Yalantis

Please describe your company and your position there.

Zillow, the top real estate website in the U.S., is building an on-demand real estate experience. Whether selling, buying, renting or financing, customers can turn to Zillow’s businesses to find and get into their next home with speed, certainty and ease.

I am a senior manager of engineering for the renovation team that is part of the Zillow Offers organization, implementing and providing tools for renovation field operations.

For what projects/services did your company hire Yalantis?

Zillow's big transformation around the real estate transactional model required strategic and fast investment in software development that is essential for renovation field work. We needed to scale our development teams quickly and be ready to hit the ground running with little overhead and ramp up.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to model our relationship with Yalantis as an embedded scrum team in multiple dev teams within our group. This model would allow us to have a long term relationship on various initiatives the reno team plans to work on.

How did you select this vendor?

Yalantis was a recommendation from an internal team within Zillow which has been working with them for a few years.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Reno team works on development of renovation project management tools for Zillow. This includes a web application, a mobile application, and backend work that integrates with multiple other platforms. These tools enable our field operators to efficiently get their job done while offering a centralized technology around the company.

What was the team composition?

A web application team, a mobile team, a backend team, and a testing team totaling 10+ engineers from Yalantis.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The biggest and immediate benefit of this partnership was development velocity. We had a number of important milestones we had to meet in the short term.

Yalantis was able to jump in and rapidly onboard the developers who were highly capable and contributed to multiple project rollouts productively while maintaining high quality in our work.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

For our daily communications, we leverage Slack and emails heavily. When we don't need to sync real time, we balance that with offline messages using confluence documentation and video recordings of our meetings to overcome some of the timezone difference challenges.

For our project management, we use Jira exclusively along with gitlab as our source code. Video conferences are enabled by BlueJeans and Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Yalantis seems to follow similar core values as Zillow when it comes to creating an environment that values customers, that allows their employees to thrive and grow.

The outcome of this is visible through the work they produce, the level of engagement in commitment. Minor communication challenges and timezone differences are easily outweighed by their level of professionalism and ownership.

There is also a big benefit of having their recruiting and project coordinator deeply engaged in our day to day work, which has led to quick resolutions on any blockers and continuous improvements in our process.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Yalantis has started to create more official processes around their retention policy, feedback loops, and recruiting visibility. I believe there's more room for improvement there as we continue to identify other processes that can help increase development and operational visibility bidirectionally.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work at a financial advising company. I was consulting with the company through another software company where I’m a partner. I came on as the CTO in February 2020.

What challenge were you trying to address with Yalantis?

We’re competing in a space with high-level competitors. Right now, we use a mash-up of different software which is complicated both for our team and clients. 

We wanted to provide a better experience. So, we hired Yalantis to work on a cohesive software suite that does financial advising and offers investing services.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Yalantis has been working on creating a web app. They use React for the frontend and Node.js for the backend on AWS. They built integrations for document signing and making credit card and bank payments. 

Additionally, they’ve also done mass amounts of internal data collection for storing client information. The team has also handled security in terms of the secure storage of client information and processing of transactions.

What is the team composition?

We’ve been working with a project manager, business analysts, QA teammates, and front- and backend developers. The composition over time. We initially started with seven team members, but throughout 2019 we scaled up to develop a lot more. 

So, we were working with about 17 teammates. We’ve scaled back down and up again to address our budget and scheduling needs. Right now we’re working with 12–13 team members.

How did you come to work with Yalantis?

Through my experience of working with Yalantis when I was consulting at the software company, I brought them on when I made the transition to my current organization. We had some exposure to what they were capable of.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $600,000–$800,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement began in February 2019, and it’s ongoing.

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

The software they developed is amazing and the website is of production quality. My background is in software, so I’ve done code reviews of their work and everything looks great.

Additionally, the main thing is that the team is communicative and very transparent with their planning and expectations. They are also agile in terms of presenting their plan for each sprint and release. Everything is hands-on.

How did Yalantis perform from a project management standpoint?

We’re able to go in and see what’s being worked on. If our expectations aren’t met, it’s on our own shoulders because the Yalantis does an amazing job of presenting the details. In terms of schedule, they stick to the timelines that are set.

The only con of their agile nature is that some of the prototyping and MVP work is a little slower because it needs to be planned out into a sprint which might not seem necessary to the rest of the business team. The quality has been fantastic, so it’s a trade-off.

