Web Apps & Automations
We build custom web apps, eCommerce, SaaS, ERP solutions and business automations.
- 20 ppl in the team
- 45 custom web apps and 150+ automations
- 100+ excellent feedbacks
- 15 000+ billed hours
- 80% repeat clients
We work with clients from all over the world and have references from USA, UK, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Switzerland and Australia.
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Focus
Reviews
the project
Web Dev for Online Music Teaching Platform
"The project management was transparent, and we knew what to expect in terms of deadlines and deliverables.”
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 online music teaching platform. This field is becoming more popular now because of COVID-19. We work in the Israeli and German markets, offering video courses and instructions for people who’ve never used an instrument before. We help them start playing and, eventually, they can play really well. We offer piano, guitar, ukulele, and voice lessons.
What challenge were you trying to address with Zimalab?
We’re always developing new products and features on our website to improve the UI/UX and sales funnels. We already had two full-time developers working for us, but they weren’t performing that well. We wanted some fresh people for the ongoing development and maintenance of the website.
We were using Symfony PHP 1.4, which is a pretty old framework that almost nobody knows how to work with. The framework doesn't provide updates, so we had to fix every security hole by ourselves. It was hard to find people able to work with this framework and do it well, but Zimalab was able to execute.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Zimalab provided ongoing full-stack development for our website, initially on Symfony PHP 1.4. We were working with Zimalab on an ongoing basis then, doing various maintenance tasks.
We eventually decided to rebuild the site from scratch using modern technologies.
What is the team composition?
The team changed, but we always had a project manager with really good English skills, with whom we could discuss everything. We’ve spoken with the developers directly on occasion, because that can save time when answering specific questions.
How did you come to work with Zimalab?
I first encountered them on Upwork or Freelancer. I interviewed them a few years before this collaboration, and I decided to go with another company at the time. I decided to give them a try after our second encounter, and we’ve been working together since then. Zimalab was referred to me the second time.
Even though we worked with them on maintenance, I wasn’t sure how good they’d be at building a project from scratch. They would have to think of everything and not just join an ongoing project. I eventually decided to go with them, and they built an awesome site.
How much have you invested with them?
The ongoing development costs $3,000–$5,000 per month (approximately $90,000– $150,000 in total), depending on the number of changes we want to do. The refactoring project cost around $30,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working with Zimalab around two and a half years ago, and the collaboration has no end date.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We saw an increase in traffic and revenue after launching the new site. It loaded much faster, and it had an improved design that made it easier to use. We haven’t gotten any complaints about bugs or things that aren’t working.
We have thousands of users and tens of thousands of visitors per month. If we get any major bugs, we’ll get a ton of phone calls from complaining customers, so we know that the site is working fine.
How did Zimalab perform from a project management standpoint?
For the refactoring project, they gave us a complete description of what they were going to do, detailing tasks and who was appointed to them, milestones, concrete schedules, and steps that we could QA along the way.
I explicitly asked them to break down the project into steps we could check and measure, but I’m pretty sure they would’ve had a similar approach anyway.
We had almost no delays, which was amazing considering that it was a one-year project. The project management was transparent, and we knew what to expect in terms of deadlines and deliverables.
What did you find most impressive about them?
When hiring people remotely, we can’t go to their desks to answer whatever questions they may have. Many times, developers at other companies forget something or build something different than what we were expecting.
90% of the time, Zimalab delivers exactly what we wanted without asking too many questions during the process. They discuss everything upfront, and, when they say a task is done, we know that it’s done. Not all other development companies are as transparent.
Are there any areas they could improve?
They’re in Russia, and we’re in the Middle East, so it’s noon on their time when I come to the office. That’s caused some delays with communication, but we can’t do anything about that. This is my only problem with Zimalab, but I just go to the office earlier when there’s an important matter.
Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?
The client has to be very clear about what they want, and have the patience to answer Zimalab’s initial questions. They work in a very organized way, and they’re very accurate with what they do. It can become frustrating for some customers, myself included, but it means that we eventually get the product we wanted. The best way to work with Zimalab is to let them ask the questions and write the planning documents they want to write. Their method is a bit slow in the beginning, but it leads to very smooth development down the road.
the project
Cloud-Based Security Portal for IT Management Consultancy
"They were excellent and always delivered on time."
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 president of a boutique consulting firm.
What challenge were you trying to address with Zimalab?
