It’s Monday morning, you have an overflowing inbox to get through, 5 meetings and 3 video conference calls to get in, and that is all before lunch. Finally, the sign-off has come through to outsource some of the software development work. Next step, find a software house that is both within budget and good quality.

Of course we all know by now, the first place that people think of when it comes to cheap and cheerful IT outsourcing, or outsourcing of any kind for that matter! However, we also know that it can be time wasting, hard to communicate with the developers, there is a distinct lack of activity from their side and you end up with bad code, full of glitches and security leaks. “So where else?” I hear you ask.

I decided to take a look at outsourcing to Poland. From what I know there are no big differences in terms of working ethics, in fact I’ve heard, they have particularly good work ethics in Poland. I began my Google search for software houses based in Poland and came up with, what seemed like, some surprisingly good options. And after a lot of research, I disappointedly came to the conclusion that outsourcing to Poland would, to put it simply, ruin my life. Here’s why….

1.The Quality Is Too Good.

After speaking to a few of the clients of my chosen company, I found that often they said things such as; they had too much free time because everything was taken care of. The testing was too good and they had nothing to complain about at all. That the software came complete with no bugs, or close to it. They remained on top of things at all times and were clearly checking things at all stages to assure a high standard of QA and usability. So that wasn’t a great start for Poland I think we can all agree.

2. Too Cheap For What It Is.

This was one of the biggest complaints. If all you expect is to get a really good looking, easy to use, fully functioning piece of software, whilst using a outsourced development company, Poland would be a great choice. But then of course you need to look at cost. We all have a budget to work to after all. Well with a budget of 100,000 GBP for my project, which it would cost me, almost anywhere in Europe, to the standard I needed it to be. If I went with the company in Poland, it would cost me nearer 60,000GBP for the same level of quality as I might get elsewhere. I mean come on, how stupid did they think I was,.and all just to achieve quality that was as good as, if not better, than anywhere in Europe or the rest of the world. Yet another negative mark against Poland.

3. On the same page.

One of the most enjoyable parts of my working day is to go through the battle of having to try to communicate with an outsource company. You spend 60 minutes on the phone, arguing and shouting and trying to explain what it is you actually want done or, what the problem might be. And so of course, the third biggest complaint I heard was; that they found the competency levels to be annoyingly high and that the communication was just to easy and became a bore. I mean come on, who wants to work with a group of people who have good work ethics, and work hard at what they do. As if achieving the best results and remaining focused on doing the best work they can for your company is something that any of us want to deal with.

Poland, nothing but a good use of your time and money.

So the conclusion I came to, Poland is a bad choice to look at when you are faced with having to outsource your IT. If all you want is to spend less, achieve more, finish with a great quality product and make your working day a lot easier, then go to Poland. If not, then I suggest you do like me and look elsewhere. That way you can make sure that you things will go badly and nothing will work properly and you will be really glad that you saved that extra 4K by going to the place that everyone else thinks of first too.