increase your chances of finding a software company tailored to your needs and budget, we prepared a list of tips on approaching this challenge.

Follow these simple steps and find a dedicated software team that will deliver the business results you’re looking for:

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1. Prepare yourself

Before going out to the market looking for affordable software vendors, understand what requirements you have exactly. Think of aspects such as:

• Domain of the project
• The business goal of this investment
• Available budget
• Timeline with deadlines for delivery
• Initial scope of the project

Answers to the questions above will form a solid base for conversations and indicate directions where to look for suppliers. Thanks to this homework, the whole process of choosing an IT partner will be smoother and you’ll make sure you’re comparing offers covering the same aspects.

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2. Choose the best location for software outsourcing

If your business is based in the US or in Western Europe, finding a local partner might be too expensive. Not to mention the talent pool is very limited. Going offshore, to China, India or the Philippines was a good idea a few years ago, but now software nearshoring is the hottest trend to follow.

Finding an IT team in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) brings plenty of benefits to the table. Convenient time zone, no language barrier, ease of travel, political and economic stability - all these advantages make this location only gain grounds!

When looking at the list of most attractive countries to outsource IT to, Poland definitely tops the rankings. It’s not just our opinion, the numbers speak for themselves:

Poland is one of the best nearshoring locations: it is ranked 98 points on a 100-degree scale by Hackerrank.

Poland has the best Java developers in the world.

The biggest number of programmers in Europe is in Poland, as well as the largest number of ICT graduates, which makes the talent pool really vast. There’s more than 255k programmers in Poland and every year additional 15k ICT graduates from 31 universities with tech faculties across the country join the market.

Poland has a high English language proficiency score.

The rates of software development outsourcing in Poland are really competitive.

Great value for money, reliability, convenience, and talent pool make Poland a natural go-to destination when it comes to hiring a dedicated IT team. And since choosing a location is no longer an issue, in the next steps let’s see how to evaluate potential partners.

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3. Create a long and short list of companies.

Since you already know where to look for IT partners, it’s time to do some digging and create firstly a long list of software vendors to approach. Look for companies that provide relevant scale, experience, and skills on board. Filling the list with software houses is easy:

• Ask your network for recommendations on Linkedin,

Research websites with rankings of top companies in given region, including rates,

• Just google!

Aim to have at least 10-15 companies on the long list to then narrow it down during a verification process to a short list of 3-5 best matching dedicated teams.

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4. Invest time in verification

Once you have a list of potential software companies, it is crucial to invest time in the evaluation and do proper due diligence at this stage of research.

Read case studies of similar projects in relevant domains and tech stacks to prove they have the experience and skills you need.

Send out RFIs to better understand how each company runs their business.

Ask for a call with a current customer in order to have an unmanipulated insight into actual cooperation with the company.

Ask for a rate card to understand if they fit your budget.

Schedule a visit in their office to get the feeling of the company, see if they are trustworthy, and start building the relationship.

Send out a similar set of questions to chosen companies and then collect and review answers that will form a nice base for a potential meeting or an introductory call. Remember, that asking the right questions will bring you closer to finding an affordable software company for your project and will avoid frustration in the future.

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5. Negotiate

Bear in mind that rate cards and price lists are almost always negotiable. Especially if you included several companies in the process, you can expect them to put forward favorable rates that will set them apart from the competition. At the end of the day, the affordability and the overall cost attractiveness of the proposal directly impact the bottom line.

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Choosing an affordable software house is easy!

Finding affordable software developers can be a daunting challenge and a time-consuming process. Since you’re after a solution that will be of good quality and at the same time will meet your budget, investing time and effort in the research process is very important.

It is also good to remember that costs should not always be the most important and decisive factor. A partner with relevant skills in desired technologies, experience in your project’s domain, and proficiency in remote working can be priceless. Also, costs lower than the market average should warn your attention - don’t go cheap as it usually means bad quality that will always bring unpredictable expenses down the road.

Most importantly - don’t rush and don’t be hasty! Finding and choosing an affordable software engineering company must take time, but you’ll surely see the return of this time investment.

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