Leveraging External Software Teams with Java and Kotlin for Enhanced Performance - Pt 2

Last week, we talked about common problems that come up when companies combine their in-house efforts with those of outside technology partners. In the second part of the article, we'll talk about several companies that use Kotlin or Java as their backend technology and how working with an external software team could impact their profits.

Impact of Hiring Costs and Time on Software Development Velocity

How about we start with a company like Netflix , which needs a team of senior developers to build and maintain its complex backend systems? Let's compare the impact of hiring developers in the United States versus Poland, considering the recruitment costs, the average time needed to find a senior developer, and the implications for software development velocity and time-to-market delivery.

1. Hiring Costs: The average annual salary for a senior software developer in the United States is around $120,000; in Poland, it is approximately $42,000. This significant salary difference can result in substantial cost savings for a company like Netflix when outsourcing software development to a technology partner based in Poland.
2. Recruitment Costs: In addition to salary differences, recruitment costs, including job postings, interviews, and screening, can be substantial and add up to the amount of approximately $25,000 per candidate in the six months selection and onboarding process. Partnering with a technology partner can reduce these costs by providing access to their pool of skilled developers, allowing, e.g., Dailymotion, to focus on its core business operations.
3. Time to Hire: The average time to hire a senior developer in the United States or Switzerland can range from three to six months, whereas a technology partner can assemble a dedicated software team, including senior developers, within twenty-one days. This faster team assembly could allow companies like Netflix to start working on projects more quickly, increasing software development velocity and reducing time to market delivery.
4. Software Development Velocity: By working with an external software team that can quickly provide skilled senior developers, tech companies can maintain a higher software development velocity. This increased pace can help the company bring new features and improvements to the market more rapidly, providing a competitive advantage in the travel industry.
5. Time to Market Delivery: With a dedicated software team in place more quickly, a hotel and travel company like Hyatt could reduce its time to market delivery, ensuring that its platform remains responsive to customer needs and market demands.

Calculating the Benefits of an External Software Team for a Marketing Technology Company

Let's take a look at a marketing technology company like Semrush , which requires a team of Java and Kotlin developers to build and maintain its data-driven platform. By partnering with a technology partner based in Poland, Semrush could achieve the following benefits:

1. Cost Savings: Assuming Semrush requires five senior developers, hiring them in the United States would cost approximately $600,000 per year in salaries alone. Outsourcing to a technology partner in Poland would reduce the annual salary cost to roughly $210,000, resulting in savings of $390,000 annually.
2. Reduced Recruitment Costs: Partnering with a technology partner can save Semrush the costs associated with recruitment, such as advertising, screening, and interviewing candidates. This allows Semrush to allocate those resources to other business areas, such as product development or marketing.
3. Faster Team Assembly: A technology partner can assemble a dedicated software team, including senior developers, within twenty-one days, instead of the months it might take to recruit in-house. This enables Semrush to start working on projects more rapidly, accelerating software development velocity.
4. Increased Software Development Velocity: With a dedicated software team in place more quickly, Semrush can maintain a higher software development velocity, allowing them to bring new features and enhancements to market faster and providing a competitive advantage in the marketing technology industry.
5. Shorter Time to Market Delivery: A faster software development velocity enables Semrush to reduce its time to market delivery, ensuring that its platform remains responsive to customer needs and market demands.
6. Access to a Larger Talent Pool: By partnering with a technology partner based in Poland, Semrush can tap into a larger talent pool with specialized expertise in Java and Kotlin, ensuring their platform is scalable, secure, and efficient.
7. Improved Focus on Core Competencies: By working with a technology partner, Semrush can focus on its core business activities, allowing the company to concentrate on improving its product or service.

Companies Using Kotlin as Backend Technology

Several companies are already using Kotlin as a backend technology for their digital SaaS products, including:

JetBrains : The creator of Kotlin, JetBrains offers a variety of development tools and platforms. They could benefit from partnering with an external software team to develop further and maintain their tools, improve their offerings, and reduce development costs. Coursera : As an online learning platform, Coursera handles massive data and user interactions. By leveraging an external software team with Kotlin expertise, Coursera can enhance its platform's performance, scalability, and security while focusing on delivering high-quality educational content. Trello : The popular project management tool Trello uses Kotlin for its backend systems. By partnering with an external software team, Trello could streamline its operations, accelerate the development of new features, and maintain a competitive edge in the project management market. Pinterest : With millions of users worldwide, Pinterest requires a powerful backend infrastructure to handle massive amounts of data and user-generated content. By outsourcing its Kotlin-based backend development to an external software team, Pinterest can ensure that its platform remains fast, secure, and scalable while focusing on improving its core product and user experience.

How A Company Can Benefit From an External Team

Consider a company like Expedia Group , an online platform for booking hotels worldwide. Expedia must handle vast data and user interactions while offering a seamless booking experience across multiple devices. By partnering with an external software team with Java and Kotlin expertise, Expedia can achieve the following benefits:

1. Faster product development: Outsourcing backend development enables Expedia to quickly bring new features and enhancements to the market, providing a competitive advantage.
2. Improved platform performance: With access to specialized Kotlin expertise, Expedia can optimize its platform to handle more user interactions and data processing, ensuring a smooth user experience.
3. Enhanced scalability: As Expedia continues to grow, an external software team could help ensure its backend systems can scale to accommodate increased user activity and partner integrations.
4. Reduced operational costs: By outsourcing backend development and maintenance, Expedia can control costs more effectively, only paying for the required services.
5. Access to a larger talent pool: Partnering with a technology partner provides Expedia access to a wide range of skilled professionals with expertise in Java and Kotlin, ensuring the right team is assembled for their projects.

Working with an external software team that specializes in Java and Kotlin can greatly help businesses in a variety of industries, including e-commerce, b2b-commerce, entertainment, travel, and marketing technology. Companies may streamline operations, decrease expenses, increase scalability, and maintain a competitive advantage in their respective markets by employing cost-effective talent from countries such as Poland and speeding access to talented professionals. Working with a technology partner can also assist businesses in overcoming hiring expenses, lengthy recruitment processes, and time-to-market delivery difficulties. As businesses evolve and face increasing time and budget restrictions, collaborating with a technology partner can be a strategic step to promote growth and success.

We have a team of professionals who would be eager to help if you think you should adopt Kotlin for your backend applications; there is no need to look forward. DAC.digital creates a custom solution that precisely satisfies your objectives after carefully considering your needs.