Zitec

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

iELM was founded in 2013 in Sweden and started as a small family business, designing and manufacturing children's clothing, aiming to offer unique and high-quality garments at the right price. Having moved its entire operations to Romania, iELM has grown to almost 200 employees and 6 production lines in Petresti, Dambovita County. I am the Marketing Director of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

iELM has been in continuous expansion, with online stores opened throughout Europe, in countries such as Germany, France, the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, Spain, Finland, Estonia, The Czech Republic, and Poland, but also in the United States of America. Each eCommerce launched in a new country posed a new set of challenges, from understanding the various types of users and their needs, the local particularities, and the different online purchase behaviors.

This is where Zitec stepped in, through digital marketing, software development, and cloud services and solutions, supporting us to achieve growth objectives. iELM has been relying heavily on technology to support business operations expansion across Europe, from custom software development to top-notch digital marketing solutions. We have been constantly looking for the best technology solutions to support business growth in multiple countries, optimize platform functioning and use data to drive better business decisions.

SOLUTION

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

Zitec has provided digital marketing, software development and cloud solutions services around the main projects making up our longtime collaboration:

• eCommerce set-up for launching on new markets, including implementation of delivery features, payment processors, translations, configurations, process automation, as well as marketing tools
• Digital Marketing strategies to support iELM’s business growth through continuous market research, campaign monitoring and optimization.
• eCommerce update to Magento 2
• eCommerce platform deployment from AWS to Google Cloud

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

After a kick-off meeting, we started working together on improving the business until this day, and we will continue do so from now on too.

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

We are working with two teams, each one of them having its own project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In 2019, the company registered a 500% boost in monthly sales, reaching EUR 1 million on a monthly basis, after an investment in promotional efforts up by only 20%. iELM is currently serving over 300.000 customers in 14 different countries.

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

We have daily stand-ups with the teams and the project managers in order to make things work flawless.

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

The most impressive and unique parts of the Zitec are their dedication and professionalism.

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

When we first started there were some minor communication issues, but in time we have made things work smoothly.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

RGT Cycling is a virtual reality cycling simulator available for PC, Mac, and Apple TV. It is used in conjunction with iOS and Android Apps and supported training hardware. Users worldwide can Go Beyond and connect, ride, race, and train together in a virtual reality that recreates the captivating culture of real-world cycling. Role: Head of Operations

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Zitec?

Our goal was to migrate from Amazon to the Google Cloud infrastructure, while at the same time making significant changes in our back-end infrastructure that would optimize use of resources and significantly improve stability.

SOLUTION

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

Zitec is a recognized, respected custom software development and digital marketing services company in the tech community in Romania, and we already knew they have deep technical knowledge of all cloud options. We felt that working with Zitec would both speed up the process, as well as accelerated learning in our own team.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

In the migration phase, Zitec engineers first prepared the project’s structure, taking into account the recommendations from Google Cloud security foundations guide. Next, the development environment was provisioned using Terraform (for infrastructure) and Ansible (for configuration and deployments), backed by Gitlab CI where new CI/CD pipelines were being implemented in order to trigger the jobs.

Even if the applications were already containerized, Zitec reshaped the way to do it in order to automatically build on Gitlab CI every image, using triggers like merge request events or new pushes on master.

From a security point of view, Zitec promoted and implemented the existing GCP capabilities: IAP to control the HTTP(s) and SSH access to various resources from the dev environment and eliminate the need of a VPN connection OS Login for SSH control Container Analysis to scan for vulnerabilities all the Docker images OS Config to collect and review operating system information, especially for the packages with security updates available.

Being an “improve & move” migration that touched a lot of components, Zitec decided to minimize the number of components reworked during this phase and adopted only a few managed services, such as Cloud SQL, Cloud Memorystore and Cloud Storage. The containerized applications were deployed on Compute Engines using both types of instance groups, unmanaged or managed with auto scaling enabled.

