Top 10 Distributed Tech Companies and Why They Moved Development to Remote

The number of tech companies that turn to the distributed development model keeps increasing every year. Nowadays, high-speed internet connection is available from almost every corner of the world. There are also myriads of high-grade apps for online communication and project management. Still, some companies have concerns about managing employees from a long distance and are unaware of the benefits of remote development.

In this post, you’ll discover why so many tech firms go remote, as well as see the examples of big-time companies that rely on distance teams and outsourcing for their success.

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What distributed development team means

In distributed development, multiple IT teams are working from various regions of the world. It is a modern approach to IT services, in which workers and companies are free from geographical boundaries.

Not being attached to physical offices means having more versatility. Your company’s headquarters can be in New York, while you have teams of professionals working for you an ocean away. In this development model, different employees can work on separate projects and cooperate using various types of project management and communication applications.

Why do tech companies go remote?

1. Diversifying the talent pool

Distributed development erases territorial boundaries and improves the flexibility of the company. It gives businesses access to an unlimited talent pool of skilled and experienced developers that spans across all time-zones.

Remote model also makes it possible to hire more diverse and specialized professionals, regardless of their location. The ability to hire workers around the globe can improve the diversity of a team by inviting different nationalities and cultures to the workforce, which helps other teams to adopt new ideas and think outside the box. The Diversity Matters study shows that companies with diverse teams have 35% more chance to outshine non-diverse crews.

Read also our guide of finding remote software developers.

2. Cutting costs

As it turns out, telecommuting significantly reduces expenses for employers. Companies benefit from hiring quality IT staff in third-world countries, as well as by lowering operating fees and costs for renting real estate. Statistics done by Global Workplace Analytics tell that an average firm saves more than $10,000 annually per remote worker on rent alone.

3. Time-effectiveness

A company with distributed development can have employees all over the world, which means that various teams work in different time-zones. If workers are scattered strategically, the organization can have at least one team always available online and have more daily working hours as a result.

4. Increased productivity

Gathering the finest professionals in the field from different countries boosts the productivity of your company in and of itself. In addition to that, recent studies done by Stanford University concluded that productivity among remote workers was equal (or even surpassing) to the efficiency of usual office workers. However, it also turns out distance employees have a 50% lower attrition rate. They also take shorter breaks and have fewer sick days, according to the surveys.

5. Reduced stress

Workers feel less tense about their job if they have more control over their schedules. PGI studies show that 82% of distance employees have decreased stress levels. The same research also tells that people who work from their homes have more than an 80% increase in morale, which improves mental and physical health, as well as their productivity.

If you are still not convinced about building a remote development team, why not look at some companies that use this model for their success? Here are ten accomplished firms that owe their success to distributed development.

Top 10 Distributed Tech Companies

Zapier

Zapier is a workflow tool that integrates over 1,000 apps and helps you to transfer data between these apps or to automate tasks on your gadgets. Wade Foster, the co-founder of Zapier, comments on the distributed development model as “a better way to work, that allows hiring smart people no matter where in the world.” He also points out that this model leads to better productivity and helps to save money on office rent. Eighty people work at Zapier from 13 countries, using various applications for daily group chats and project management.

“It’s a better way to work. It allows us to hire smart people no matter where in the world.”

Wade Foster, co-founder of Zapier

Doist

It turns out that the company behind an insanely popular Todoist app (that has recently reached 5 million active users) also has a distant work model. Doist has more than 50 people working from 20 different countries. After the company turned to telecommuting, it became clear that you can be a high-functioning and united team even without physical interactions between co-workers. Allan K. Christensen, the COO of Doist, believes that this model is the future of work that should be supported by other companies.

Automattic

The company responsible for Tumblr is entirely remote and utterly diverse. Automattic’s team has more than 1,150 members in 72 countries. Matt Mullenweg, the firm’s founder, calls distributed model a better and more ethically responsible business that prioritizes productivity over hours physically present at the office.