We needed a new security solution for one of our clients. Zimalab was hired to create a web model for the software. They built a portal around the software service.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We had a working software solution and they helped us make the web-managed version. I had some notes on paper and they helped me map those out in mockups and workflows. Their team went through the process in excruciating detail and mapped out the entire process.
What is the team composition?
We worked with a couple of people, but Evgeny supervised the whole projet as the project manager.
How did you come to work with Zimalab?
I found them on UpWork.
How much have you invested with them?
The initial project was about $16,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working in March of 2019 and it’s still ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
In the end, the work was spot on and within budget. The management interface is critical to improving our business efficiency.
How did Zimalab perform from a project management standpoint?
They were excellent and always delivered on time.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They were good at talking in a very tactful and informative way. Their technical skills and ability to manage different people were excellent.
Are there any areas they could improve?
I don’t think there’s anything to complain about.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Sit back and follow the path that you create together.
the project
Web App Dev for Language School
"It was very impressive how they were able to transform the design into the front-end of the web application."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
We started as a small project matching language school students with high quality, ‘hidden’ Spanish language schools. This has evolved into one of the leading networks of high-quality Spanish language schools in Spain and Latin America. Over this time we have never compromised on our initial philosophy: to offer an unforgettable experience by providing high quality Spanish courses in a unique cultural context. We have our own schools, as well as working with partner schools who share our philosophy and high standards. I am one of the founders of the school.
For what projects/services did your company hire Zimalab?
Development of a CMS system where the front-end matches the created design perfectly (pixel perfect) and where the backend provides a user-friendly system wherein we can easily add and edit content.
What were your goals for this project?
Main requirements CMS system / website; - multilingual - possibility to import / synch content from our wordpress blog(s) - possibility to import / synch content from our scial media channels - fast performance - responsive design suitable for all devices - pixel perfect design - user friendly - SEO friendly - different user roles back-end (admin, editor)
How did you select this vendor?
We opened the job to several vendors and received various proposals. We decided to select Zimalab because of the professional communication and the way they managed our expectations. They also were very clear in selecting the right platform to build our new application in.
Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.
We created the design for the new application in Zeplin with an external graphic designer and Zimalab took it from there. We've went together through every step of the development process.
Our project was creating a new website. Design was a very important issue for us so we started working on the design and would take that as the leading point to build the website from there. Our designer created a brand-new design, and we created the requirements for the new website. Based on the design and the requirements Zimalab proposed to build the new application in Symfony and explained us the advantages of this platform. We agreed. Zimalab setup a new environment at host provider Digital Ocean. From there Zimalab started with working on the front-end part of the website, they basically implemented our design in the front-end. We had to agree upon every page before continuing so we had a lot of interaction at that point. When the front-end was ready, Zimalab started working at the back-end system. Both the front-end and the back-end CMS system were built from scratch by Zimalab. When the CMS was ready, we were able to start filling the content in the Demo environment and then it turned out some things had to be modified. After modifying we were ready to go live. The website is multilingual and we were able to go live in phases, so first the English part of the website, then the German part, then French, etc.
Zimalab also helped with pointing the domain names to the new host, creating SSL certificates and gave us full support and bug-fixing for a month after development.
What was the team composition?
I've been in touch with 2 persons, the managing director and the project manager. The project manager was my contact person for all the day-to-day operations related to the development. The project was manager was in between me an the development team. I don't know how many developers were in the team, but that was not of my concern. For contractual matters I've been in touch with the company owner.
Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?
We received positive feedback on our new system from our partners, colleagues and clients from the moment we went live with the new website.
How was project management arranged and how effective was it?
Project management was done in the Wrike application. There was a clear development schedule and a section where we were able to share and safe all the relevant information e.g. account details from connected applications (Google Maps, Juicer, Hosting details, etc.) Also modifications to the initial plan would be published there and for me as a client there was a section where I could ask questions. The project manager did a very good job to keep all the information accurate and up-to-date and responded to my questions quickly.
What did you find most impressive about this company?
It was very impressive how they were able to transform the design into the front-end of the web application. It was really pixel perfect.
Are there any areas for improvement?
In the beginning the web application was performing slower than expected while fast performance was one of the main requirements. Especially the mobile version was performing slower than it should have been. There were quite some fixes necessary after the end date of the project to improve performance. This is something which should have been take into account better during development.
the project
Custom Web Dev for Steel Construction Company
"Their capability to accomplish a variety of tasks was one of the greatest things."
