How Kaplan Scaled Its English Language Solutions with X-Team

The ChallengeFinding talent that could scale

As Kaplan expanded its digital offerings across multiple regions, the company needed a highly skilled, adaptable team of software engineers. Despite investing in local offices and recruiting, Kaplan struggled to find engineering talent that could keep pace with rapidly growing product needs.

In particular, Kaplan needed engineers to build and maintain its global English language assessment system, KITE™, and to integrate new tools into Kaplan Professional's customer-facing technologies.

The SolutionEmbedded engineers across regions

• Sourced specialist developers capable of supporting Kaplan's diverse product lifecycle, selected for technical expertise and collaboration skills.
• Seamless team integration across geographic and time zone differences, embedding with Kaplan's product teams.
• Coverage across four regions — the U.S., Australia, the U.K., and China — touching every Kaplan team in those locations.
• Dynamic scaling that let Kaplan grow teams on demand and reduce the strain of managing co-located staff.
• Process refinement, engaging with Kaplan's leadership, asking the right questions, and helping shape the development process.

The ResultsAgile scaling across four regions

X-Team helped Kaplan build a lean, efficient team supporting expansion into four major locations — the U.S., Australia, the U.K., and China — letting Kaplan tap a global talent pool and maintain momentum even as members traveled or worked across regions.

The partnership helped Kaplan overcome hiring challenges, scale its software development, and stay agile as the company grew, achieving significant progress on its product development goals.