In a second phase, the plan is to move all the components from Compute Engine to Cloud Run or in a GKE cluster. Other GCP services in use were Operations for Monitoring & Logging, Global LB with premium network for decreased latency, and Transfer Service to move the static data from AWS S3 to GCP Storage. When the production environment was ready and tested by the customer, the switchover to GCP was executed with a short period of downtime required only to sync the database.

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

The implementation team consisted of two DevOps engineers from Zitec's part.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In addition to supporting growing volumes at lower costs, the RGT Cycling infrastructure now allows for the company's future development plans to include integrations with services like Google Stadia, Google Maps, and analytics capabilities.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective: meetings went straight to the point, clarifying next steps and allowing each team to work well independently, without too much “down-time” while waiting for deliverable from the other team.

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

We were impressed with their expertise in cloud infrastructure. The ease in proposing practical solutions we would not have thought about.

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

None that we can think of.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the CEO of a financial services company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a financial institution, licensed by the National Bank of Romania, providing payment processing services for online transactions through traditional and alternative payment methods. Our platform enables processing payments in any currency, from customers all over Europe, through virtually any payment method.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Our main goal was to build a blockchain-enabled robust and scalable cybersecurity compliant neobanking system that would instill regulatory and market confidence. This system would allow non-custodial crypto wallet holders to use crypto money to make payments within one banking system and one app, enriching their experience further.

SOLUTION

How did you find Zitec?

• Online Search
• Referral
• Other

Why did you select Zitec over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Zitec were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Due to crypto’s volatility, the advancement of blockchain and the anticipation of new EU regulations, we had to capitalize on a first-mover advantage and build a credible, enterprise-grade banking product. This proved to be rather complicated to define as the product had no precedents in Europe, while market and industry indicators were less than encouraging. 

At the time, everything associated with blockchain and crypto had a bad reputation with close to zero chances of generating regulatory confidence. It was crucial to demonstrate to the national banking authority that everything was above board. Secondly, because the product would be the first of its kind, there was no way to accurately estimate how long it would take to build, much less prove its secure and reliable viability on paper to obtain approvals. 

The third challenge and by far the most complicated, was to build a cohesive and collaborative team to make it happen. Developing and integrating the different parts into building a core digital banking system was hard enough. Add the integration of blockchain crypto systems, new physical and virtual card issuance and management systems, and combine all that with security, regulatory and operational compliance, anything that could go wrong very quickly multiplies. In fact, at any one time during the different project phases, eight to ten service providers were involved, each with their own internal and technical teams, and their own way of doing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We decided to build an MVP (minimum viable product) blockchain-enabled neobank pilot that would demonstrate to the national authorities its integral viability to facilitate high-volume transactions and move money around in crypto and fiat money.

The system was built on purpose to not create a different result even when it received repetitive signals or actions. This prevented double charging a consumer or duplicating payments to a merchant. In parallel, the system had to be able to handle transaction volumes that might fluctuate and surge under millions of active users within seconds. Any round-the-clock, high-volume, and highly regulated type of online transactions needed to ensure systems resilience for this, and for withstanding downtimes or cybersecurity threats. 

Zitec worked hand in hand with us to manage the different integrations and build necessary workarounds, particularly in three strategic areas to keep the project on track:

• System Integrations, Simulations and Testing
• Ensuring Digital Layers Serve the Business
• Meeting Regulatory Demands

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

What Zitec brought to the project was far more valuable and cost-effective than anything we could have pulled together on our own. It wasn’t just programming skills we needed, but tech consulting capabilities,  infrastructure competencies, product management and testing, as well as a ready, mature and experienced team who understood our urgency without unrealistic promises. 

From firsthand experience, full control and anticipation of difficulties that arise in a high-stakes project are near impossible. The discrepancies between the initial proposal and implementation tend to show up at the worst moments. Zitec understood this and made their role part of our solution as much as being our service partner. What they built has become a cybersecurity compliant backbone that our internal teams can take full control of and confidently scale to grow our neobanking business. 

