3 success stories of Dutch companies that benefit from working with Ukrainian developers

40% of Dutch businesses see talent shortage as the main obstacle standing in the way of growth and expansion of the software development industry in the country. The situation is further complicated by the competition for developers with large companies such as Coolblue, Shell, bol.com, etc. that dominate the market. As a result, the cost of attracting and hiring programmers keeps growing, making local recruitment almost an inaccessible luxury for small and medium sized Dutch companies. Keep reading to find out how these 3 Netherlands-based businesses managed to combat their recruitment hardships via hiring Ukrainian developers.

Rotterdam-based Staffing and Recruitment Software

The company hired 6 Ukrainian developers in just 3 months, which wouldn’t have been possible in the Netherlands. 

Company size 51-200 employees

Problem

In the Netherlands, the recruitment process of any company starts with a single question – “Are you attractive as an employer to potential employees?” Altogether, only 5% of businesses on the market can answer positively. Carerix has 70 people all in all, but it’s not enough to be attractive for IT professionals in the Netherlands, because there are companies such as Coolblue, Shell, bol.com and others that dominate the Dutch market. They wear famous names and have well-known brands, so tech professionals eagerly accept job offers from those enterprises and in most cases ignore smaller and less known companies.  

Solution

Instead of trying to hire in the Netherlands, Carerix opted for Ukrainian developers. Carerix doubled their team 2 years ago, hiring a completely new team of 6 people. It took only 3 months to onboard 6 Ukrainian programmers, which could have taken years in the Netherlands. Ukrainian developers are responsible for providing smart solutions via implementing new features and functions in Carerix. Arco Westbroek, Head of Products at Carerix, admits that the key to successful cooperation with remote developers is to inspire employees on a product level. 

Carerix Insights 

• A lot of Dutch companies start in the Netherlands, but in fact they’ll have to choose – stay small locally or opt for outsourcing and grow. 
• If you’re looking to start remote cooperation, make sure you have everything documented in English.  
• Don’t choose outsourcing to cut costs, instead, think of the flexibility and capacities you’ll acquire by cooperating with remote programmers.  
• Becoming successful with a remote team requires more attention and inspiration than with a local one. 
• Scrum is the key to successful remote cooperation – it promotes transparency and helps to learn how developers work.

• A lot of Dutch companies start in the Netherlands, but in fact they’ll have to choose – stay small locally or opt for outsourcing and grow. 
• If you’re looking to start remote cooperation, make sure you have everything documented in English.  
• Don’t choose outsourcing to cut costs, instead, think of the flexibility and capacities you’ll acquire by cooperating with remote programmers.  
• Becoming successful with a remote team requires more attention and inspiration than with a local one. 
• Scrum is the key to successful remote cooperation – it promotes transparency and helps to learn how developers work.

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Tender Intelligence Platform Headquartered in Hoevelaken

Ukrainian programmers based in Kyiv help the company develop their product and implement innovative solutions via structuring all processes with Agile.   

Company size 11-50 employees

Problem

Tenderapp’s in-house team is non-technical and having no previous experience in building a software development team, they decided to use the project outsourcing model. Tenderapp provided their vendor with all of the project requirements, expecting to have it done for a fixed price. However, it didn’t work out. As new changes were appearing throughout the entire development process, they were forced to stop the project. This was the moment Tenderapp decided to cooperate with a dedicated development team that would be there to discuss changes and modifications throughout the development lifecycle, charging no additional fees.  

Solution

Hiring Ukrainian developers helped Tenderapp reach two objectives simultaneously – augment their in-house team with collocated developers in Kyiv and receive all necessary technical and administrative support from Grid Dynamics. Tenderapp development team works with Agile methodology, which makes all the processes within the team more transparent and efficient.
Marcel Hazeleger, Tenderapp Co-Owner, recommends other businesses owners to use Agile methodology, and even if you are a first-timer, here are the top 3 books to upgrade your skills: 

1. “Scrum – A Pocket Guide” by Gunther Verheyen
2. “Head First Agile. A Brain-Friendly Guide” by Andrew Stellman and Jennifer Greene
3. “The DevOps Handbook. How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability, and Security in Technology Organizations” by Gene Kim

Tenderapp Insights 

• In case you’re not technical, make sure to be well prepared for outsourcing  – you can talk to technical people and ask for their opinions.
• To ensure your remote development team is running on schedule, hire a person who’ll answer questions and manage Jira planning when you’re absent or busy.
• Visit your remote team as often as you can, you’ll not only have the opportunity to discuss business issues face to face, but also will spend some great time together.
• Agile makes all processes more transparent and efficient, yet, if you want to implement it, you’ll have to know at least the basics of it.

• In case you’re not technical, make sure to be well prepared for outsourcing  – you can talk to technical people and ask for their opinions.
• To ensure your remote development team is running on schedule, hire a person who’ll answer questions and manage Jira planning when you’re absent or busy.
• Visit your remote team as often as you can, you’ll not only have the opportunity to discuss business issues face to face, but also will spend some great time together.
• Agile makes all processes more transparent and efficient, yet, if you want to implement it, you’ll have to know at least the basics of it.

Amsterdam-based Wealth Management Platform

The company hired a proactive team of 4 Ukrainian developers that eagerly contribute to the development of the idea and can work out innovative solutions on their own.

Company size 11-50 employees

Problem

There is a tech talent shortage on the Dutch market and the situation is further complicated by large companies hunting engineers with high salaries and luxury benefits. As the demand for software programmers keeps growing, they quickly become more and more expensive. Though Vive has been trying to attract new developers locally by offering to work in a great team, very few candidates responded to the vacancy. Most of the available software engineers choose to work in big companies, as those can offer more bonuses. 

Solution

Vive started considering remote cooperation 2 years ago, when business was declining and there was a need to cut costs on software development. Vive decided to opt for Eastern Europe and eventually selected Ukraine. The country met all of the criteria that was important for Vive: 

• Cultural similarity
• Costs
• Availability of developers
• Technology stack
• High Technical education standards. 

• Cultural similarity
• Costs
• Availability of developers
• Technology stack
• High Technical education standards. 

Now, the Vive core development team is composed of 4 Ukrainian software developers – 2 of them are Ionic developers, while the other 2 specialize in Java development.  

Vive Insights 

• Encourage your developers to ask questions and freely express their opinions.
• Make sure your remote developers stay on the same page with the rest of the team.
• Don’t be afraid if your remote programmers make mistakes – it’s better to worry if they don’t try new things because of the fear of doing something wrong.
• Before hiring remote developers, define and document all of your requirements and user stories clearly to ensure your employees can work efficiently from day one.  
• Don’t micromanage – provide your programmers with problems and give them enough time to come up with innovative solutions. 
• Don’t choose the cheapest option – though most businesses opt for remote cooperation to cut costs, in Vive’s experience, it won’t lead you to success. 

• Encourage your developers to ask questions and freely express their opinions.
• Make sure your remote developers stay on the same page with the rest of the team.
• Don’t be afraid if your remote programmers make mistakes – it’s better to worry if they don’t try new things because of the fear of doing something wrong.
• Before hiring remote developers, define and document all of your requirements and user stories clearly to ensure your employees can work efficiently from day one.  
• Don’t micromanage – provide your programmers with problems and give them enough time to come up with innovative solutions. 
• Don’t choose the cheapest option – though most businesses opt for remote cooperation to cut costs, in Vive’s experience, it won’t lead you to success. 

1. We have 15+ years of experience in building custom software development teams in Ukraine and so far has helped 300+ clients reach their business goals. 
2. We deeply specialize in the talent tech markets in different regions.

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