IT Sector State in Ukraine During War & How to Relocate Your Project from a Russian Vendor

February 24, 2022.

The world will forever remember this date as the start of the Russian invasion into Ukraine – the start of the most brutal war of the 21st century in Europe.

This war has changed the lives of millions of Ukrainians and impacted the whole world.

Ukraine has always been known as one of the main picturesque countries in the world with a rich culture. At the same time, it’s among the most influential providers of IT services globally.

This compound article explains how the war has changed the landscape of software development services in Ukraine, how MLSDev reacts to new realities, as well as:

• State of the IT sector in Ukraine since the war started
• Will the industry survive the war or fall under its burden? [spoiler: Yes]
• Key information for how can everyone support Ukraine
• Step-by-step procedure to transfer a project from Russia to a new IT vendor

Continue reading to learn more.

Current State of IT Sector in Ukraine

As of 2020, Ukraine was home to over 200,000 developers. As mentioned by CNN, around 20% of Fortune 500 companies outsource development to an offshore software development company in the region.

State of Software Development Market in Ukraine

Under the full-fledged invasion from Russia, Ukrainians have shown that they are united as never before.

Today, the IT sector is one of few that can still function fully in the country.

While soldiers are fighting to protect the sovereignty of Ukraine and the safety of millions of Ukrainians, developers are fighting to support the country’s economy even under the severe bombing occurring all over the country.

According to the DOU’s poll, around 85-90% of all IT outsourcing and staff outstaffing companies have already returned to work. The number clearly shows that Ukrainians are stronger than many thought and that their fortitude is unbreakable.

Considering the situation, you might be wondering how this is possible.

Many companies had predicted this exact situation. They worked on the relocation of their workers and families for weeks, if not months. So, their workers are now located in countries neighboring Ukraine, such as Poland, Romania, and Hungary.

Those who haven’t left the country or who decided to stay with their families have relocated to relatively safe regions in Western Ukraine.

Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, and Rivne have become a new home for thousands of developers who were forced to leave their homes.

Almost all of these developers have already fully returned to work and continue to support clients’ businesses even through the most challenging times.

Moreover, the productivity level continues to increase. According to DOU.ua, around 70-75% are back to work with the productivity rate up to 65%.

Around 55% of employees have a full working day, while others might take some time offline during the day. Still, this in no way prevents them from delivering all the tasks on time.

Ukraine Stands Strong: How You Can Support the Country

The war in Ukraine has touched the hearts of millions of people across the world.

Today, everyone can become a savior and help Ukraine, its citizens, and its army fight back the invasion and stop the war.

Here’s how you can help.

1. Make Donations

First of all, you can donate some money to support Ukraine and its citizens. You can support the army, refugees, and all those who are suffering.

You can find a list of useful resources on HelpUkraineInfo and SupportUkraineNow based on your location.

As well, here is a list of the key donations and funds:

• Account to raise funds to support Ukraine’s Armed Forces
• “Come Back Alive” fund for helping the army with gear, coordination, training, and psychological help
• Card transfer for secure donations via Ukraine’s major digital bank, Monobank
• Voices of Children, a fund for helping children affected by the war
• United Help Ukraine, PayPal account for medical aid and humanitarian relief
• International Committee of the Red Cross, saving and protecting the lives of victims of armed conflict and violence
• Humanitarian aid account humanitarian assistance to Ukrainians
• UNICEF fund for supporting Ukrainian children
• Ministry of Health + Red Cross fund for assisting doctors
• Ministry of Health Crypto Wallets for assisting doctors

2. Help & Host Ukrainian Refugees

According to the United Nations, over 3 million Ukrainians have fled the country searching for a safer place to stay. There are thousands of refugees who need help.

You can become a volunteer, offer your place as a temporary place to stay for refugees, or donate some money to organizations taking care of those who were forced to leave their homes in Ukraine.

It is worth mentioning that Airbnb appears to be offering stays to people in times of crisis.

3. Follow & Share Trustworthy Information

Propaganda and disinformation are weapons that Russia is actively using to destroy Ukraine as a nation.

You can help prevent this by following and spreading only trustworthy information resources with your network, namely:

• Site with the latest info: War in Ukraine
• Twitter and Telegram of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi
• Twitter of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba
• The Kyiv Independent, Ukrainian media in English
• Instagram of Ukrainer Media about Ukrainian culture and life

You can participate in peaceful protests taking place in your country together with the Ukrainian people.

As well, you can sign a list of actual petitions in terms of saving lives and stopping the aggression.

4. Become a Medical or Other Volunteer

There is also a lot of hands-on work all over the world. For example, thousands of centers are collecting humanitarian help for Ukraine and need help sorting all the donations before shipping them to the country.

You can volunteer at these centers for a few hours a day, for a week, or volunteer in any other possible way. For instance, if you are a medical worker, you can even come to Ukraine and help citizens in different cities.

Some cases of famous people include:

David Beckham, who has a fund with UNICEF, approached Ukrainian mothers and children and wanted to help. As well, for one day, he transferred his Instagram account to a Ukrainian doctor from Kharkiv.