What was your primary form of communication with Zitec?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App
• In-Person Meeting

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

We chose Zitec for their people, their no-nonsense approach and their team’s technical maturity in dealing with a complex high-stakes project. 

They employ enterprise-grade standards, processes and frameworks that ensure on-time and on-target delivery, as well as post launch resilience and scalability.  

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

Nothing

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Project Coordinator at a Digital Services Agency

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

It offers a digital service to facilitate people's life.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• UX/UI audit

SOLUTION

How did you find Zitec?

• Online Search
• Clutch Site

Why did you select Zitec over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget

How many teammates from Zitec were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Zitec was assigned to conduct UX/UI audit for our website which is not released yet. Their goal was to address the pain points in the design and give proper recommendations to improve our work.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

1. The reasonableness of the pain points detected. 
2. The recommendations were complied with the general design standards. 
3. The deadline was met. 
4. All our questions regarding the audit report and project were answered.

What was your primary form of communication with Zitec?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The report was delivered on time. During the process, we got responses for all email communication within a reasonable time interval. They were on time for the scheduled virtual meetings as well. Considered all our points/requests during the process.

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

The most impressive thing about Zitec is being detail-oriented. They paid attention to every detail in the project a lot and addressed them respectively.

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

In the beginning of the project agreement, the communication between us was not very well. We could have received responses to our email earlier actually. So, the time management and communication were not very well in the beginning. However, after beginning the process, it did improve.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the eCommerce Specialist of (a/an) Retail

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Retail

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Design
• Upgrade
• Security

SOLUTION

How did you find Zitec?

Online Search

Other

Why did you select Zitec over others?

High ratings

What was the size of Zitec’s team?

2-5 Employees

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

New site design.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Web design

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

Few delays.

What was your primary form of communication with Zitec?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their professionalism was impressive.

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

no

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are an important CPG company in Romania with very good knowledge in manufacturing and distribution but less experience in the digital space.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

On the B2B channel we wanted to capture qualified leads which hopefully would result in sales increase. We hope that a few p.p of our leads would come from this web app.

SOLUTION

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

We had a shortlist of vendors and we chose Zitec based on the response to the brief, past experience, company info and project cost.

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

Zitec came with a thoughtful process in which they translated our needs to the technology needed, product attributes and then we committed on a clear timetable orthodoxly respected.

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

Team of 6:

• Account Manager
• Web Designer
• 2 x WebDeveloper
• Copywriter
• Experience Officer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project received a very good feedback both internally and starting to receive also externally (TBC by external clients with numbers soon).

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

We had diverse meetings: from in-depth discussions, focus groups, brainstorming in the exploratory phase to email, virtual meetings and project management on slack.

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

Their ability to understand the project needs and translate them into a product or service to offer. From work quality perspective, nothing to complain!

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

Nothing that we are aware now.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I coordinate the Online Marketing Department within Credit Europe Bank Romania, a bank focused on the Romanian credit card market.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

The purpose of the project was to relaunch the bank's website www.crediteurope.ro as a site for sale, not just for presenting banking products. The challenge of the project was to integrate the site platform with core banking applications as well as with other databases specific to financial banking activities (exchange rates, money market indices, interest rate calculators for credit or savings products, etc.).

SOLUTION

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

A pitch was organized to select the software development company. We chose ZItec for their professionalism in implementing solutions with a high degree of security.

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

The project was developed in several steps: evaluation, design of the structure of the data bases, development of APIs for taking data from banking software, development of a dedicated content management platform through which all the pages of the site could be subsequently generated.

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

More than 10 people were involved in the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The new site is very stable and allows us to use landing pages as a sales tool in collecting leads.

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

The project management team was very transparent, we had direct access to the Redmine platform to follow all the steps of the project, until the end.

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

We admire their flexibility and speed in developing alternative solutions to the problems inherent in large projects.

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

No