Scalo

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the head of engineering for Zooplus, a pet-related retail and e-commerce platform. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Scalo?

Our goal is to scale our business; we hired Scalo to help us do that. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The developers from Scalo primarily work in a Java environment; their team acts as an extension of our existing team. Scalo's developers have been responsible for handing over full products; one of these products includes a customer service program. This product enables our customers to self-service and cancel orders. The majority of software we produce is internal custom-made solutions, so we purely use Scalo’s software engineers.  

What is the team composition?

We work with less than 10 software engineers from Scalo. 

How did you come to work with Scalo?

We had a connection with an individual at Scalo. We knew this person was reliable, so we decided to move forward with their team. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2021, and the engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We measure success through the Scalo team’s ability to deliver on their commitments, which they consistently do. We’re very happy with their ability to deliver, and the time it took to onboard the team was extremely short. The team from Scalo started delivering value very quickly. 

How did Scalo perform from a project management standpoint?

The team is highly organized, and we use Java and Confluence for project management. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are a reliable partner who understands our needs. We are extremely picky when bringing in new individuals, but they always deliver the right candidate. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’re satisfied with the collaboration. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure that everyone involved in the engagement understands the needs and goals of the project. Be clear about what you expect, and your project should be successful. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a board member of a digital consulting company. I’m responsible for our partnerships.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Scalo?

We were looking for new partners that could deliver good quality engineering talent to work on our projects and client cases.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have a couple of projects with Scalo. We have projects where we have our personnel with an augmented team with Scalo’s experts. In some cases, these experts work on the same project, team, or environment. In other cases, they work directly with some of our customers’ personnel.

We usually try to find people who are similar to our staff. We describe the roles, responsibilities, and attitudes we expect to create a draft role description with all the information. Then, we have a couple of meetings to go through the soft side; the type of people we’re looking for, and what kind of people are usually successful in our projects.

Afterward, Scalo sources candidates for us. Once we have some candidates, we interview them and give feedback to Scalo on whether the candidates are good for us or not. They take the feedback and iterate their approach accordingly. Ultimately, they do the initial technical interviews.

What is the team composition?

From the expert’s side, we have eight people from Scalo. In the beginning, we had negotiations with their sales team to finalize the contract. Over a year and a half, we’ve collaborated with three recruitment experts.

Currently, we have three teammates supporting our needs. Altogether, we’ve met about six different team members; the majority were full-stack developers working with React, Node.js, and TypeScript.

How did you come to work with Scalo?

At the time, we were looking for partners in Poland. Through some early scouting, we found interesting companies in the area. We shortlisted them, including Scalo. We then established a couple of partnerships, and once we had the opportunity to hire people through Scalo, we asked them to source good candidates for us.

How much have you invested in them?

We spend about $600,000 a year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in July 2021, and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Scalo has been able to match our challenging requirements. Some people rotated out of our project for personal reasons, but the tenure is pretty good in general. Moreover, we haven’t ended our collaboration with a teammate in the first three months, which is a good metric. Overall, we’ve been happy with Scalo’s team members; we want to continue working with them.

How did Scalo perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management isn’t part of our collaboration with Scalo. In general, they work quite well while they’re recruiting candidates. They often take a couple of weeks to get good candidates and profiles with extensive information.

We communicate through Slack, and it has worked very well. We also have weekly meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re great at sourcing candidates that fit well with us. Scalo finds right-minded people for our projects. We look for technical knowledge, expertise, and a good attitude and mindset, which is difficult to find. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Compared to other companies in the market, Scalo is priced similarly, so I don’t have much to say about this.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re considering engaging with Scalo, you should have large cases and precise information about the FTE amounts you need to help them deliver better. Be as precise as possible to get good results.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the .NET chapter area lead for a company in the automotive industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Scalo?

I was looking for an experienced, stable, agile team who could support us with custom software development, business analysis, .NET, software architecture, and QA. We wanted to work with an established team who’d already completed projects together. Our goal was to increase our delivery capacity and develop a production-critical system with Scalo’s help.

SOLUTION

 What was the scope of their involvement?

Scalo has provided us with two different development teams with various skill sets, including Microsoft Azure cloud expertise. When Scalo delivered the first team, we conducted a one-day workshop to test their skills and cooperation. We also removed the leader from the workshop to simulate vacation and sick leave and assess how the team performed without them.

The teams have helped us with several custom software development projects, including building a production-critical system. Since our primary development project, they’ve continued helping us maintain and refactor the application to make it more reliable. They’ve added new functionalities and features to accommodate our business demands while keeping the initial functionality intact. 

