Zaven

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Senior Project Manager of Suez Advanced Solutions UK Ltd

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

SUEZ is a global leader in the water and waste management sectors, operating for over 160 years all over the world.  As a Senior Project Manager within our digital solutions division, I am responsible for overseeing the technical evolution of key software products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Zaven to accomplish?

• Enable on-premise deployment of the Inflowmatix application for specific client requirements.
• Containerise its various components for better portability.
• Replace AWS-specific services with open-source or self-hosted alternatives.
• Automate the installation and maintenance processes to ensure seamless and efficient operation in diverse environments.

SOLUTION

How did you find Zaven?

Referral

Why did you select Zaven over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit

How many teammates from Zaven were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

The scope involved a comprehensive migration strategy and execution. Key steps included an initial assessment of our existing AWS infrastructure, followed by the design of the new Kubernetes architecture. Zaven then containerised our applications using Docker and orchestrated them with Kubernetes. They replaced AWS services like S3 and SQS with suitable cloud-agnostic alternatives. A significant part of the project was automating server setup using Ansible and establishing robust CI/CD pipelines with Git, Helm charts, and ArgoCD for automated deployments. Key deliverables included the fully functional Kubernetes cluster, automated installation scripts, modernised application components, and integrated monitoring solutions (Grafana, Prometheus, Datadog), along with Let’s Encrypt for SSL. The technologies utilised were primarily Docker, Kubernetes, Python, Node.js, PostgreSQL, Ansible, and various CI/CD tools.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The project achieved its primary objectives. We can now run all Inflowmatix applications on an 8-core server, and the entire setup process, from a bare server to a fully operational system with all services running, takes approximately 30 minutes. A large concern for us is cyber security. Zaven were able to ensure that the new delivery model maintained our high standards for client data security. The delivered solution is functional, documented, and meets our goal for a deployable on-premise offering.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Zaven's project management was well-organized. They maintained consistent communication throughout the project, using tools like Jira for task management and Slack for daily interactions, supplemented with regular video conferences for discussions. They were proactive in identifying potential issues and were timely with deliverables and responses. Their critical thinking contributed to the project's development.

What was your primary form of communication with Zaven?

Virtual Meeting

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

We found Zaven's versatility and their team's ability to handle a range of tasks, from DevOps to back-end modernisation, with a compact team to be a key strength. Their engineers understood our business goals and contributed relevant insights, demonstrating critical thinking and a commitment to the project's success. This approach contributed to the project's efficiency.

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

The project progressed well and met our core requirements. More detailed upfront documentation on the proposed alternatives to AWS services might have been beneficial for our internal teams initially, but Zaven was responsive in providing necessary clarifications. Their flexibility was helpful.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO & co-founder of Volve

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Startup building an AI-driven platform to tackle complex documents in construction projects — saving time, reducing uncertainty, and enabling better decisions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Zaven to accomplish?

• Build PoC/MVP
• Source high quality developers to complement our internal team

SOLUTION

How did you find Zaven?

Referral

Why did you select Zaven over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Zaven were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Zaven was hired to design and develop an AI-powered web application for tender document analysis in the construction and real estate sectors. The project included end-to-end development of a scalable MVP using a Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) architecture with Azure AI Search and OpenAI.

Their work covered:

• Designing the system architecture and AI prompting logic
• Implementing a document processing pipeline using Microsoft Document Intelligence and Python
• Developing a user-friendly web interface tailored to tender analysts
• Building the backend with Azure SQL, .NET, and integrating with Azure cloud services
• Setting up CI/CD pipelines and scalable infrastructure
• Managing the project in an agile way with clear communication and weekly updates

Key deliverables included a functional MVP delivered within four months, a working semantic search and citation engine, a modern frontend, cloud infrastructure, and full technical documentation. Their team adapted flexibly to our evolving needs and helped us validate the concept and secure funding.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Zaven successfully delivered a functional MVP within four months, enabling us to engage with pilot customers and secure follow-on investment to scale the solution. 

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Zaven’s project management was highly effective. They worked in agile sprints with clear milestones, regular check-ins, and detailed reporting. Communication was smooth via Slack, JIRA, and video calls, and we always had full visibility into progress, scope, and budget.