Celebrities Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis collected 35 million dollars for humanitarian assistance to Ukrainian refugees abroad through GoFundMe. As well, J. K. Rowling, a writer, has donated a million pounds sterling through the Lumos fund to the most impacted children.

5. Spread the News or Write About Ukraine on Social Media

Social media is a powerful tool, especially when it comes to sharing information. Share news about Ukraine on social media, help spread the word about the war crimes of the Russian army, and support Ukrainians in the information space.

No matter how you decide to help Ukraine, remember that all the help matters.

Predictions for the Information Technology Industry in Ukraine

So, what will happen to the IT industry in Ukraine?

There is a positive outlook for offshore development centers located in Ukraine. Experts predict that the Ukrainian information technology sector will continue operating.

Local companies are doing their best to make that happen, namely:

• They are relocating their experts to safer places in Ukraine
• They are relocating their experts to different countries in Europe
• Companies are opening offices in safe Ukrainian cities
• Many companies are opening offices in Europe and the USA

Even before the war, most Ukrainian IT companies had offices in other countries.

These offices in Europe have become relocation hubs where employees that moved abroad can spend a few days before moving to their destination. This approach has been used by different companies, including Sigma Software, GlobalLogic, EPAM, etc.

Despite the war, the IT industry in Ukraine and Ukrainian specialists will not stop development and evolution. According to the PwC forecast, the IT industry will reach $8.4 billion in exports. In addition, the number of specialists will be over 242,000 by 2024.

The technology sector has adapted to the new reality. As a result, most companies have gotten back on track with their processes and projects.

How to Transfer Your Project to a New IT Vendor

While the situation with the Ukrainian IT sector has stabilized, Russia is under many sanctions that prevent it from working with almost any other country in the world.

If you’ve previously worked with a Russian team, Ukraine might become a smart option for you to transfer your project to a new vendor.

6-Step Process to Transfer your Project

Let’s discuss how to make the transition with no harm to your business.

1. Find & Hire a New IT Company

So, you’ve decided to change companies. What should you do?

First of all, don’t cut ties with your existing vendor right away. It would be best for you to minimize the risks.

Finding a new technology partner may take weeks, if not months. Thus, before making any decisions, you need to understand who you’ll work with in the future.

Clutch, the Manifest, GoodFirms, and other similar listing platforms are a good starting point for your research. Online directories can save you a lot of time and have the functionality to compare development prices, look through checklists of provided services, and read customer reviews.

Word of mouth is another option for hiring a qualified development team for your project, especially if someone in your circle works with development vendors on their projects.

Whatever approach you choose, make sure you take a complex approach and analyze potential vendors from different points of view.

2. Identify What Knowledge to Collect

Development is a complex process consisting of multiple stages and involving a number of experts.

The key to successful project transfer is identifying what information you’ll need to collect and transfer to the new team. To simplify the process, it’s also possible to organize calls and tech talks between the two development companies so that they can share information about all the processes.

From a technical point of view, your old team needs to transfer documents, source code, and internal processes and workflows to your new team.

The list includes the exchange of:

• Sensitive data
• Product regulatory compliance
• Access to the code repository
• Technical documentation of key algorithms
• Specification of classes and app layers
• Deployment, troubleshooting, and installation guidelines
• Software development workflow
• CI/CD best practices
• Software development tools and techniques

3. Define People who Transfer & Receive Knowledge

After you’ve identified what knowledge you need to transfer, it’s time to identify the team members who will share the knowledge. Usually, project transfer involves contact between current and future CTOs, project managers, UX/UI designers, software developers, DevOps, software architects, etc.

The main goal is for your new team to understand the logic behind the code and learn how the processes are organized, what approaches are used, etc.

4. Collect Knowledge Items

Hoping that team members will remember everything they hear during meetings is a road to failure. This is why knowledge sharing should not only be done via oral communication but in written form also.

You can choose different options for sharing knowledge, such as technical documentation, on-site training, Q&A sessions, live training, live demos, tech talks, and one-on-one meetings.

5. Measure the Performance

The final stage of the process is assessing the effectiveness of knowledge transfer. There are a few criteria that you can use, such as how fast the new team has started with your project and the successful setup of the Development, Staging, and Production environments.

Usually, you can fully assess the quality of the knowledge transfer plan after the new team makes a successful deployment into production. The main goal is to establish a process where your team doesn’t reinvent the team or duplicate work, but fully understands the whole development process.

6. Manage the Offshore Team Effectively

Effective management is the main challenge of working with remote teams. While you can hire the best talents on the world market, the success of the project doesn’t rest solely on the team’s shoulders.

It would be best if you built a solid bridge between the different parts of your remote team to make the magic work.

Here’s how you can do this:

• Share the vision of your company
• Initiate visits and business trips to meet people in person
• Plan meetings with time zone differences in mind
• Automate processes that can be automated
• Motivate the team by showing your engagement

Final Word

The Ukrainian IT sector is stronger than it has ever been.

Companies have adapted to the new reality and developers continue to work on client projects.

On the other hand, Russia is under heavy sanctions, and isolation from the world deepens every day. So, it’s quite natural that more and more companies are looking for new vendors and often turn to Ukrainian IT companies for support.

Frequently Asked Questions: