Poland has become one of the main software development centers in Europe – and there is barely a week without new foreign investors looking for programmers in cities like Krakow, Gdansk and Warsaw.
But why? What is the attraction? Is it only to save costs?
Not at all, if we are to believe our own partners in Norway and Sweden.
High quality most important
The annual “STP Partner Survey” is just completed – and it gives valuable insight into what our Scandinavian colleagues appreciate the most in the cooperation with us.
100 respondents took part in the survey, representing all the 22 partner companies Schibsted Tech Polska works with. Among the partners are several of the leading media houses in Scandinavia, such as Aftonbladet, VG and Aftenposten.
The respondents in the partner survey are crystal clear: The most important benefit of working with Schibsted Tech Polska is the high quality of work.
The respondents were asked to rank 11 different benefits of working with Schibsted Tech Polska. “High quality of work” came on top among all the different groups that were surveyed, such as product owners, tech leads/programmers and managers. The margin to number 2 on the list was huge.
The top 5 list
Here are the 5 most important benefits of working with a Polish software company like Schibsted Tech Polska, according to our colleagues in Norway and Sweden:
- High quality of work
- Low costs
- Easier to recruit programmers
- More qualified programmers
- Collaboration with other partners
High quality was considered the most important benefit also in 2014, but the picture is even clearer this year. “Low costs” have made a jump on the list (from 5 to 2), and “collaboration with other partners” is a new benefit.
Highest rating to the competencies of employees
The partners were asked to rate how they see different parts of Schibsted Tech Polska. Again the questions related to the quality of the work and the skills of the employees received the highest ranking.
The highest score was given to “the competencies and skills of the employees”. It received an average score of 8,4 on a scale from 1 to 10 – up from 8,1 the previous year.
“Positive feedback to employees”
“Software quality is the result of software development approach, precision, tools and passion. All those elements equally contribute to the final result, which was justifiably noticed by our partners.” says department manager Mateusz Jaracz in Schibsted Tech Polska.
“We are very happy to see that our partners put high quality on top of their list. It is indeed a positive feedback to our employees,”
Quality result of cooperation
Product manager Tobias Næss in the Norwegian media house Bergens Tidende points out that high quality is the result of close cooperation between Schibsted Tech Polska and its partner companies.
“Schibsted Tech Polska is more than disparate teams. It is a Schibsted Media Group in miniature. It’s the place where synergies happen organically, at a crucial time for the media industry. Encouraging the teams to communicate and share their successes and failures is incredibly valuable to us,” Næss says.
“We’re investing in our Krakow colleagues, and it pays off – they’re investing in us too. From day one it has been important to foster a joint culture across borders, to get everyone in Bergen and Krakow to team up and work for common business goals. This is where the real quality comes from, both in terms of effort and deliverables.”
No compromise
For the partner companies it is critical that the products developed in Schibsted Tech Polska are easy to use and stable on all devices, explains project manager John Sund in Polaris Media Group.
“Therefore we cannot compromise on quality, neither in terms of project planning, development phase nor implementation. Our users are not the testers. They expect the products to work perfectly,” he says.