We use Slack where they give us daily updates about what each teammate is working on. They also use Google Sheets and Jira. We can go anywhere to see what’s going on and make sure that we can do our own planning and make decisions on our end. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I almost never find any bugs. The quality of the software makes them standout. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve their ability to break the mold and go off the planning for MVP or prototype work. There are some cases where we could skip out of the more detailed project management and QA work to develop those prototypes or MVPs, which would allow us to make decisions quicker.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take advantage of the fact that they’re so transparent and have open communication. Yalantis writes down all of their information along the way so if some things have changed you can catch it before anything goes wrong.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of an on-demand delivery app. We were set to launch in March but postponed the release because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

What challenge were you trying to address with Yalantis?

We weren’t satisfied with our initial vendor that messed up the project. We needed a more capable team, so we went to Yalantis.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Yalantis designed and developed our on-demand delivery app for iOS version. After the iOS product launches, we plan to build the app for Android. As well, their team will add more features based on user feedback.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a team of 7–8 people including a project manager.

How did you come to work with Yalantis?

A colleague recommended Yalantis. I reviewed the work available on their website and downloaded one of their apps. It worked perfectly fine.

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost between $86,000–$87,000, excluding the fees associated with a freelancing platform.

What is the status of this engagement?

I intended to start working with Yalantis in 2018, but ended up giving the project to a different company. This project ran from July 2019–January 2020. However, I plan to keep working with them for bug fixes and changes.

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

We tested the app and it works perfectly fine. My team and I got positive feedback from people who saw the app. They were responsive, and everything went as planned. Yalantis did a good job.

We haven’t launched the product, so I don’t have customer feedback yet. I planned to take the product to the public, but the COVID-19 epidemic happened. Now, everything’s on hold now. There’s a 14-day shutdown in my city, and nothing is working. 

How did Yalantis perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated through Skype, Zoom, and Slack, which the whole team used. We used Zoom for meetings. The process was smooth, but we had some challenges. The initial project budget was $50,000, so the rough estimates that Yalantis gave were low. But we couldn’t achieve our goals with that amount.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Yalantis was responsive to feedback. Their team fixed any aspects of the app that I didn’t like.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They should be more accurate with their budget estimates. Yalantis can suggest alternative approaches to reduce costs, which is a good quality.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I definitely recommend Yalantis because they’re a good company. I plan to stick with them after the iOS app launches to build the Android version. All they need to do is be more accurate with their estimates.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of a logistics platform. We offer first-mile, last-mile, next-day, and same-day delivery in our region.

What challenge were you trying to address with Yalantis?

Budget and resources are always dependent on technology. We onboarded Yalantis to deliver a 6–7-month technology project that we couldn’t do in-house.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We first brought in Yalantis for development. They delivered an AngularJS web application with a Node.js backend. It integrates with our platform, using a couple of Node.js microservices and RESTful APIs talking to some AngularJS components. Yalantis received business requirements from us, and they also handled project management, QA, and release management. They’re currently handling support.

Since then, we discovered that we could staff through their team. We now have two full-time senior Node.js developers from Yalantis among other resources.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with 12–15 people from Yalantis in total. These include an account manager, project manager, business analyst, 3–4 Node.js developers, 2–3 AngularJS developers, and a couple of QAs on their team. I’ve also had calls with their resource manager and discussed the commercial part at the project’s beginning with their business development manager.

How did you come to work with Yalantis?

I researched the Ukrainian market and reached out to a few companies, including Yalantis. Part of our technology team is in Russia—making collaboration convenient—and I knew of a UK company that had worked with Yalantis. They were also listed as a top technology company on Google and came recommended by one of my resources. I approached them, had some discussions, and found that they knew what they were doing. 

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost more than $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The collaboration started in October 2018 and is ongoing.

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

I don’t have any metrics so far, but we’ve tested their software with our management and received approval. The work Yalantis delivered was good quality.

How did Yalantis perform from a project management standpoint?

Yalantis is awesome in this respect. They handle the business analysis parts with excellent attention. They help whenever we need to push on anything, and they really care about the parts they’re responsible for in a project. We have weekly calls talking about the team and address any issues.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Yalantis delivered high-quality technologies, which means their QA testers are great. They also deliver on time despite the changes from our side. Every part of their team—from project management to account management to business analysis—is really good. Yalantis is a very good company. For what we paid, we get really good quality.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We had some issues transferring money because of our location, and Yalantis doesn’t offer flexible support plans. Improving this flexibility would add value to them. 