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.
We manufacture transformer rectifiers for the cathartic protection industry. Our industry is dedicated to preventing steel structures from corroding. I’m an engineer for the company.
What challenge were you trying to address with Zimalab?
We had a remote monitoring and control web interface that was designed a couple of years ago. We wanted to start from scratch and build a new system that would be more capable of doing what we needed to do. So, we brought them on board.
What was the scope of their involvement?
The project was very customized with a lot of details. It’s a remote monitoring system for the equipment that we build. It’s primarily used by our customers. We can put a bit of hardware in the equipment we build. The hardware communicates data to our web server, and then that data is accessed and manipulated by the interface that Zimalab has built.
Writing the specifications was a two-way street. They helped me clarify what was possible throughout the project, and I submitted mock-ups along the way. I designed a lot of the database structures, and they also had some input on that.
The project extended beyond what was initially expected because our requirements changed along the way. We added quite a few new features as the project progressed.
What is the team composition?
We worked with 4–5 people from their team. In the beginning, it was just one point of contact. He helped me form the specifications. Then, we worked with a couple of developers and a couple of different project managers throughout the project.
How did you come to work with Zimalab?
I came across them on a freelancing website. The reviews people were leaving about their work quality and their adhesion to timelines attracted me toward them.
How much have you invested with them?
I think we started working with them in August of 2019, and we wrapped it up in January of 2020.
What is the status of this engagement?
We invested about $20,500.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
The solution is up-and-running now, and we’re really happy with it. I wasn’t exactly sure what we wanted when we began the project. I’m not a web developer, so I was relying on a company being able to feed me ideas about what would be possible. So, we kept up continual feedback throughout the engagement.
How did Zimalab perform from a project management standpoint?
Their communication was great, and I was very happy with the project management overall. I gave them space to work on the backend because I didn’t want to get in their way with constant calls. But when it all came together, they demonstrated how the frontend worked with the backend, and there was a lot of communication back-and-forth.
They had a system that we could log into, and I could pose questions to the team. Their platform for communicating with everyone on the team was very good.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They were great about turning around results as our requirements changed. They rarely said, “We can’t do that.” Their capability to accomplish a variety of tasks was one of the greatest things about working with them. At the beginning of the project, our point of contact always checked with developers to make sure that what we were asking was a capability.
Are there any areas they could improve?
I’m happy with most aspects of their operation.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
You should know what you want from the get-go. Zimalab is capable of doing many, many things. My only regret is that I didn’t have enough information for them to go off of.
the project
API Development for Product Distributor
"I’ve worked with three other vendors on similar projects, and Zimalab has shown the greatest initiative..."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I’m a web architect for Geiger, a family-owned, promotional products distributor. We provide expert advice, support, and services to our clients, solving their marketing, promotional, and motivation challenges.
For what projects/services did your company hire Zimalab?
Our existing API didn’t follow common REST principles and contained fragmented data based on business-logic conventions, which confused both internal and external developers. As a result, it took several hours to update our entire product catalog. We brought Zimalab on to develop a well-structured RESTful API.
What were your goals for this project?
We needed a new API to improve the agility and time-to-market of various e-commerce and sales initiatives and update our product inventory faster. It had to be as fast as the previous one and be easy for developers to understand and use.
How did you select this vendor?
We posted a job on Upwork and Zimalab responded. They were interested in the work and had the necessary technical experience, work history, and ratings. After meeting with them on Skype, I felt like I could trust them as a development partner. I also chose to pay hourly to reduce the cost of terminating the agreement early if they ended up not being a good fit.
Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.
We provided them with everything they needed including the existing application, API specification, ERD diagrams, and a data mapping document. This gave them a good understanding of our requirements, constraints, and overall objective. Before starting development, they went through a Q&A session with our product team to fill in any blanks.
We needed to de-normalize the structure of our PIM system's proprietary data export, parse the business rules, create a valid and structured product model, and deliver a range of features for developers to utilize. Zimalab helped us understand the use cases, prioritize features, and deliver a working application that met specifications.
What was the team composition?
The project kicked off with myself and their CEO discussing requirements. I was assigned a project manager who worked with a dedicated developer, and their CTO was brought on briefly to communicate architectural strategy and database modeling.
Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?
