If you can dream it, we can build it.
Zagaran, Inc. is a Harvard-alumni led software development company headquartered in Boston, MA. Since our inception, we have proudly worked on high-impact projects for over 80 diverse organizations, including venerable universities, hospitals, research groups, nonprofits, startups, Global 500 companies, and state and local government agencies. Our company philosophy is very simple: We choose to do right by our clients. We stand by our software, we stand by our clients, and we stand by our community. Clients trust us to build technology critical to their mission, and we always deliver. We are focused on providing the best service and the best results to our community.
Choosing the right software developer is one of the most important decisions you can make. It’s crucial to have software experts who will choose the best tools for the job, who understand the trade-offs involved in development, who are experienced enough to make the right calls, and who know how to guide you through each step of the software development process. We are those experts for dozens of groups. We would like to be those experts for you as well.
Check us out at: www.zagaran.com
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Focus
Portfolio
Harvard University, MIT, Commonwealth of MA, Teva Pharmaceuticals, LevelUp, EY, KPMG, Sixt
Instant Census
Instant Census is a SMS platform providing automated text message conversations. Instant Census allows researchers, companies, and brands to interact more quickly and effectively with people through their mobile devices instead of email to get lightning-fast responses and high answer rates. Leverage everyday messaging as a medium to reach and engage, and open a better channel of communication with people at scale.
Companies use Instant Census to get feedback on products, researchers use Instant Census to track the spread of epidemics, and schools use Instant Census to interact with their students.
Learn more at: www.instantcensus.com
RetroacDev
RetroacDev is a data-driven Research & Development Tax Credit automation software built by software experts for accountants who work with clients in the SaaS, software, and technology industries.
RetroacDev analyzes client data from GitHub, Microsoft Azure DevOps, Jira, and other project management platforms popular among tech startups to help accountants accelerate data collection, calculate Qualified Research Expenditure (QRE), and generate contemporaneous documentation to protect clients in the event of an IRS Audit.
Accountants in the Bay Area, NYC, Boston, Chicago, and other tech hubs around the country used RetroacDev to help tech organizations document and claim their R&D tax credits.
CHAMP
Zagaran is the software developer of CHAMP (the Common Housing Application for Massachusetts Public-Housing), which you can visit at mass.gov/applyforpublichousing. This was a massive project for the Department of Housing and Community Development to centralize and modernize the application process for public housing in the entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We built this application from scratch, working with a wide array of Commonwealth stakeholders to architect the system. We are extremely proud of the work we have done with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and feel a strong obligation to deliver high quality work not just for the government but also for our fellow citizens.
Reviews
the project
Development for Healthcare Solutions Platform
"They’re willing to engage in projects in a very personal way, committing themselves to their work."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the CEO at a healthcare startup.
What challenge were you trying to address with Zagaran Software?
We were working with another dev shop to supplement our in-house team. After encountering some problems, we turned to them to evaluate our current technologies. However, we also wanted a more timely and flexible dev partner.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We did a tech reset and brainstorm before letting them rebuild our apps from the ground up. Selecting the new technology for the apps was a partnered discussion that they added a lot of value to. They worked closely with our team, who was kept focused on the existing version of the software. Once the basics were in place, they handed their development work back over to our team.
The completed software manages clinician compensation. We take in a variety of data and run calculations and analytics on compensation. There’s also a visualization tool involved.
What is the team composition?
We worked with Ben (CEO) and Chris (Frontend & UX Developer).
How did you come to work with Zagaran Software?
I met Ben at a networking event, and we had a couple of friendly chats since. They were willing to meet us where we were as a company, helping us with anything we needed even if it was unusual. For instance, they were willing to help us hire additional tech resources if needed.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent about $25,000 with them.
What is the status of this engagement?
We’ve been working with them since May 2020.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
They finished the initial engagement recently, so it’s currently in the testing phases. They’re still super responsive to us about the product, regularly keeping in touch. We appreciated them jumping on top of problems when something became a constraint for us.
They delivered completely new technologies in just a few weeks with limited resources. We’ve already been able to shift a major enterprise client to their platform, so the timeline has been very impressive. They’ve exceeded our expectations.
How did Zagaran Software perform from a project management standpoint?
Zagaran's project management is top-notch; they kept our project on budget, on time, and maximized their output for the constraints of the project. Communication was timely, reliable, and friendly.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Zagaran tackled this project with the same sense of enthusiasm and passion that I would expect from an in-house team. They were fully engaged in our success and in delivering an amazing product for us.
Are there any areas they could improve?