They consistently delivered on time, including both the initial proof of concept and the MVP. More importantly, they adapted quickly to our evolving needs—scaling the team up or down as required, proposing smart alternatives when challenges arose, and showing a clear understanding of our goals throughout the project.

What was your primary form of communication with Zaven?

Virtual Meeting

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

What impressed us most about Zaven was their ability to balance speed with quality. They understood our need to move fast and make pragmatic trade-offs, but never compromised on the critical details. They applied best practices where it mattered most, while clearly documenting technical debt and areas to revisit later. Their ability to challenge assumptions made them feel like a strategic partner—focused on both short-term delivery and long-term success.

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

Overall, Zaven met or exceeded our expectations across the board. 
If anything, future projects could benefit from even earlier alignment on long-term scalability choices—though in our case, the fast-paced MVP timeline made some trade-offs necessary and well-justified. That said, they were transparent about technical decisions and clearly documented what should be improved later, which we appreciated.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Head of Product of a financial services company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Our company operates a property financing marketplace connecting borrowers and lenders within the UK's finance, real estate, and construction sectors. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Zaven to accomplish?

• To relieve our product management team from the time-consuming burden of manually testing numerous usage scenarios before each release

SOLUTION

How did you find Zaven?

Expo

Why did you select Zaven over others?

• Great culture fit
• Personalised Approach

How many teammates from Zaven were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Zaven's scope involved creating a complete automated testing solution. This included knowledge-sharing sessions to understand the application, strategic test planning, setting up the Cypress testing framework configured for multiple environments, writing approximately 90 automated end-to-end tests using Node.js/JavaScript, establishing an email testing server, integrating automated reporting, and providing detailed test documentation. Technologies used were primarily Cypress, Node.js, and JavaScript, interacting with our application built on AngularJS.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The project resulted in a highly effective automated testing solution and infrastructure, delivering ~90 automated tests covering critical user flows and, crucially, all financial models per test case – something previously impossible manually. This led to a remarkable 25x reduction in testing time (from two days to under two hours).

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Zaven maintained excellent communication through regular updates and demonstration meetings, ensuring alignment and transparency. Their project management was proactive and collaborative, keeping the project on track despite the initial knowledge transfer needs.

What was your primary form of communication with Zaven?

Virtual Meeting

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

We were most impressed by Zaven's technical proficiency in automation with Cypress and their critical thinking in designing a reusable and environment-flexible framework despite the technical specifics of the existing AngularJS framework. Their team was versatile and efficiently handled everything from knowledge gathering to framework setup, test implementation, and documentation, delivering significant value.

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

Navigating the undocumented aspects and the specific behaviours of the established AngularJS framework required close initial collaboration. However, Zaven's team adapted quickly and effectively addressed these challenges without impacting the timescale.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CTO of baeren.io, a business-to-business company that enables our customers to collect, decode and harmonize data from sensors and meters and forward them to customer systems.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

The web-based front-end of our metering portal is focused on office users and use cases. We wanted to create a valuable tool for technicians to install meters and other sensors. An important aspect here is to ensure that the devices are mounted successfully and can be maintained with ease. Our internal development focus is on backend systems, so we searched for an expert in the field of cross-platform mobile app development. Zaven implemented a cross-platform mobile app for Android and iOS to to help technicians installing and maintaining consumption meters.

SOLUTION

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

The Zaven team was simpatico from the first moment and the references they showed looked well engineered. They asked the right questions to understand our business needs.

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

Zaven handled the whole app creation process. They developed the design considering our corporate identity as well as the user interaction in the app. We got a good impression of the future app, as they provided design previews at an early stage of the project. They took over the part of implementation of the app, too. This included accessing the API of our backend system and implementing an offline functionality, so that the basic app features will still work, even if there is no internet connection available. The Zaven team also prepared the release to the Android and iOS App-Stores after doing Zaven-internal testing and collecting feedback from our acceptance tests.

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

We worked with a project manager, designer and developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The need to get an easy-to-use application for technicians was a frequently mentioned requirement by our customers. Now we can fulfil that and have the opportunity for additional revenue in that field.

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

We have weekly meetings, during them we got a detailed insight in the progress of the project. Above all the team is very interactive, we had a common team chat, so we could clarify questions and provide feedback directly with the project members.