We have only recently started to integrate the new API, but developer feedback has been very positive. The new application has positioned us to not only survive a PIM system replacement but also to develop this product further as a replacement for our current PIM. Finally, Zimalab sped up our catalog update by more than five times our target goal.
How was project management arranged and how effective was it?
Once a project manager was assigned, we worked through a project management web application to post messages. At first, I had to repeat myself or remind the project manager about what was discussed, but things improved over a couple of weeks. We eventually moved over to a Skype group and communication became a lot easier. Throughout, Zimalab has been great about communicating the status of the project.
I was also able to work and communicate directly with the developer halfway through the project. The transition of people entering and leaving the project was fluid; the right people were talking to each other at the right time without anyone wasting time or waiting on anything.
What did you find most impressive about this company?
I’ve worked with three other vendors on similar projects, and Zimalab has shown the greatest initiative and understanding of our business conventions of any of them. They’re highly analytical and competent.
Are there any areas for improvement?
I can't think of anything Zimalab could do to improve. They’re adaptable, receptive, and extremely capable. If something isn't working well for us, they respond. If they think something isn't working well for us, they adapt anyway to make it better.
the project
Data Management Solution Dev for Software Company
“They're always proactive, available, and helpful. Our communication is absolutely wonderful.”
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 CTO of a technology company.
What challenge were you trying to address with Zimalab?
We hired Zimalab to help us deal with a complex development project. Our company was creating new software and needed specialized technical expertise.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Zimalab assisted our in-house team with developing a sophisticated directory software. As a tool, it solves a common data management problem for marketing and PR professionals. Starting as an auxiliary basis, they provided expert resources who could work with the highly specific operation of the Symfony framework we use.
Even though they joined later on in the process, they jumped right in to pick up the project mid-development. From the time were introduced to the product launch, Zimalab never missed a beat. At this point, we've transitioned them to our exclusive team for this product. We've completely phased out the involvement of a different local vendor we used to engage. For more than three years now, Zimalab has had exclusive responsibility for this product development.
What is the team composition?
Our three-person team from Zimalab included an account representative and a couple of developers. Katherina (Account Manager, Zimalab) is a great point of contact. I've also interacted with the owner, Evgeny (CEO, Zimalab).
How did you come to work with Zimalab?
I looked for a team that included specialists for Symfony, the particular framework we'd used to develop the product. We needed a flexible team who could augment our existing capabilities. It can be hard to bring someone on when you don't know how well they'll work, but Zimalab has been a great partner since we hired them. We trust them enough to task them with taking over the product completely.
How much have you invested with them?
We've spent tens of thousands of dollars.
What is the status of this engagement?
We began working together in June 2016. They Spent six months augmenting our in-house team. Starting in January 2017, they took over full time.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Zimalab has completed the major part of the product's release. Now that we're in the maintenance phase, they're continuing to tweak it for improvement. We've seen great results so far.
Remarkably, Zimalab goes beyond simply building our request for features. They are very keen on proposing unique solutions and offering informed suggestions. We often follow their advice, but even when we don't, it shows that they're very engaged and interested. I consider Zimalab part of the part of the team and value their input.
How did Zimalab perform from a project management standpoint?
Zimalab's project management style is excellent. They're always proactive, available, and helpful. Our communication is absolutely wonderful. We haven't had a single issue or complaint.
I speak with our account manager at least three times a week. Our frequency of communication depends on where we are in the software development process and the type of work we're doing.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Responsiveness and their expertise made the strongest impression on me. I've greatly valued Zimalab’s engagement and the level of interest they've shown in our project's success. These are very important characteristics to have in an augmented team.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, I’m perfectly happy with Zimalab. I don't see any problems.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
I highly encourage potential future clients to work on a product with Zimalab. I trust them completely.
the project
Shop Management Software for Software Company
"They deliver software products properly and with the fewest bugs that I've ever seen."
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 owner of a software business.
What challenge were you trying to address with Zimalab?
I needed an external resource to write a shop management software for one of my customers.
What was the scope of their involvement?
I defined the project for them and then they started developing the software. Zimalab is using cloud-based PHP software on the backend. They connected it to an SQL database. We bought a JavaScript template that they use on the frontend. It also has a responsive design so it can be used on any mobile app platform as well.
There’s been different phases to the project and they’ve created multiple iterations. The process continues to be that we define the software and give them requirements, and they do the development. There’s no specific launch date. As it becomes available, we launch and test it. It’s an ongoing process.
What is the team composition?
