Globalization is no longer an option but an imperative. Zinnov research reveals that enterprise software companies with globalized engineering R&D locations are higher valued at 7.1x compared to companies with domestic ER&D, valued at 5.4x. Additionally, due to accelerated digital transformation trends, continued global talent crunch, and increased cost optimization expectations exacerbated by COVID-19, product innovation needs to be accelerated to reduce time-to-market and circumvent external disruptions. As the global war on talent accelerates, countries like Poland, Estonia and Eastern Europe are emerging as preferred global talent hotspots. The demand for high quality talent, has increased attrition rates across these countries, especially Poland which is now experiencing a 15% attrition rate, implying a high demand for local talent in the region. Hence, companies are on the lookout for global talent hubs where they can build Centers of Excellence (CoEs) with complete software engineering teams that not only own and build products but can also be grown at scale.

Zinnov’s CoE Hotspots of the World report provides an in-depth analysis of 13 countries across APAC, North America, LATAM, and Eastern Europe across the dimensions of talent, ecosystem maturity, ease of doing business, and cost where organizations can build world-class CoEs and nurture full and scalable software engineering teams at affordable costs.