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

They've had experts in their field for each aspect of the project. They ask the right questions, you can express your high-level requirements and they will drill them down to the right technical solution.

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

An earlier warning for the risk of exceeding the budget would have been nice. To be transparent here, budget exceed in our project was majorly caused by some issues in the maturity of the API of our backend system.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I run a small company that outsources most of the development work. I work as a supervisor, overseeing and making sure everything is going according to the plans.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Zaven?

We had used a different company for almost two years. Everything was working ok, but there were a lot of things that needed to be checked up on all the time. There was never a time I could relax and rely on the job to be done correctly.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed to get our system stable and we needed a company to add new features.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I was looking for a new company, and after a while, I had a few on my list. I started doing background checks and interviewed previous clients. Zaven was the company that stood out, and previous clients were really happy with them.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We needed someone to go through the whole system that was developed by a different company, to see if there had been taken any shortcuts that could cause problems. Zaven checked everything and fixed all problems. After that, we proceeded with the next steps in the project.

What was the team composition?

We had a project manager that handled all the resources needed for the job. It was really easy to follow the development and future steps.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

This company works hard and they offer flexible solutions and options during the development process. Working with Zaven, I can relax more, knowing that the job will be done. I do not have to babysit or triple check if something has been done according to our plan.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management was perfect. We had regular meetings and I was never in doubt about where we were according to our plan. The project manager also created great reports that were easy to understand.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their ability to figure out the best solutions, and present alternatives so we could choose different paths depending on our timeframe and our budget.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I can't think of anything that could be improved. Working with them is a delight.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Inflowmatix was founded in 2015 as a spin out from Imperial College London, we work closely with water industry specialists, engineering experts, and world-class academics to bring cutting edge research and technology to water utilities around the world that specifically address the challenges in water that we face today. I am the Head of Engineering with responsibilities for hardware and software development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Zaven?

We needed a consultant to help us build a web application for our InflowNet platform with great product design (UX/UI) skills.

What were your goals for this project?

Premium user experience for our end-users (industry professionals), creative problem-solving, good communication with technical and business-oriented team members.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

One of our team members has recommended Zaven based on personal experience with their quality of work and communication skills.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Inflowmatix is committed to helping water network operators control pressures and optimise their services including resilience, asset management, leakage and water quality in order to keep their customers supplied. The project was to design a web application which allows users to manage a fleet of IoT sensors, view time series data and ultimately provide the user with analytic to provide insight into the operation of their network.

What was the team composition?

Inflowmatix has a team of 4 developers who work seamlessly with Zaven as the designer/consultant.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The web app has provided the ability to extract real insights from our sensor data and provided a platform for management which has delighted our customers.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Initially we had a kick-off design workshop for 3 days at our facilities to help Zaven understand our customers and their use cases. Since then we have held weekly meetings to track progress and ad-hoc consultancy is provided.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The ability to really understand our customers and their use cases was impressive. Voice of experience with developing web applications including common issues such as localisation, user management, etc.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There is very little that could be improved!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior director of technology at Installation Made Easy (IME), a business-to-consumer (B2C) company that finds and licenses household appliance installers, and runs all of their transactions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Zaven?

I’ve been with IME since November, and Zaven has been working with IME for 4–5 years prior. When I came in, they were our go-to-resource for several key components of our application. Now they work with our API. 

We recently had a project that they worked on for one of our larger partners. Our retail partner wanted real-time integration with their accounting issues. Which is why Zaven started working on this project.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Zaven handles the API, integrating it for our retail partners and we do the project management and QA. The team is using web services to exchange a web service API with the retail partner.

Integrating with big-box retail partners in the U.S., it’s critical that we have people who can talk to them, which is what Zaven does. 

They interface with our client’s SAP and EDI systems. This allows us to seamlessly exchange data and payment information and reconcile without having our accounting department or customer solutions specialists do anything other than validating or verifying fund transfers.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager.

How did you come to work with Zaven?

They were already working with IME when I started working here. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

This particular project lasted from February–April 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We should be running $80 million–$90 million dollars through this API, and we expect to see growth of $10 million over the prior method, which is probably more on the conservative side. I give them full marks for the quality of their work. 

