Outsourcing of complex programming jobs requires utmost care while selecting an outsourcing partner. A partner should be able to help you assemble a team of skilled and result-oriented developers. Skills, technology expertise, and approaches generally vary from one outsourcing destination to another. So, before selecting an outsourcing company, you first need to decide on the country. If your project implies resolving serious problems, complex coding and building sophisticated algorithms, you have come to the right place. Russian programmers are widely recognized as leading specialists in these fields. While other countries are good at writing code and they get the job done, “when it comes to writing complex computer programs, the Russians are absolutely tops," says Steve Chase, president of Intel Russia.

The simple reason for this is the free higher education available in Russia. It seriously increases the number of qualified graduates. The Russian education system is remarkable for its strong focus on developing mathematical and engineering skills. That is why Russian computer programmers are well known for their sophisticated mathematical skills, as well as for their strong computer science and engineering backgrounds. According to World Bank statistics, Russia ranks third in the world for per capita number of scientists and engineers, but ranks #1 in the world in the number of scientists and engineers involved with complex Research and Development projects.

Russian students have won the top four places in 2008 International Inter-Collegiate Programming Contests. In total wins, two Russian Universities rank right after Stanford University and California Institute of Technology. Overall, Russia ranks second only to the U.S. in the number of contests won.

This technology expertise of Russian developers makes them very attractive to companies planning to outsource. Large technology firms, such as Dell Computer, Intel, Siemens and Motorola have already established development centers in Russia. Boeing, General Electric, IBM and Citigroup are among the companies that outsource complex software projects to Russia.

Obviously, companies often start out by outsourcing simple projects, such as Web-based application development, finance and accounting, supply chain management, e-commerce, e-mail and messaging systems. Once a successful relationship is established, then these same companies will outsource more complex projects such as database systems, wide-area networks, or large-scale Web sites.

Large scale and complex projects are characterized by evolving project specifications as the implementation progresses. This requires developers to be more than just coders; they must also be problem-solvers. They need the ability to give a clear estimation of the amount and complexity of work that needs to be done. “Indians always report the best possible scenario and the Russian firms always the worst possible scenario. The customer felt the Russian approach was more appropriate for high-risk projects,” says AMR Research analyst Lance Travis.

Russian and Indian software development companies are often compared in terms of their ability to develop innovative and complex software projects. The objective of any software project is to find a solution to a business problem. Therefore, the service provider needs to have creativity, business acumen, flexibility, and the ability to work when not all project details are specified. Some analysts say that Indians are more skilled in the field, while others have experienced quite the opposite. According to Daniel Marovitz, the Deutsche Bank's COO of technology for global banking, "Most Indian firms are very process-focused and, if something can be 'template-ised', then that's very good. Things like Six Sigma and ISO are part of their DNA, but that doesn't lend itself to innovation. For innovation, testing new ground with new software, Russia is a pretty good place."

This great talent pool of Russian developers, with their strong mathematical background and technology expertise, makes Russia the number one choice for outsourcing your complex projects. Find out for yourself. Give us a small project, and soon you will be asking us to help develop innovative and non-standard software solutions.