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Lviv, Ukraine

Applied technologies

BI, DB, Java

Spar Nord has 15 Ukrainian developers working at Conscensia’s development center in Lviv. Conscensia has helped with the recruitment process and with integrating the Danish and Ukrainian developers across borders, and today everyone sees the Ukrainian department as a natural and permanent part of Spar Nord.

“Back in 2006, we were in a situation where we needed more BI-SAS skills,” says Kaare Jakobsen, IT Development Manager at Spar Nord. “There was a lot going on in Denmark at the time, so it wasn’t easy to get the resources we needed. Instead, we hired a succession of external consultants who we spent a lot of money on training, but who didn’t stay with us. The next time we needed consultants, we’d have to hire new ones and start from scratch. So we wanted developers who were much closer to us. Conscensia helped us get that in Ukraine.”

A permanent team

Today, there are 15 Ukrainian Spar Nord developers at Conscensia’s development center in Lviv, which is a great success, says Kaare Jakobsen. “I am very, very happy with my Ukrainian department. There has only been one consultant who left a few years ago to try something else, and you can’t say anything about that. The fifteen people we have down there today are proud to be part of Spar Nord, and we are proud to have them on the team. They are so closely integrated with Spar Nord that they are fully as much a part of our development organization as those here in Denmark.”

Really skilled developers

“The Ukrainians are really skilled, and they are incredibly pleasant people,” continues Kaare Jakobsen. “They are very hospitable – far more so than we are used to in Denmark. We experience this when we visit them, for example. About four times a year I go down there for three days, and sometimes either our CEO or our Danish project manager is down there with us. Otherwise, we have Skype meetings, and sometimes the Ukrainians are also up here if, for example, we have a new technology they need to be trained in.”

Active integration

Spar Nord goes to great lengths to ensure that the consultants in Lviv feel part of the company. Kaare Jakobsen elaborates: “It’s no good just telling them to think of themselves as your own employees; you also have to do something active to make them feel that way. In the beginning, it took a bit of figuring out what was needed, but we got very competent support and guidance from Conscensia, so today it runs smoothly.”

Incredibly self-driving

As for the cultural differences in working methods, Conscensia has helped Spar Nord from the beginning to get the collaboration running smoothly, and today it is no longer something Spar Nord needs to worry about, says Kaare Jakobsen. “We found most of our Ukrainian developers as recent graduates, so they weren’t influenced by the classic Ukrainian attitude that the boss is the best. They had to get used to being the director of their own tasks, but today they are completely familiar with the Danish way of working and they are incredibly self-driven. They also act as ambassadors when we add new developers, and it doesn’t take any longer to bring a new developer into Ukraine than it does in Denmark.”

Close dialog across borders

“To others who are considering outsourcing, I would say that the most important thing is that the employees here at home do not feel threatened and that they have a coordinator who really sees the value in it. Our Danish project manager is happy to devote a few hours every day to getting the people in Ukraine to work well, and he has a close dialog with the Ukrainian project manager who acts as the boss down there on a daily basis. It’s also important to have someone like that. Conscensia helped us find the right person, who has now been there for four years. It’s going great!”

Conscensia takes care of the practicalities

In recent years, Conscensia has not been very involved in Spar Nord’s cross-border cooperation, as everything runs as if the Ukrainians were in Denmark, even though they are physically located at Conscensia’s development center in Lviv. But Conscensia takes care of all the practicalities of remuneration, pension, insurance and other matters.

“Conscensia takes care of all the hassle, so when we need to find new developers, it’s easy – much easier than in Denmark.”

Easy to find labor

“It’s a great advantage that we don’t have to be familiar with Ukrainian legislation and tax rules to have developers down there,” Kaare Jakobsen points out. There are plenty of highly educated computer scientists in Ukraine, and Conscensia finds some talented candidates for us, who we interview ourselves and who our Ukrainian department puts through a training program. I can only say that the Ukrainians have an exemplary way of doing things. They are such positive enthusiasts that it’s a real pleasure. And they are a great workforce!”

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