None.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Give them more of a free reign that you may think necessary. Their creativity and problem-solving abilities pay dividends.
the project
E-Commerce Dev for Pharmaceutical Logistics Company
"We’d never had such a collaborative experience on a web project."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the director of IT at R&S Solutions, a pharmaceutical logistics company. We warehouse and ship pharmaceutical products for manufacturers.
What challenge were you trying to address with Zagaran Software?
We had an e-commerce site that was developed by another company, but they didn’t build it to our specifications. We were unable to correct their mistakes, and we were about 30 days from our go-live event without a functioning site. We engaged Zagaran to help us get to where we needed to be.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Zagaran offered us a range of services in order to get our site functioning. They provided us with PostgreSQL expertise, as well as some coding in Django and Python.
They worked to correct our process workflows for registering new customers, invoice generation, and order creation. The team also added some UX improvements, from simple text edits to complex relationship matrices within the account creation process.
What is the team composition?
Our main point of contact is Kevin (Co-Founder), but we spoke with a total of three people from the team.
How did you come to work with Zagaran Software?
We searched online for a Django provider, and they came up as a recommended partner.
How much have you invested with them?
The initial investment started at around $20,000. Since then, we’ve added an additional $60,000–$75,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We’ve been working with them since January 2020. Zagaran corrected the issues we needed fixed in under 30 days, and since then we’ve been utilizing them for additional tweaks and enhancements to the site. We plan to continue partnering with them on a long term basis.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We’ve been extremely satisfied with their work. They completely saved our roll-out; our project would’ve failed without Zagaran’s intervention. The team was instrumental in correcting it and bringing the final product to fruition.
How did Zagaran Software perform from a project management standpoint?
Kevin worked side-by-side with our team to get the site finished. We’d never had such a collaborative experience on a web project. As a team, Zagaran is always available for phone calls and emails.
Their ability to recognize project priorities has been extremely helpful. The team is easy to get along with, thorough when asking questions, and they understand the business requirements—all of which make them feel as though they’re an extension of our own workforce.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Their willingness to help really makes them stand out from their competitors. They readily picked up the pieces of something another provider built. In short order, they threw resources at the problem to understand and solve it. Zagaran did all of that for a project other companies didn’t want to touch.
Are there any areas they could improve?
There’s nothing I can think of. They’re wonderful to work with.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Make sure you have all your questions and pain points ready at the start of the engagement. It will make the process go a lot faster.
the project
Software Development for University Faculty
“They understood all of our needs and were able to work with our schedule.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I'm a lecturer in public policy at Harvard Kennedy School.
What challenge were you trying to address with Zagaran Software?
We were trying to develop a system that would allow us to track participation in our courses and identify the blind spots. We needed a vendor to help us.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We gave them specifications and loose wireframes, and they coded the application in Python. We met every week and they managed the whole project. We also showed them a proof of concept that served as a baseline for our conversation. They've completed the MVP, but they're still helping us manage bugs and plan the future development.
What is the team composition?
We've interacted with three members of their team and two interns.
How did you come to work with Zagaran Software?
They were recommended to me by a faculty member. We asked for a quote from them and compared it to the other quotes we got.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working with them in June 2018 and the relationship is ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
The feedback has been extremely positive. The interface is very fast and easy to navigate. It's a better functioning application than the proof of concept version we had. The new app relies more on web standards and works easily on different browsers and devices. Also, it's very smooth, effective, and has more features.
How did Zagaran Software perform from a project management standpoint?
We had a lot of in-person meetings, but we also used Slack to communicate. Our original deadline was pushed back because of the university bureaucracy. I was concerned that we weren't going to produce a viable product by the start of classes. However, in addition to coding a very good software, Zagaran managed tasks and prioritized needs extraordinary well, so we ended up with a product that exceeded my expectations. They were able to communicate effectively with the faculty in a way that even not high-tech people could understand.
Also, they ended up working closely with the Harvard IT department that has very strict requirements. Zagaran was flexible and carried themselves extremely well in those meetings.
What did you find most impressive about them?
We appreciated their responsiveness and the ease of communication. They understood all of our needs and were able to work with our schedule. If there was an issue, they'd jump on it quickly (they even created a system that let us report the issues we had, so they could respond immediately.)
We were a bit skeptical that they'd be able to deliver everything we had talked about, but they delivered what they had promised.
Are there any areas they could improve?
We planned the budget for the project with them and they were very good at letting us know if something unexpected came up. But it'd be nice if they were a bit more proactive about keeping us informed in terms of where the budget was going.
the project
AngularJS & Ruby on Rails Dev for Mobile Payment Company
"We just launched one version and ... The user experience is clear, straightforward, and easy to use."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m a product manager for a mobile payments company. We create mobile applications for iOS and Android that allow customers to order and pay at fast casual restaurant chains.