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I don’t have any specific advice. Yalantis is a good company to go with. If we deliver requirements correctly, validate the work, and help them with the delivery, we get a very good piece of software.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a senior project manager at Digital Surgeons, and we are a creative marketing agency.

What challenge were you trying to address with Yalantis?

We designed a mobile app for a client of ours, but we don’t have any in-house developers. So, we needed to partner with a company that had the ability to develop a mobile app that could incorporate our client’s algorithms.  

What was the scope of their involvement?

Yalantis developed an iOS mobile app that tracks the user’s daily water intake. The app uses our client’s algorithm to calculate recommendations for water consumption and monitors progress towards a hydration goal. 

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with their CEO, two project managers, and a team of business analysts. There was a little turnover within the team when we paused development, but the transition was seamless.

How did you come to work with Yalantis?

We narrowed down our selection group to three potential partners and chose Yalantis based on their expertise, portfolio, and pricing. It was clear that they would be the right fit.

How much have you invested with them?

Our client spent $55,000 with them. Their team was sensitive to our client’s budget and warned us if anything would cause us to go over our quote.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from July 2018–March 2019.  

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

The app is in our client’s hands, but they haven’t released it yet because they continue to alter their algorithm. Although we don’t have any success metrics, we definitely had a positive experience working with Yalantis. When we reviewed their work between sprints, we had very minimal feedback. The app had very few bugs, and we didn’t request very many changes to their work. They followed our design very closely. They’re a top-notch team.

How did Yalantis perform from a project management standpoint?

Although we needed to shift timelines a few times, they were very good at setting expectations and providing reports. They divided the project into sprints, and I was always aware of the project’s status, what was being prioritized, and what was being pushed to the next sprint.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their project management was superb and they delivered a solid product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was a small language barrier and we faced a few communication challenges because we were in different time zones. However, these were easy to address with a little patience and cooperation.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The more upfront you are with your needs and what your budget is, the better.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We developed two native phone applications and are a technology company diving into the reverse logistics shipping chain. We pair e-commerce shoppers with on-demand independent contractor drivers. I'm a co-founder.

What challenge were you trying to address with Yalantis?

The industry pain point for the consumer is returning unwanted or damaged items. To get compensation for that item, consumers either have to return to the post office or go onto a webpage to schedule a pickup. We take the pain out of the consumer experience by managing that return process through an independent, gig-economy workforce.

What was the scope of their involvement?

When we decided the market was ready for this kind of service, we realized no one was linking these aspects of the industry together. They built an aggressive sprint schedule to get both native applications for iOS and Android out by Q3 of 2019.

What is the team composition?

We worked with an account manager, a project manager, a business analyst, a UI/UX designer, an iOS designer, an Android designer, and a backend developer.

How did you come to work with Yalantis?

We drafted the specifications and looked at a number of global software development companies that could develop this with quality, cost, and expediency. They met all our requirements, and their documents were very impressive. After meeting their team, they seemed like the right fit for us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent approximately $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from September 2018-May 2019.

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

Our biggest KPI is downloads. We market via social media and are branching out into AdWords. We did go back to them to enable Facebook analytics in the app, but they weren't involved in our marketing. We did finish below budget, and they delivered the finished product ahead of schedule. We learned a lot, and they helped us bridge the gap as we built this first-in-market app.

How did Yalantis perform from a project management standpoint?

They were stellar project managers. We had regularly scheduled calls for sprints, and we were very happy with how they handled the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were easy to work with, and we had a very good relationship with them. They were friendly, and we liked the partnership.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We used Account Kit, which is a customer sign on and verification. That funnel is something we plan to do away with, and I would rather we just used the existing Facebook login. It leaves some room for error, so we plan to make some changes for the second version. That's a decision we made together, but it wasn't successful.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have detailed specifications and have a team member work on project management and software development on your side. They are very sophisticated and detailed, so an intermediary on your side will help you focus on your business needs. They deal well with the initial development of a project, but I'm not sure of their capabilities on an ad hoc level.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of a software development firm. We’ve found our own niche in the market where we create and build large-scale solutions and platforms and become an equity partner in those products, allowing us to reduce our rates and decrease the overall cost of the build. Basically, we take the place of an internal development team in our clients’ businesses, and they pay us internal rates.

What challenge were you trying to address with Yalantis?

