Did you know that Spotify became available in my country two months ago? After 14 years of existence.
And it doesn’t fascinate me because of the music streaming. It made me think about Nordic companies. They are growing amazingly year by year.
Spotify is one of the great Swedish companies!
The buzz surrounding Nordic FinTech has become more and more profound. AI is yet reaching a tipping point and it’s a hot location for tech startups nowadays.
Based on that success, their need for professionals is always growing.
They have difficulties with finding the right knowledge and expertise in programming and product development. Salaries for those positions are skyrocketing and finding good employees is difficult.
Each of the Nordics countries lacks thousands and thousands of professionals. As a logical next step, they started looking beyond borders.
IT outsourcing in the Nordic market has seen significant growth in recent years and is likely to continue in the years to come.
How can I say that for sure? From experience. Working with them for some time now I can say this: they love outsourcing as a great solution for their companies.
Advantages are many, but I’m going to particularize the most important ones.
The top three benefits of IT outsourcing
Better company focus, lower costs and excellent professionals - those are the key factors companies expect of outsourcing.
Let’s dig deeper into each one of them.
1. Quality
IT outsourcing is the popular trend in the Nordics and studies predict continuous growth. The reason for that is the option of choosing the right partner from all over the world.
They strive for good quality, speedy deliverance and top results. And the wider market means access to the best talents there are. When it comes to the Nordics companies, India is their top destination for now.
They kinda moved up the value curve faster, but we’re seeing Serbia, Belarus, Slovakia and other Eastern European countries are gaining the momentum, all due to the quality of services they provide.
According to SkillValue research, these countries are a treasury of highly-skilled developers. They even go shoulder to shoulder with some of the world 's largest countries.
And in combination with affordable prices, it’s a jackpot for businesses in Nordics.
Which leads me to the second benefit.
2. Lowest price
The economy is tough. For all of us, right? We all want to save some money and cut the costs where we can.
IT outsourcing can save your money!
Some countries have lower salaries for software developers, it’s a well-known fact. And Nordic companies are choosing that cost-effective option.
Why wouldn’t they?
The average software developer salary in Norway is $72k and in Serbia $24k. That’s a major difference.
In some countries that salary goes even lower. (I checked it on Glassdoor out of curiosity)
Still, my advice is to listen to your common sense. Cheaper isn’t always better. Seek for the perfect balance of price and quality.
3. Business efficiency
Last, but not least.
Nordic companies are not looking for robots, but they love the efficient work. And having an extra team maximizes it. So, the second superpower of outsourcing is saving time.
There’s no need for being ‘jack of all trades, masters of none’.
There’s no need for the in-door recruitment process.
The whole goal is to leave the IT development to professionals and get extra time for focusing on the other aspects of the business. Share the load of the shoulders.
In Naissus, we cultivate exclusivity. Each team is completely dedicated to making our clients’ project run smoothly. I believe that’s the quality they appreciate.
They know they left their project in good hands and they can fulfill the potential and grow.
Even research shows that Nordics IT leaders are mostly satisfied with the services of the third-party companies that have outsourced their IT. For example, a study by Whitelane Research and PA Consulting shows that the average satisfaction score is 69%, which is a high figure.
IT outsourcing sometimes has its disadvantages
But, it’s not all beer and skittles. Handling a part of your business in someone else’s hands carries certain fears with it. In my experience, leaders are usually worried about these two things.
1. Safety and confidentiality
Trust is so hard to establish. In all spheres of life. Especially when you’re trying so hard for years to set your company on its feet and now you have to put it in someone else’s hands.
That’s why I consider safety and confidentiality as the most sensitive topic. And I understand it completely. Everyone wants to see the investments they make are safe and payable.
And who doesn’t want to keep their business information away from curious eyes? I have a piece of advice. When looking for an outsourcing company, look for ones with proven projects and results, as well as good testimonials.
Other business owners probably have the same desires and the same fears as you. So, if you recognize some of that in their testimonials and it worked for them, it has to work for you.
E.g., check out ours.
2. Communication
Communication gap due to distance is the second greatest fear business leaders have. Also, issues with putting requirements in documents - it takes a lot of time and skills.
Meetings can sometimes be a better option and it surely boosts the trust, but no one said you can never meet your outsourcing team, right?
Software like Slack, Jira, Zoom facilitate communication processes and reduce the possibility for errors. Misunderstandings come from human error, not software. The other communication problem might be the language itself. English level is not that great in some countries.
Serbia is among highly proficient countries in Europe by EP English Proficiency Index, little lower than Belgium, Switzerland or Germany (World Economic Forum).
So, I really never encountered that problem with my clients. But I understand how tricky it can be to establish communication so goals and tasks are loud and clear.
*Needless to say, good communication is the key to outsourcing success. It should be smooth and understandable and possibly in real-time.
Serbia and Scandinavia are in the same time-zone so there’s no need for responding to questions at 2:00 am. That’s one of the reasons why Nordic companies love to work with us. And it’s not the only one.
Good communication is the key to outsourcing success!
Talent is what matters, not the placement
Do you know why people for Scandinavian businesses like working with us?
- They recognize our focus on core business, cost availability and great talents.
- Our developers are experienced and highly skilled providing clean, efficient, upgradeable and low maintenance code.
- We are capable of making good decisions and reading between the lines so we can do our best and deliver quality that meets the budget.
- Our English is proficient and we have serious organizational ethics.
Because of that thinking, Serbia and its neighbours are gaining momentum with Nordics companies.
In the end, talent and good work are what matters, not the placement.