What challenge were you trying to address with Zagaran Software?
We needed a new product offering for web ordering.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Zagaran is helping us extend our product offering to web ordering on Yelp. The solution allows users to place orders directly through Yelp for some merchants. It allows for online ordering and payments, as well as incorporating our loyalty reward structure. The more a user orders from a specific merchant, the more they benefit. We brought them on to make sure things were running smoothly with the Yelp integration, and to bring the existing product to a place where we can start distributing and selling it for our clients.
Zagaran serves as our agency partner for the development resources. They gather the requirements and plan out the process. We give them designs and they work through the front- and backend integration; they use AngularJS for the frontend and Ruby on Rails for the backend. They created a staging site so we can test everything out. Then they fix any bugs so we can ultimately deploy the live updates.
What is the team composition?
The team fluctuates based on our resource needs. On average, we work with two full-time engineers.
How did you come to work with Zagaran Software?
They had an existing relationship with the company when I started. Our CEO knew their founder.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working together in November 2016 and the engagement is ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We just launched one version and the clients love it. It highlights the main value of the product, which is ordering. The user experience is clear, straightforward, and easy to use. We’re really happy with it.
How did Zagaran Software perform from a project management standpoint?
I’m really happy with their project management. We’re able to meet weekly because they’re based here in Boston. They’re really easy to work with and super accommodating. They’ll build whatever we want as long as we have the time and money. I have constant communication with them via a direct Slack channel. They’re very quick to respond. They’re great about setting expectations on the level of effort and what resources a project will require. They’re also very transparent. If I ask them where we’re at in times of hours, they’re able to let me know exactly. They only charge us for the hours we actually use.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Zagaran is really easy to work with. I’ve worked with other agencies and developers where communication has always been a struggle. They have really sharp engineers that code to the current standards, but they can also describe and talk about things in non-technical terms. It’s very easy to understand their approach and they’re also able to meet our vision. It’s always been easy to resolve any issues, and they let us know how it impacts resources and timelines.
They’re strong with UX. They approach user flows and problems holistically. They’ll develop a feature and make sure it works for one use case. They also make sure any feature is accommodated across all use cases, whether it’s different screen sizes or other scenarios. They’ll bring ideas to me that we didn’t even think about initially. They’re really good with ramping up for new projects. It’s really enjoyable to work with them.
Are there any areas they could improve?
Right now, they’re just a development shop. If they want to round out their services, they could add more design-focused individuals.
the project
Web App Dev for Apparel Company
“We all love working with Zagaran. They’ve become a dependable part of our team.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the CEO of an apparel company that specializes in e-commerce. We produce and ship apparel on demand.
What challenge were you trying to address with Zagaran Software?
I wrote the software that creates our product designs, but it was only running on my computer. We needed a development firm to build that software into a web application all of our employees could use.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Our first project with Zagaran was fairly straightforward. We provided local Python scripts that they built into a Django app. The finished product is an internal tool, so the UI is basically nonexistent. This facilitated a quick development process.
After a successful first project, we hired them to be our primary software development team. In addition to our product design app, they’ve taken over the development of our fulfillment and manufacturing app. This app is a vital component of our business as it manages transactional email. It also executes processes like batching orders and passing them to our manufacturer. Zagaran continually integrates both systems with new features and provides general bug fixes.
What is the team composition?
I work directly with three developers.
How did you come to work with Zagaran Software?
Zagaran was recommended to me by a colleague and I decided they’d be a good fit.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent around $200,000 thus far.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working together in April 2014 and the engagement is ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We all love working with Zagaran. They’ve become a dependable part of our team. Our staff uses the software they’ve built daily and appreciates the responsiveness and stability of each app. As internal tools, they’re not flashy but they get the job done. We consider the software a big competitive advantage over other apparel companies.
How did Zagaran Software perform from a project management standpoint?
They willingly integrated into our Asana system and are extremely responsive to email as well. Those are our primary forms of communication, but we also have quarterly phone calls to catch up on priorities.
What did you find most impressive about them?
We’ve worked with a lot of software developers, but Zagaran’s quality code sets them apart. As a developer myself, I know how difficult it is to build complex and stable applications. We’ve built trust with them and they work quickly, but their top-notch code is why we’ve continued the engagement for so many years.
Are there any areas they could improve?
They’re expensive and other firms could certainly build a project for less. However, the software they maintain is a crucial aspect of our business, so we’re willing to pay more for quality. Not having to fix bugs ourselves makes it worth the cost.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
We’re probably a non-standard client considering my technical background. I don’t have any specific advice.
the project
Django Dev Staff Augmentation for Pharmaceutical Company
"I’m delighted to work with them; I couldn’t ask for better."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I'm a senior web applications developer on a digital health software team. We have a mobile app, a Django backend, and web dashboards.