They’ve also worked on our on-prem servers using .NET and Microsoft technologies such as WPF, WCF, and Microsoft Skills server. They’ve also helped us migrate from a monolithic architecture into a microservice architecture. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with various team members from Scalo. 

How did you come to work with Scalo?

Our company requires service providers to pass certain certifications to engage them. Scalo wasn’t an appointed supplier, but they provided us with resources through CapGemini. By chance, the Scalo manager reached out to us on LinkedIn while I was having trouble finding service providers who could provide a unified team. Then, we helped them become an appointed supplier for our company and moved forward with the engagement.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $4 million–$5 million krona (approximately $356,000–$445,000 USD) per year, per team. We engaged two teams for a total of $8 million krona (approximately $711,000 USD). 

What is the status of this engagement?

I began working with Scalo in March 2022, and the partnership is ongoing. However, one of my colleagues worked with them in September 2021. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

When we first engaged Scalo, we had another team of resources starting on a different project, so we compared them to measure success. Scalo provided us with a unified team who’d worked together on other projects, while the other team consisted of separate individuals. 

While we can’t point to precise metrics, the stark contrast between the teams was immediately apparent. Scalo gathered the requirements and performed code checks after two weeks, while it took the other team a whole month to gather the requirements. The Scalo team was significantly more productive and submitted better-quality deliverables in less time. Since we had such a positive experience during our first project, we engaged Scalo again. 

They’ve consistently provided us with experienced resources who’ve been productive from day one and delivered code after a few short weeks. They’ve done a great job with our projects, and we’ve received positive feedback regarding the Scalo team. When we experienced attrition, Scalo stepped in to support us with the necessary skill sets, which was immensely helpful.

How did Scalo perform from a project management standpoint?

The Scalo team has joined our delivery process, and we’ve communicated with the team members daily. We’ve also met with the delivery leaders daily via Microsoft Teams, and they’ve kept in touch with us on an ongoing basis. Furthermore, we’ve held weekly meetings with the team to dive into projects in more detail. They’ve communicated effectively, especially with our internal teammates. 

We’ve also met weekly with Scalo managers to create space for discussion and performance reviews and to share feedback on both sides. We had a minor issue with one of the team members’ language skills, which we communicated to the managers. However, the problem didn’t affect the project because the teammate was an individual contributor. Nevertheless, Scalo provided the teammate with English lessons, which was lovely. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’ve been impressed with how skilled their staff members have been. We’ve never been disappointed with a teammate; we’ve always requested to extend their contracts. Additionally, we’ve been impressed by their level of communication across the board. Their business analysts and systems analysts have been particularly fantastic when it comes to communication.

Furthermore, we’ve appreciated the responsive nature of their management team. They’ve reacted quickly and scheduled ad-hoc meetings to address our concerns and discuss topics further as needed. They’ve executed several plans to improve our project and have kept us up-to-date on progress and next steps. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve addressed our pain points with Scalo directly, but we had one issue with invoicing due to human error on their end. The invoicing problem went unsolved for a few months, but our teams have connected and figured out the issue, and we’ve operated smoothly ever since. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I advise you to take the time to assess Scalo’s teams before onboarding them to your project. At first glance, everything looks hunky dory with candidates, but it's good to orchestrate a workshop to evaluate the team’s skills and how they work together. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the head of the R&D department in a large company develops cutting-edge, tailor-made solutions for waste disposal logistics and street cleaning technologies - designed using sophisticated technology, for economical performance and the highest standards of quality.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Scalo?

Development of a new machine control system related to the transition to a new hardware platform.

SOLUTION

How did you select this agency and what were the deciding factors?

Scalo has been recommended to me. They are located in the same city as our branch.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Scalo was hired a year before the actual work was to start. In the beginning, they learned our machines so that after gaining experience, they could take action smoothly. Then, they developed a software development process for us and implemented the necessary tools. Finally, they delivered pieces of software according to our needs.

Describe the recruitment process in detail.

Scalo carried out the recruitment process on its own, after agreeing with us the required competences of the candidates. I must admit that they are very effective in this respect.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the engagement that demonstrate progress or success?

Scalo certainly brought a new approach to software development to our company. Thanks to them, we got to know modern processes and tools.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Pretty effective. We worked with their project manager and team management was on their side.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They take customer service seriously. They communicate risks in time.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

The entire IT industry in Poland suffers from excessive staff turnover. Scalo outperforms the average in this respect.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a Senior Business Partner in one of the biggest financial and debt collection company. We are present in 6 countries in Europe.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Scalo, and what were your goals?

