Becoming a Player
Not all Eastern European software developers are waiting for a call from a Microsoft or an EPAM. Some are stepping out onto the stage to play their own tune. A number of well-known products, technologies, and companies were started in the region: Skype, UPEK, and NetBeans are examples with international reputations. And although most Eastern European software companies do most of their business out of the country, there are significant local markets: Estonian-based Cybernetica is producing the e-voting software that the country will use in this year's parliamentary elections.
Poland was an early outsourcing-target leader among Eastern European countries. As conditions have changed (and programmer salaries have increased), the effect has been to shift the emphasis of software development in the country. IMPAQ once served foreign companies; now its typical customer is a Polish company wanting something done quickly. Bulgarian firm Sciant has become a consumer, rather than a supplier, of outsourcing labor, sending work to Vietnam.
It seems likely that the future of software development in many Eastern European countries will be very different from what it is now. With a history of commitment to science and engineering education, growing economies, and other advantages, Eastern Europe has the potential to become a major player in the software development game.
Panayotova believes that "gradually, with the expansion of the European Union, the computer sector [in CEE] will start to move ahead—not in quantity, but in quality—and it shall meet its Western counterparts as equal to equal."