What challenge were you trying to address with Zagaran Software?
They provide staff augmentation services. We prefer to hire external consultants when we needed more capacity.
What was the scope of their involvement?
In the last year, they’ve provided at least two resources for continuous integration set up and Django implementation. The team also assists with backlogs, bug fixes, and new features. Depending on our team’s needs, Zagaran will either fix or suggest refactoring solutions for our mature codebase. A past feature project involved updating all our libraries to improve performance.
What is the team composition?
We work with at least two members, but sometimes up to four. The resource allocations are equivalent to two full-time positions.
How did you come to work with Zagaran Software?
We met an industry conference for Django users. My colleague heard them talk.
How much have you invested with them?
I don’t handle the invoices, but I believe it’s roughly half the cost of two full-time employees.
What is the status of this engagement?
Work started in March 2017 and is ongoing. I expect it to continue for another six months to a year.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
As a former consultant, I know they do good work. The team resolves issues in a careful and thorough manner, and without the need of external supervision. I’m delighted to work with them; I couldn’t ask for better.
How did Zagaran Software perform from a project management standpoint?
I’m the point person for my company. We work in sprints and have weekly status meetings to review the backlog and identify priorities. Zagaran communicates clearly across multiple platforms. We use Slack for day-to-day interactions and Google Hangouts for status meetings and complex matters. As a local company, they’ll come to our office when backlog and coding projects require it.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They have deep expertise that exceeds our own knowledge.
Are there any areas they could improve?
Nothing outside the normal experience of working with someone new. If there were issues, I would’ve told them.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
I don’t have any advice. They’re a mature enough to make any engagement work.
the project
Python and SQL Dev Support for Research Nonprofit
“They’re really efficient and they definitely know what they’re doing.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m a senior research associate at The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab. We’re a network of researchers around the world who conduct randomized control trials in the context of social policies.
What challenge were you trying to address with Zagaran Software?
Our product sends mobile credits for talk time to mothers when they bring their kids to get immunized. We also maintained a backend database to deliver these incentives and text messages as reminders. The backend was set up by someone on our team, but that person is no longer working with us. We started facing problems with the software and we needed urgent help.
What was the scope of their involvement?
They helped us with a large-scale evaluation of a program designed to increase immunization rates in collaboration with the state government operating across 2,400 villages in India.
The code had already been written and the server had been set up. While everything was running, we didn’t have any proper documentation. I knew the basics of how the overall system worked, but some processes were more complicated, like those that rely on threading and parallelization, which I didn’t have any experience in.
They jumped in, took a look at our code, worked with me to try and build out how it’s supposed to function, and put together some documentation. They helped us fix the parts of the code that were causing the issues and implemented it so it would be more efficient. They helped us reconfigure in a more efficient and cleaner way. They came in as managers plus emergency helpers.
Our code base is in Python and our database is in SQL. The server we query from uses Django interface. The code uses a combination of different Python libraries to kind of tie these three pieces together.
What is the team composition?
There were three people. In the beginning, we worked with Kevin (Co-founder, Zagaran Software) and Alvin (Senior Software Engineer, Zagaran Software). Then Chris (Frontend Developer, Zagaran Software) came on later. I interacted directly with the developers. On several occasions, we met in person.
How did you come to work with Zagaran Software?
They were recommended by the Office of Digital Learning at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
How much have you invested with them?
We spent $10,000–$49,999.
What is the status of this engagement?
We worked together from May–September 2017. They’re no longer actively involved, but we still have a contract with them for a few hours. We have an agreement that they will step in if anything goes wrong.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
The code is mainly on the backend. The success rates of the API processes ran in the 95% range.
How did Zagaran Software perform from a project management standpoint?
They’re really efficient and they definitely know what they’re doing. They’re very systematic and methodical in gathering the information they need and making sure they have it right. They figure out what the problem is and come up with a few very clear options to move forward. That was very helpful for us. We met in person and used phone and Skype, but mainly communication was through email.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They’re very organized, methodical, efficient, and easy to communicate with. They’re honest about what they can and can’t do.
They helped minimize the cost for us, which was nice because we don’t have a lot of funds. They were great about helping us figure out how to best leverage them given our resources and our setup.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Be transparent about your needs because they have a lot of experience that customers tend to gain from.
The team quickly turned around a complex project, delivering a stable, strong product that impressed internally. Exceeding expectations, they collaborated closely with the company to foster a sense of trust and transparency between them. Their technical skills made for a seamless engagement.