Zoolatech

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Engineering of Zalando SE

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

As a leading European online platform for fashion and lifestyle Zalando delivers to customers in 25 countries. In our fashion store, they can find a wide assortment from more than 6,000 brands. We have grown from a pioneer in e-commerce to building the leading pan-European ecosystem for fashion and lifestyle e-commerce. Founded in 2008 in Berlin, Zalando is building the leading pan-European ecosystem for fashion and lifestyle e-commerce. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Manage delivery of consumer-facing features for Zalando apps while coordinating with key stakeholders.
• Augment existing apps (Android and iOS) development teams to accelerate consumer-facing feature development
• Augment existing apps (React Native) development teams to accelerate consumer-facing feature development

SOLUTION

How did you find Zoolatech?

Referral

Why did you select Zoolatech over others?

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

How many teammates from Zoolatech were assigned to this project?

45

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

Zoolatech provided high-level staff augmentation to Zalando’s mobile engineering department, specifically targeting the Android and iOS platforms. The primary objective was to augment existing development teams to accelerate the velocity of consumer-facing feature releases.

The scope encompassed the full software development lifecycle (SDLC) for critical product domains, including the Product Detail Page (PDP) and Customer Preferences Management. A key differentiator in their scope was the inclusion of dedicated Delivery Management. Zoolatech took full ownership of stakeholder alignment and project coordination, allowing the partnership to function autonomously with minimal oversight required from Zalando’s in-house engineering managers.

Key Deliverables

• Feature Development & Optimization: Successful delivery of high-impact enhancements to the Product Detail Page (PDP), improving the core shopping experience for mobile users.
• Preference Management System: A comprehensive overhaul of customer notification settings and preferences, allowing for more granular user control.
• Notification Centre: End-to-end implementation of Notification Centre features, ensuring a centralized and seamless communication hub within the apps.
• Operational Efficiency: Provision of a highly active Delivery Manager who managed cross-functional stakeholder requirements, resulting in a 1:1 delivery ratio that eliminated management overhead for internal staff.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Timely delivery of the features.

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

• Project Management & Timeliness

Zoolatech demonstrated exceptional project management, consistently delivering all milestones and features on time. Their approach was defined by a high degree of reliability and a "no-surprises" delivery culture.

• Stakeholder Coordination & Responsiveness

The dedicated Zoolatech Delivery Manager played a pivotal role in the partnership. They maintained a regular and transparent cadence with our in-house Program Managers, ensuring that roadmaps were aligned and potential bottlenecks were identified early.

Key highlights of their management style included:

• Proactive Communication: They did not just react to requests but anticipated needs, providing regular status updates that kept all stakeholders informed.
• Integration with Internal Teams: Their management integrated seamlessly with Zalando’s internal processes, making the vendor relationship feel like a natural extension of the core team.
• Operational Autonomy: Because their Delivery Manager took full ownership of coordination, they were highly responsive to shifting priorities without requiring heavy intervention from our internal leadership.

What was your primary form of communication with Zoolatech?

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

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

The most impressive aspect of working with Zoolatech was the consistently high caliber of their technical talent and their proactive approach to partnership.

• Superior Candidate Selection: Unlike many staffing partners, Zoolatech’s internal vetting process is exceptionally rigorous. Every contractor they provided met our technical standards immediately, resulting in zero performance issues and a very high "hit rate" for successful placements. This saved our internal team significant time during the onboarding and interview phases.
• Agility and Responsiveness: They demonstrated a remarkable ability to react quickly to changing requirements. Whether it was scaling a team or pivoting on a project requirement, their leadership was always one step ahead, ensuring that our momentum was never interrupted.
• Ownership Mentality: They did not behave like a standard "body shop" vendor. They took genuine ownership of the product outcomes, showing a level of commitment to the quality of the Zalando user experience that mirrored our own internal culture.

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

Throughout our collaboration, we did not identify any significant areas for improvement or aspects that we would have wanted Zoolatech to handle differently.

Their proactive management style and close integration with our internal teams ensured a seamless flow of information. Because they were so 'closely connected' to our roadmap and culture, we never encountered situations involving misunderstandings or a misalignment of expectations. Their ability to anticipate project needs meant that potential issues were mitigated before they could impact delivery.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of a fintech company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Zoolatech?

We were looking to rapidly increase the size of our development capacity.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They used Ruby on Rails, MySQL, and React. They essentially own the entire projects for us. At our direction, they organize the teams and collaborate with our product owners to work on the backlog and deliver features.

What is the team composition?

At this time, we’re working with 30 people from their side.

How did you come to work with Zoolatech?

I used to work with one of the founders. They reached out to me. When we talked it through, it seemed like they would be able to deliver on their promises. Because of this, we gave them a shot.

How much have you invested with them?

It’s been seven figures over the years.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started about three years ago.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve been very happy with Zoolatech’s work. We primarily focus on the quality of the deliverables, and if they’re getting stable products out. They’ve had challenging products to deliver, and they’ve even dug into new technologies, like Salesforce, when we needed them. It’s been mostly positive feedback from our product team. That’s why we continue working with them.

How did Zoolatech perform from a project management standpoint?