I only interface with a project manager. I don't know how many people work on our project.
How did you come to work with Zimalab?
I found them on what’s now called Upwork. I looked at the profiles of hundreds of candidates but they are the only one I picked. I thought they’d be the best for the job.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working together in October 2017 and the engagement is ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Zimalab has created a very successful management software. It helps our customer manage their shops. They don't have to physically go to the shop to find out how they're doing. They can click on a button and know exactly how they're doing and see an estimate of how they will be doing next month. If something has gone wrong they can easily nip it in the bud. It helps with managing and controlling the environment of the shop. It saves time by automating processes that would otherwise require phone calls and paperwork. It’s efficient because they have access to all their data on their phone.
How did Zimalab perform from a project management standpoint?
They perform well. I communicate with my project manager every day. I've worked with two project managers and they’ve both been on top of things. They knew what they had to do. I only need to tell them something once and they get it. They're very good at understanding the requirements and then going ahead with the implementation.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They deliver software products properly and with the fewest bugs that I've ever seen. No software is delivered 100% bug free, but Zimalab has the fewest issues once the code is dropped.
Are there any areas they could improve?
Not really. I've been quite happy.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
My advice is to go for it because they're a good partner.
the project
Custom HTML CSS Website for Online Wishlist
"I always knew the project’s status, every phase went as planned, and we met our launch deadline."
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 founder of a website that allows users to create a gift list by adding items from any online store.
What challenge were you trying to address with Zimalab?
We needed an agency that could complete the design of our site and develop it together with a functioning script to something that would function seamlessly and be aesthetically pleasing to users.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We began the project with meetings to clarify the requirements and plan the different iterative phases. A graphic designer had already created the design templates that we wanted to use, so Zimalab began with a design phase, and then had a development phase, and finally the launch.
In the design phase, they replicated the existing templates to create a website prototype in InVision so that we could work with it and make sure it met the requirements before going into the development stage. In that stage, they built the script that can grab prices, images, and product details from other retailer’s sites. There are still a few websites that the script doesn’t work with, but we have launched and are making improvements.
They also built a backend admin panel that allows us to see and manage user accounts, gift list creation and gift purchases.
What is the team composition?
There were two main points of contact throughout the project, and each was a project manager during different phases: one during the design stage and one during the development and launch stage. I never spoke directly with any of the developers.
How did you come to work with Zimalab?
I was searching for freelancers on Upwork and narrowed my search to vendors that had 90% and above job success score and had worked at least 10,000 hours on Upwork. I interviewed a few agencies and most seemed to not understand the requirements and asked questions that weren’t relevant to the scope. So I was excited when Zimalab appeared to understand the requirements quickly without much explanation. That made the decision of who to go with fairly easy for me.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent about $9,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We began working together in October 2017, the site went live in February 2018, and I have been working with them on improving and maintaining the site since then.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Zimalab delivered a beautiful functioning website and importantly the script that is currently integral to the usability of the site also works. The script does not work on all sites, however this limitation was made clear to us by Zimalab. We have maintained a relationship with Zimalab to fix any bugs that have been found since go-live and of course build additional functionality.
How did Zimalab perform from a project management standpoint?
I communicated with the project managers a minimum of twice a week, and that was via email, Skype, or Wrike. I always knew the project’s status, every phase went as planned, and we met our launch deadline.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Their communication is what impressed me the most. The project manager we worked with during the development and launch stages was especially responsive.
Are there any areas they could improve?
Although we engaged in a lot of discussion with Zimalab at the start of the project, we feel there could have made more suggestions about how the site functionality from a management perspective could be better. For example, suggesting some sort of CMS system to manage text and/or images in key parts of the site.
Additionally, I think their testing phase could be more vigorous. There were bugs or issues that I found that I considered obvious and should have been spotted by the Project Manager during testing.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Clear articulation of requirements is crucial. We would also discuss with Zimalab if any additional features/requirements should be included in scope. It is worthwhile hearing what ideas they have as they are an extremely skilled and well experienced agency that can definitely improve on your original requirements.
the project
Smyfony Web App Dev for Hotel Booking Company
“Zimalab delivered our products in just two weeks without any mistakes, which is quite a success story.”
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 co-founder of POWERNAPP. Our online booking platform clusters one-night hotel stays for small to medium-sized enterprises (SME) to purchase at a lower price point. Buying a high volume of rooms annually positions us to negotiate discounts at locations across the Netherlands that individual companies couldn't access.