Zaven proved themselves to be a partner and not a vendor. They owned and understood the solution. As gaps came up in the requirements, they pointed out areas that we needed to focus on. The team didn’t just say yes to everything.

How did Zaven perform from a project management standpoint?

We have daily meetings, and the team is very interactive in terms of fixing issues that we find in our QA process. They are also engaged when interfacing with the end-users. The team always delivered on-time and on-budget.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The fact they wanted to learn and internalize our systems and processes was impressive. Zaven prevented us from shooting ourselves in the foot due to that high level of understanding. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

My only comment would be that they could offer different timezone shifts, which may not be feasible from a price perspective. Since we’re based in the U.S., the end of their day is our morning. 

Sometimes they work till 4 pm our time, which is a lot to ask of them. They were very flexible, but it would’ve been great if they had some teammates who worked normal hours and some who aligned with our hours. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Having a well-defined scope of work upfront will help you. Anything you would do to prepare to work with any development team applies to Zaven. 

Their strength was that they wanted to have a deeper understanding of our business and existing development codebase. For example, we had a legacy codebase, and their understanding of that was key to the success of this particular project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of CMAP Software. CMAP is a SaaS product that helps project-based companies to win, deliver and manage their projects profitably.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Zaven?

We hired Zaven to work with our in-house development team on an integration between CMAP and Microsoft Teams.

What were your goals for this project?

To understand the integration possibilities between CMAP and MS Teams and to create a proof-of-concept app.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We've worked with Zaven on other projects and they've always done an excellent job.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We provided a specification for what we wanted Zaven to produce. They then did all of the technical research into the MS Teams API and build the proof-of-concept app in C# before handing it back to our in-house development team.

What was the team composition?

A project manager and a senior developer on the Zaven side, working with a product manager and CTO on the CMAP side.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

A lot of our clients are also using Microsoft Teams, so having an integration between the two products will be beneficial to our clients in a variety of ways.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We detailed a scope of work and Zaven responded with cost and timing estimates. They then delivered the project on time and within the budget estimated, so all good!

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The team at Zaven take a thoughtful, professional approach to the projects we work on with them. They always deliver what they promise, when they promised it.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not particularly. I think as we work with Zaven more going forward we'll become even more seamless and productive together.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Former managing director of RENTAFINTECH, a start-up in the financial sector which developed innovative financial services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Zaven?

We approached Zaven to realize our product idea of a mobile loyalty App, targeted for German retailers (3rdLoop).

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to build a Minimal Viable Product to showcase the concept and proof its technical feasibility

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We made desk Research and interviewed several providers in Poland. Then we issued an RfP which Zaven won.

Describe the project in detail.

The idea was to develop a new loyalty system for small German retailers that could be used without any soft- or Hardware Integration. Customers could use the mobile App to improve their shopping experience by reminding them about all their bonus programs, cards and benefits.

What was the team composition?

Team size on our side were 3 People - Business Owner, Marketing and Technical Supervisor

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We we very satisfied with Zaven’s performance. They have not only implemented the software in high quality, but also helped us to optimize our product idea and business Concept.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Highly, Zaven was very professional from the beginning. The project scope was broken down to Epics and user stories, each of them was priced so that we could have a fact-based discussion on functional priorities. During the project, we received regular progress updates and iterations. Zaven always came back to us when there was anything unclear.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Though it is a young team, all team members act very professional and are dedicated to make their client projects a success.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Maybe extend range of services, cover also data analysis and ML.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are selling iDoc, a reporting tool for the electrical safety inspector. iDoc is a mobile solution running on iOS, Android and Web, improving the electrical inspectiors effiiency by 30-50%.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Zaven?

We hired Zaven to develop the Android version of iDoc.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal is to make a production ready version of iDoc for the Android platttform.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We selected Zaven because they had a good reputation in Norway, where we are located. Other companies we know, recommended Zaven.

Describe the project in detail.

The project was to build a native Android version of iDoc, which we our self already had developed for native iOS and Web.

What was the team composition?

Our team in Zaven was project manager, UX-designer and three software developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The outcome of the project has been a success. We had a very good cooperation with the great people at Zaven, and the product was delivered within budget and estimated time.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow between us and the team was effective and professional.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The most impressing with this company are their people. They're very skilled and professional, and easy to work with.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No.