It’s gone quite well. We have them mimic the same structures we have with our internal teams. They follow those procedures and communicate very well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to customize their offerings to meet our needs stands out. They structure work in the way we want and work in the way we like. Their quality service is dependable.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing really comes to mind. It’s been a smooth engagement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very open with them about what you’re looking for. If they know what you’re looking for, they can understand your needs and customize what they do to fit what you’re looking to do. They’re flexible and open.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former CTO of a boutique hotel company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Zoolatech?

It was a tough recruiting market at the time in the Bay Area, so we were looking to scale our engineering team rapidly.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided engineers to us. We had a product roadmap that we needed to get through and they supplied resources for us to get through it quickly. 

What is the team composition?

We dealt with one person.

How did you come to work with Zoolatech?

I had worked with Roman (CEO & Co-Founder) before. I was familiar with his skills and recruiting capabilities.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent over $1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from April 2013–2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Zoolatech gave us the ability to scale our engineering team up rapidly without a huge investment in time and money spent recruiting here in the Bay Area. By using them, we were able to get a lot of our time back.  

How did Zoolatech perform from a project management standpoint?

I managed the project since they were embedded in our team. Everything was very seamless.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their developers are production-ready. We didn’t have to spend a lot of time bringing them up to speed on the technology or the way our organization works. They worked better than most companies out there because they’re very picky about who they recruit.

Are there any areas they could improve?

At the time we started with them, they didn’t have UX designers and digital designers on staff, so we had to go and recruit those from other agencies. If they had a consolidated offering where they had both engineers and UX/UI designers, that would have been even better for us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You have to treat them as full partners. It’s important that you treat their team as embedded within yours and not as an outside firm that you’re throwing things over the wall to. Spend some time at their office or have them come to yours to help you bond quicker because that in-person time helps a lot. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the Senior Director of Product at Ten-X, a commercial real estate marketplace. We provide a platform for brokers to put their inventory to sell.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Zoolatech?

We support the tools that work with real estate transaction lifecycles. There are tools on the platform that interact with the bottom of the funnel where the transaction and paperwork happens.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve worked with several offshore developers to provide development support, including Zoolatech. They provided frontend, backend, and data science work.

On the frontend, they designed the navigation and search results page. They redesigned the page. Their team also supplied backend design to manage different types of marketing material.

What is the team composition?

We had around 15 people, spread between the frontend team and the backend marketing tool.

How did you come to work with Zoolatech?

Their pricing was good, we knew they had engineers that could ramp up quickly.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $1 million in 2019.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work started in summer of 2019 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They had low numbers of bugs and hit all KPIs. They were very enthusiastic and got everything done that we asked. They delivered quickly and had a quick turnaround. Everything was great.

How did Zoolatech perform from a project management standpoint?

They have a strong project management team that is flexible. We have an up-to-date version of Jira.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Things got done very quickly. They were always up to speed on our methods.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There are no issues outside of minor time zone issues with them in Ukraine.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Stay in touch with their engagement manager.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are HDS Global, and I am the CTO of the company

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Zoolatech?

Bringing in talent to the company at speed was the biggest objective. We’re based in the Bay Area, so competing with companies like Google and Facebook for developers can often be incredibly difficult, and we reached out to Zoolatech for help.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We were able to access the talent market in Ukraine through their services. They provided both recruiting capabilities and strategy, helping us to understand how to best attract talent and then putting our materials in front of a big enough pool to build the team that we wanted.

What is the team composition?

They have brought about 12 people onto our team so far.

How did you come to work with Zoolatech?

Our company interviewed about five different firms for the engagement, meeting each of them and evaluating their capabilities. Our selection process was focused on making sure they were both able to meet our requirements and also a cultural fit in terms of the values we have as a company. Zoolatech was by far the strongest and made a really good impression with us, so we decided to work with them.

How much have you invested with them?

The total project cost has been a little over $2,000,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve worked together for a little over a year, starting in January 2019, and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our biggest success metric is really the ability to execute on the product. The resources we have engaged through Zoolatech work in conjunction with our team in the US, so we don’t have a way to isolate their team and just evaluate them completely independently, but we can measure their contribution through our ability to follow the roadmap that we’ve laid out, as well as the quality of the product we are ultimately able to produce. All of that has been substantially higher than we expected.

The other aspect of the work is in the rate of attrition from their side, and how well they are able to acquire developers that want to stay with us for the duration of the work. We don’t have any attrition so far, which is really spectacular for the outsourcing model.

How did Zoolatech perform from a project management standpoint?

We don’t have project management in the traditional sense since we are running an agile style development process with their team fully integrated into ours, but we do have an account manager on their side. That person has been exceptionally involved in the process, and they do an excellent job of keeping tabs on both the progress and happiness of the members of their team.

In terms of communication, we are in touch closely every single day. We make use of Microsoft teams as a communication channel and for video conferencing, we’re using Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

As we mentioned, culture is a big deal for us, and we run a culture survey twice a year that includes their team as well. They run a culture survey internally as well, which provides us with a lot of valuable feedback as well and is, in my opinion, a big part of the reason we haven’t experienced any attrition.

On a more fundamental level, that culture match has been the key to attracting talent that fits our company’s style and needs. When you’re hiring and interview a bunch of candidates that don’t work out, it can become a very negative experience, so having a process in place that works well is incredibly valuable.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I really don’t think there’s anything I would suggest they improve.