Zaven

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Ilder, CEO.

For what projects/services did your company hire Zaven?

Cross platform systems development.

What were your goals for this project?

Agile, professional and result oriented. Quick iterations and not too much fuss.

How did you select this vendor?

Some beautiful sales lady loured me in. Then I got to talking with the devs, and I was sold.

Describe the project in detail.

Co-designed and developed a system for the construction business. It has grown pretty complex, with web, iOS, android user-facing apps working towards an extensive back end designed for a seamless user experience. Users first.

What was the team composition?

Smart project owner on their side, smart backend people (node, c#), ios devs, android devs and webdevs (js). Great devops nerds for CI that actually works.

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

The system works as it should. It might even work better than it should, since we regularly receive good constructive feedback and criticism from my favorite selected people. Additionally, they listen and make mediocre ideas good.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It's seamless, we use slack, video calls, and recorded think aloud sessions to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Professionalism. They know their stuff, and coming from a culture of "its typical Norwegian to be best" it is nice to get a reality check from time to time.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Manipulating and on-boarding reluctant primadonna developers from the partner company. Things might move fast, but too fast for someone. People need to do "their part" at their pace, with correct info.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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%.

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.

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.

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.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co-founder of a mobile app development company & cloud solution provider.

For what projects/services did your company hire Zaven?

Web and mobile app development, design and consulting services.

What were your goals for this project?

Premium user experience, creative problem-solving and good communication.

How did you select this vendor?

Although we were categorically against outsourcing, Zaven has convinced us otherwise with their quality of work and communication skills.

Describe the project in detail.

We usually commission consumer-facing parts of a project. We know that Zaven will deliver a great user experience.

What was the team composition?

Designer, mobile and web developers.

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

As we work with Zaven on a continued basis, we feel this should speak for itself regarding the projects they work with us on and the success of those projects.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We work well together. Zaven integrated seamlessly into our workflow and make development projects simple to manage.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their team boasted fast turnaround time, delivering high-quality products. Excellent development and design team. What's not to like?

Are there any areas for improvement?

We've not found any so far.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Fonn. The company was founded in 2016 and sponsored by Innovation Norway. Fonn Construction was launched in May 2017 and had an immediate response from clients and investors.

For what projects/services did your company hire Zaven?

We hired them to develop Fonn Construction, a user-friendly web management tool for the construction industry that holds all documentation and information on one common platform.

What were your goals for this project?

Our objective was to create a new standard for construction website collaboration. First of all, user-friendliness is important to us, and second, it had to be cloud-based and built on state-of-the-art infrastructure.

How did you select this vendor?

Our sister Company, Ilder, tried Zaven on a smaller project to make sure their communication skills, technical capabilities, and delivery were good.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We gave Zaven some specifications around our technology choices and the guidelines we use to document the code. After this, Zaven took over the whole project. Our only additional input was for the user stories.

What was the team composition?

There are about 25 people from Zaven involved every day in the development of our project. There are developers for all platforms and a great QA team. We slowly scaled from having 5–10 people to a max of 30 individuals at one point.

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

More than 50% of the domestic home builders in Norway use Fonn today. We’re now scaling for international growth, with signed clients in both the US and UK. Zaven has done an excellent job, and I couldn’t be happier with my choice. I would highly recommend Zaven for other projects.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We’ve had an effective workflow, with sporadic meetings and all-day communication via Slack. There’s a very open and transparent dialogue established between us.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Zaven’s critical thinking and ability to improve all of my user stories are remarkable. Fonn is both visually and technically top of the class thanks to Zaven.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There’s nothing special to mention that they need to improve.