I needed additional talent and resources to scale my team while staying within our budget restrictions.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve worked with them on several projects for different clients at this point, but we generally follow the same process. My team handles the design in-house, and we share a clickable prototype with Yalantis though InVision. They do their own discovery phase to learn more about the client’s business and their technical requirements; then they analyze the UI elements and flow of the prototype. From there, it’s a lot of back-and-forth discussion. We incorporate their feedback on our original design and make small changes until everyone is on the same page. We choose the technology, cloud structure, and hosting services to use, and augment development between our team and theirs.

Once they’ve built the solution, they share it with us for testing. They have a QA person that reviews each element as they work, but we handle the final testing process. After looking the product over, we request any bug fixes, modification, or updates. Yalantis willingly makes the changes and sends us the final version. Usually, they provide a small team for ongoing support. Their team is heavily involved from start to finish in the development aspects of our clients’ projects.

Currently, we’re working with Yalantis to build an application for large education enterprises like public school systems or large childcare chains. When finished, it will be a full suite that connects students, parents, teachers, school board representatives, and the organization’s corporate body.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with a variety of people from Yalantis, including project management personnel, developers, analysts, and QA resources. For the daycare platform specifically, we have a fantastic and organized project manager, a smart business analyst, a Node.js developer, two frontend developers, two iOS developers, and two Android developers.

How did you come to work with Yalantis?

I own a different business that runs a local event listings WordPress site, and we were looking to build a corresponding set of native Android and iOS apps. We hired a different company initially, but we weren’t happy in the partnership, so we decided to switch vendors. I searched for an overseas team, and eventually landed on Yalantis. I was very happy with their performance on that first project, so I modified the business model for this business to include the Yalantis team’s assistance. We’ve been working together ever since. They’re just as, if not more, reliable than our local development options.

How much have you invested with them?

We’re paying $275,000 for the daycare project. In total, we’ve probably spent $1.2 million on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working on the daycare project in February 2018, and we plan to launch the beta version late this quarter or early next quarter. The first project we ever worked on with them was in February 2017.

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

Their most notable accomplishment relates to a different project. A client was facing a Congressional investigation because their software had caused issues around the time of the 2018 primary elections. The software had been developed by a different contractor, and they came to us to fix it. The legacy system took two years to build, but with the help of Yalantis, we were able to rewrite it within three months.

How did Yalantis perform from a project management standpoint?

They manage their work excellently. We have daily standups and chat consistently over Slack. I have direct access to their entire team. The project manager handles high-level items like planning and billing to make sure we’re always moving forward. For strategic and technical discussions, we go straight to the development resources. They’re free to ask us direct questions without an intermediary. They have excellent English all things considered.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I haven’t seen a vendor work as efficiently as Yalantis using the agile methodology. We’ve worked with large organizations that have hundreds of developers, scrum masters, and project managers, and they still don’t compare. The Yalantis team understands that every customer and every project is a bit different. They expertly balance flexibility with organization, accommodating every project’s unique requirements, but still following a strict process that ensures they deliver quality results on time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Quickly assigning resources to new projects can be a challenge. That’s not necessarily a weakness because it’s a common challenge throughout the development industry. Staffing a team is always a rushed process because everyone wants to get to work as fast as possible with the best resources possible.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the co-founder of Moja Market. We're the first super app to be introduced in Africa.

What challenge were you trying to address with Yalantis?

We needed help with the Android development of our app.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They're overseeing the Android development. We developed the UI and UX, overall architecture, and most of the backend in-house. We are a multi-function app with an e-commerce platform that includes a payment option. Yalantis handled the payment integration very effectively, working collaboratively with us and letting us know about potential issues. We began with an Android application because that is our principal market, but we're also planning to develop an iOS version with them in the future.

What is the team composition?

I mostly work with their project manager and an account manager, but they have about 11 people in total assigned to our project.

How did you come to work with Yalantis?

Our CTO worked with them previously and had a very positive experience.

How much have you invested with them?

By the time we have an MVP, it'll be a little over $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in May 2018 and the relationship is ongoing.

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

We're going through the first phase of alpha testing. Our internal team has been very impressed with the functionality of the app.

How did Yalantis perform from a project management standpoint?