Slack

The web interface, mobile apps, and marketing site for Slack are designed entirely by an outsourced design firm. Nowadays, Slack became the go-to app for other distributed development companies that use it as a main program for communication. The company values around $3 billion, and the app has more than 8 million daily active users. The success of this organization shows the benefits of distant teams and how outsourcing can increase the capacity development.

10up

This company takes pride in its independence from offices and provides flexible schedules across different time zones. 10up delivers consultative, web design, and engineering services. Their crew of more than 120 experts in digital management resides in the USA, Canada, Europe, and India. As a company puts it, a remote model empowers them to bring top talents into their team regardless of the place where they live.

“The best talent isn’t found in a single zip code, and an international clientele requires a global perspective.”

Arkency

Arkency is a web developer that prioritizes asynchronous work. It means that this company prefers employees who work from anywhere on the globe and when they prefer. They currently have a crew of over 50 members from the USA and Europe. Arkency’s founder Andrzej Krzywda thinks that an asynchronous work model is a particularly valuable principle that gives vast freedom to any company.

Buffer

Buffer is a company that provides useful means for managing social media. It has over 300,000 active users, almost third of which are paying customers who enjoy its user-friendly tools. The company has over 100 workers working worldwide. Company’s Director of People Courtney Seiter says that distributed development is a future that leads to more productivity and flexibility in work.

Groove

Over 8,000 companies use the Groove app to automate their routine tasks and make seamless data-driven decisions. It is a relatively small company that has 19 members across five continents, whose app helps more than 40,000 sales reps from firms like Slack, Prize, and Google. Groove’s CEO Alex Turnbull thinks that running a remote team gives access to a better talent pool, while the costs of running a virtual team are insignificant in comparison to renting offices.

GitLab

GitLab is another fully distributed company that delivers a DevOps platform in a single application. Companies like Sony and NASA utilize this platform, and it also has 100,000+ userbase. GitLab has more than 1000 team members in 63 countries. The company believes that most of the work and communication must be async, simply because it’s more effective.

“Remote work is a clear business advantage that has a multitude of benefits that far outweigh the drawbacks.” 

Victor Wu, the Product Manager at GitLab.

Skype

Skype was a groundbreaker as a service for video conferencing when it first came on the market. It turns out that an Estonian outsourcing team is responsible for the initial design and development of the app. As a result, Skype became the go-to communication app for companies throughout the world.

Less known, but still successful

For more than 6 years, Relevant Software provides custom software development and outsourcing services. Below are some successful clients that we provided with experienced remote developers.

Airthings

Airthings is a Norway tech company that provides products for remote in-home radon level tracking since 2008. Airthings utilizes a distributed model. Due to the assistance from Relevant Software, this company established a team of developers in Ukraine to build a web dashboard to track data from their devices.

Biderator

Biderator has headquarters in New York but relies on outsourcing teams for software development. It is an auction platform for contractors and their clients that provides a transparent bidding process. We extended Biderator’s team with a frontend and backend developers, QA engineer, business analyst, and project manager.

FirstHomeCoach

FirstHomeCoach is a fintech and property company based in the United Kingdom. It aims to guide customers through complex financial aspects of buying real estate. FHC also connects clients to trusted sources that can help with insurance, mortgage, and related legal paperwork. Our company provided them with a project manager, 3 developers, and a QA engineer.

Interested in the topic of outsourcing software development? Read our full software development outsourcing guide.

Summary

Remote tech teams are much more than just cost-effective compared to standard office workers. Though it can raise concerns for a conservative mind, the research and success of a variety of distributed companies show the undeniable benefits of this work model. It can be challenging to master team management from a distance. Still, various apps for online communications and scheduling already made telecommuting possible for countless organizations. You can also choose this business model and enjoy better productivity, diversity, and access to more experts from around the globe.

For more than 6 years we at Relevant Software provide customers with teams of experienced developers. If you are interested in building a remote development team, just drop us a line.