Lack of specialists in the IT labor market is challenging for everyone, we are doing really well in this area, but we have also challenges in short time projects where we do not have enough resources, with such a topic Scalo is helping us with their outsourced specialists

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Previously Scalo was known as NBC, which I knew from my professional history. NBC had a good opinion on the market as a reasonable, agile, and professional partner. We invited them to compete for the best offer, finally they won and we sign a contract

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Scalo is responsible for recruitment, preselection, and caring for our candidates for IT Specialist. If we find a proper person who handling of the whole hiring and employment cycle of an employee. Project steps:

1. Recruitment and selection are done by Scalo
2. Presentation to Hiring Manager
3. Candidate verification is done by our Architect or Tech Lead
4. The final decision
5. Onboarding and working on the project.

We are working mostly with .NET developers with extended SQL knowledge or Angular

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We have two main contacts with Scalo. Service Delivery Manager and Sales Manager

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Scalo can deliver specialists in a very quick manner. During the first step of the project, they presented five IT specialists which we were able to accept. Therefore we were able to deliver our project on time. Scalo have also very good opinion withing Hiring Managers, some of them prefer Scalo over other companies.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

They stand with very good direct contact with dedicated contact persons. Usually, we can count on the first candidates in a max of 2-3 days. Communication with candidates usually can be exchanged on the same day. We expected good, efficient and agile contact which they delivered as asked.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They are agile, and their candidates are usually outstanding compared to other companies.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Really, there is not much to do to improve. I think communication always can be better.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work in a bank, in the IT Division, I am the manager of a team of business analysts. The team consists of about 50 people who work in various projects in the Agile or waterfall methodology

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Scalo?

We needed experienced and competent business analysts to be able to implement projects planned in the bank

SOLUTION

How did you select this agency and what were the deciding factors?

Previously, Scalo cooperated with our bank and was looking for programmers for us. It turned out that they can also provide people with the competences of business analysts

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

At the beginning, the specification of requirements, who we are looking for, what competences and for which business areas. Accurate understanding of the needs significantly influences the selection of candidates. It was important for Scalo to understand whether it is a job for us, what responsibilities a business analyst has

Describe the recruitment process in detail.

Searching for candidates according to my needs. Great care in searching for them, paying attention to what they meet and what they need to learn. Then, presenting me with the CVs of the candidates, after reading the CVs, I decided with whom I want to make an interview. The job interview itself, mostly with the participation of a person from Scalo. If the decision to hire a candidate was positive, then all formalities related to the employment of the candidate were on the side of Scalo.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the engagement that demonstrate progress or success?

With their support, work on projects could start, if after some time it turned out, however, that the candidate does not work well in our projects, then we look for a solution together

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

New people have support both at us and at Scalo, thanks to which any expectations can be quickly reached. we are constantly in touch

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They’ve fostered a very friendly atmosphere, customer-oriented approach, quick response in case of problems

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

A new person has taken over my company and we need to get to know each other better

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the associate director at a digital solutions company, 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Scalo?

We hired Scalo to help us expand our business into the Polish market. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Scalo provides me with IT specialists to augment my IT team. Their resources are helping me complete and deliver projects for my customers. Scalo’s team helps me find, interview, and evaluate candidates that best fit my project needs. 

What is the team composition?

I work with three teammates from Scalo, including the business development, delivery, and account managers. 

How did you come to work with Scalo?

Scalo actually found me and offered their services. 

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve invested $5,000–$10,000 with Scalo.  

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement began in August 2021, and it’s ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

My partnership with Scalo over the last 5–6 months has been very positive — they provide high-quality work. Our success is determined by the number of candidates they present who end up working on my customer’s projects. 

How did Scalo perform from a project management standpoint?

Scalo communicates well and is very proactive — they have a can-do attitude. We primarily communicate through emails, Microsoft Teams, and phone calls, although we do have in-person meetings. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Scalo is a very reliable partner and their productivity is impressive. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have nothing for Scalo to improve at this time. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d advise any customer looking for IT services to hire Scalo. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the delivery director and development center leader for a software provider in the banking industry. Our company provides software for the banking industry, mostly for frontend solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Scalo?

We are quickly growing, and we aren’t able to support that growth internally, so we decided to use external services and providers to staff and accelerate our growth.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We build our software for banks that have their own mobile applications, mostly for banking transactional systems as well as systems to onboard new customers. The latter includes all of the workflows necessary to process new customers entering the bank.