They're excellent communicators and provided us with all the documentation. We use Slack, Skype, Zoom, and email to stay in touch. They've been very accessible, often responding after hours if there is a pressing question. They're based in Ukraine, but we haven't had any complaints. They're so driven to make our project a success that they feel like part of our team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We're a small team, so we were looking for a partner rather than just a contractor. They look at our project as a partnership and always make sure we're fully satisfied with their services. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I couldn't have asked for anything more. It's been a wonderful experience.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Because of the time difference, you have to consider that there might be early phone calls, but they've been very flexible and made things easy for us.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Half Cost Hotels. We’re an online travel agency.

What challenge were you trying to address with Yalantis?

My partners and I have solid technology backgrounds, but we wanted to bring in expert-level coders to develop our site. We initially hired Yalantis for their frontend design prowess. However, the engagement evolved into a more comprehensive project.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Yalantis began the development process by working with us to establish a project scope. We gave them as much information as we could over the phone to communicate how we wanted the design to look. We also sent links to existing websites, even some outside of the travel industry, to demonstrate our vision. They essentially approached the project from scratch and provided a mind map that detailed the scope. My partners and I looked it over and made some minor changes, but we mostly stayed true to their original design.

Yalantis’s team is currently building out the front- and backend of the website per the agreed upon outline. They’re using Ruby on Rails and a host of other technologies to create a custom platform. We have bi-weekly calls with them to discuss development issues and review feature demonstrations. The project is set to total around 10–11 programming sprints before the site is complete. They make sure to send detailed reports of each sprint upon completion.

What is the team composition?

We primarily interact with three resources including a project manager and a requirement analyst. However, we occasionally speak with their design and development leads, respectively. In that sense, we work with a total of five people from their team.

How did you come to work with Yalantis?

I was doing market research on the travel industry and stumbled upon an article they’d written about online travel agencies. I followed the article to their site and realized that were web developers. That happened to take place around the time we were looking for a development firm, so I decided to reach out. Our relationship continued from there.

How much have you invested with them?

The finished project will likely cost upwards of $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We first contacted them in January 2018 and the engagement is ongoing.

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

We’re all blown away with what they’ve been able to produce on the frontend. We can tell their inspiration comes from what we’ve provided, but they’ve also taken the project in a new direction. We appreciate that level of creativity. My internal team is currently tapping into the site’s backend to test the durability of the platform. That process is ongoing, but I haven’t heard any bad news thus far.

How did Yalantis perform from a project management standpoint?

Our contacts regularly communicate with us via phone and email. We also utilize Slack on a daily basis. Each person has a different role and they’re forthcoming about who they manage. It’s been a smooth process so far and they’ve performed admirably.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their product is great and they perform as advertised. Combine that with their excellent customer service and it’s been a fantastic experience.

Are there any areas they could improve?

A slight language barrier can create the occasional miscommunication, but overall they’re skilled communicators.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Mikitsune is a digital solution for parents. We connect them with businesses offering activities, events, and classes with one app for scheduling, paying, and getting reminders.

For what projects/services did your company hire Yalantis?

I'd designed the app and was looking for a team to take full responsibility for its development, the backend, and the CMS. I also wanted a team who would advise me technically.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a clean code and a final product that's loyal to the design. We were looking for a fluid user journey and high quality.

How did you select this vendor?

I looked for digital agencies on Clutch and LinkedIn, and found Yalantis on Clutch. Their portfolio included a ticketing app, which added value. After a few emails, we finally came to an agreement.

Describe the project in detail.

They understood my needs and helped me prioritize and simplify some of the features in order to get clean results within my limited budget. The app includes a listing algorithm, tickets, and a sales platform.

What was the team composition?

We were assigned a project manager who stayed with us throughout the project. The team was made up of seven other members: an account manager, an iOS Developer, a backend developer, an architect, a recruitment analyst, and a QA.

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

The release on the App Store was very smooth. We've received very positive feedback from our audience, who say that the app is smooth and very easy to navigate.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The project manager who handled our project was very professional. Everything was clarified, from the first quotation onwards and the work was divided into biweekly milestones. I was then able to test the app and give my feedback. The communication was smooth, with a few small bumps when we were running out of time, but that's normal. We used Slack as our daily chat tool.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The team is patient and professional. The scenario sheet was very detailed and we had a feedback sheet to discuss issues that could be a bit vague. They also gave me advice on some marketing tools to use.

Are there any areas for improvement?

With the budget we had, it was a challenge to create such a good product. I look forward to making further improvements, but that's the continuous cycle of technology.