When a business joins our platform, they uniformly receive a 10% discount on the daily hotel rate. Using this system means we're always more affordable than our larger competitors. Our product also solves problems for the hotels we partner with nationwide. Regarding sales and acquisitions, it reduces the time they spend on contracting and account management for smaller clients and lets them focus on more profitable key accounts.
What challenge were you trying to address with Zimalab?
We were searching for a third party to help us design and develop our online booking platform. Offering discounted rates made it a particularly complex product to build. In particular, we needed a team who could work with different programming languages.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Initially, we proposed a scope we’d formed in-house and held discussions to prioritize and plan next steps. Zimalab helped us design each phase of development for the online booking portal. Our system is a web application built on Symfony. They pinpointed which features needed to be active in the first phase of development. Throughout the project, we added new functionalities to the platform.
Zimalab created three interfaces for channel manager systems to ensure we offer a consistent 10% discount compared to major competitors. A hotel's reservation system generates rates and tracks inventory, then sends this data through a channel manager to platforms like ours. This system offers equal access to room availability and pricing metrics. Our product also involves calculating a 10% discount, which requires a slightly different connection than for our competitors. Each one involves a different programming language, so they worked on them one by one.
Zimalab wrote the code in different technical languages for all the functionalities in our booking process. They designed a reporting tool within our system that shows an SME company their total annual spend on hotel rooms. As they created user stories, the team considered the most efficient way to book a hotel room from landing on our site and selecting a location to the next steps in the booking process.
What is the team composition?
Zimalab’s team includes three developers, two designers, a project manager, and the CEO. We started this project with the managing director. Afterward, they assigned us one point of contact. Our project manager was the project lead. She liaised with the rest of the team on our behalf.
How did you come to work with Zimalab?
We found 15 freelance developers from around the world on Upwork.com and held the first round of interviews on Skype. After shortlisting five teams, we had one of our friends who works as a developer join the second-round calls. He asked the right technical questions to determine how well each candidate could develop the type of portal we needed.
After passing our technical check, we chose Zimalab for their strong communication skills including English fluency. We preferred their team of developers to the risk of working with a single freelancer. If that one person gets ill or stops the project, we wouldn’t have a backup. They offer competitive prices compared to teams in the Netherlands and an excellent value.
How much have you invested with them?
At this point, we've invested $30,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We began working with Zimalab in September of 2016. The first version of our platform launched in April 2017.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Zimalab is a trustworthy party to work with. They built all three connections with channel managers that are critical to facilitate our business. If we couldn't connect with these systems, it would be impossible to connect with hotel reservation systems at all.
Based on my work experience, I know that building these complex interfaces is usually a lengthy and challenging process. Zimalab delivered in just two weeks without any mistakes, which is quite a success story. Developing these side projects in different programming languages is an impressive feat.
How did Zimalab perform from a project management standpoint?
The team’s communication around timelines was quite good. They completed four out of five tasks within the given time frame. Since each side project was clustered within the same timeframe, we made sure to ask how long the team needed to develop each feature well beforehand.
They were entirely on top of things during development. We’re their largest client at the moment, so they knew this was going to be a significant project. Our system is now finished, so there’s not much development to do besides adding small new functionalities. From a business perspective, they’ve been less organized in our current maintenance phase. We have to make sure they stay on schedule. There was a difference in their enthusiasm at the beginning of the project and now.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Aside from developing our product, they also considered our entire system as a whole. As Zimalab designed user stories, they carefully thought through every aspect of how clients will use our platform. We were enthusiastic about building a lot of fancy features. Zimalab encouraged us to minimize some elements to make sure users accept the system as-is. They preempted us from creating too much at once, yet still produced a fantastic UX.
Are there any areas they could improve?
It feels like they have more projects going on now and that they aren't as on top of project management. As their biggest client, I still feel important. They should keep up the original level of oversight and focus on each project, though.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Communication with Zimalab is strong and occurs on a daily basis. Ask for insight on the number of hours they need to complete individual tasks. Requesting a thorough overview, as well. Otherwise, you’ll get lost in the number of hours allocated to specific functionalities. I strongly recommend them because they're skilled at the work they deliver.
Since the site launched, traffic and revenue have increased significantly. The site performs well and is loading much faster than before. Zimalab has delivered exactly what the client wanted. They explicitly outlined the project and followed through.