Scalo has provided recruiting, screening, and staff augmentation for our internal projects. They do not provide any separate pieces of work. From a technology standpoint, they are fully aligned with our technologies: Java, Angular, Kotlin, and Swift.

What is the team composition?

Currently, we are working with 10 consultants from Scalo.

How much have you invested in them?

We have daily rates, and so far, we’ve spent around €200,000 (approximately $221,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

The partnership began in August 2021, and it is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We don’t track performance in any formal or quantitative way, but I would say that we haven’t had any negative feedback about the individuals. We’re pleased with the quality of the candidates and consultants provided by Scalo and provide feedback both on a regular basis and on-demand.

It is difficult to calculate being on time and budget in a staff augmentation model, but the quality of the consultants has been satisfactory.

How did Scalo perform from a project management standpoint?

They are very responsive. We have several forms of communication: our equipment team coordinates the recruitment and info pipeline on a weekly basis, and I have meetings with their account management bi-weekly. We have direct email communication daily as well.

We use Greenhouse for the recruitment pipeline, but this is only for the new candidates being interviewed. Normally, we just use email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a very good network of recruiters that reach many candidates in Poland. I am impressed with how successful they are in connecting us with the right candidates. When it comes to prices, they are also pretty reasonable.

Considering the scale, we still expect them to do more because we are growing even faster than expected, but we’re happy with the candidates they’re providing.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There is slightly too large of an attrition rate, and I think they can scale up better, at least from my perspective. Other than that, I don’t have any other comments.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

No, there’s nothing in particular. We are satisfied with their services.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a software company, and I’m the leader of the team responsible for customer-specific development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Scalo?

It’s relatively hard to recruit developers in Finland, so we partnered with Scalo to find skilled developers suitable for our project needs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Scalo provides us with external developers for our team, who work with us on different projects. They’re as close to an employee as they can get without being directly employed by our company; they’re really close teammates.

Most of our projects are related to web development, so Scalo’s resources mainly help us with PHP development and, occasionally, Python development. As for the projects specifically, we’re building web applications for data management and reporting.

Additionally, our projects vary in size. Some work orders take about an hour to complete, whereas others take over two weeks of development work.

What is the team composition?

We’re currently working with three software developers from Scalo, and a fourth one will join us the next month.

How did you come to work with Scalo?

When I came to this position, we were already working with Scalo, so I don’t know how my company found them. However, I know that some of their resources have worked with us for over two years.

How much have you invested with them?

I don’t have the exact numbers, but we spend an average of €18,000–€20,000 (approximately $21,000–$23,000 USD) per month, and this rate has been on that level for a while. Thus, I estimate that we’ve spent over €400,000 (approximately $460,000 USD) in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

I believe we started working together around February 2019, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

As Scalo resources are basically just external team members, our success comes from completing the projects. For the most part, their estimates are fairly accurate, and everything is delivered as promised and planned.

How did Scalo perform from a project management standpoint?

Although their skills vary from individual to individual, Scalo’s project management is good for the most part. Whatever they promise, they deliver. We use Jira for project management and Microsoft Teams to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Scalo’s resources know what they’re doing, which helps them pick up things quickly. Whenever we need more resources, the onboarding process is pretty smooth, especially compared to how much time it takes to recruit someone internally.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any constructive feedback for Scalo.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be aware of your needs. If you can define the technologies and the skills you need, the engagement will be easier, and they’ll help you find suitable candidates.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at an advertising tech company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Scalo?

We were creating a product in the advertising technology environment. It was a product for publishers to improve their revenue by making a dynamic inventory on their side and getting more income out of their advertising. We needed help with the recruitment of an outsourced, part-time frontend developer with broad experience and availability.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Scalo helped us with the recruitment; they gave us some candidates, and we selected one. We interviewed the candidate and started working together — everything went through them, like the invoicing. 

What is the team composition?

There’s one part-time frontend developer, a salesperson, and an account manager from their team.

How did you come to work with Scalo?

A former colleague recommended them. I contacted another company, but Scalo gave me better and quicker feedback.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent €13,000 (approximately $15.000 USD) with them,

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from June–September 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We benefited from the technical input of the developer — they were experienced, and it went great. The metrics of their service itself worked great as well.

How did Scalo perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated via email and video calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a wide selection of candidates with different experiences, which worked with our requirements.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't think there's anything they can improve on — they provided us with different options.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Ask for more candidates to choose from since the beginning.