BitLabs is a software engineering firm based in Nairobi. We work with national agencies, distributors, financial services providers and growing companies across East Africa. We build custom applications, connect systems that were never designed to work together, and support them in production.
Most engagements combine several of these, and most begin with an assessment of what is already in place before anything new is built.
These are the six situations that account for most of our work. Each one expands into what is normally behind it, what it costs while it persists, and how we approach it.
The system was specified for an earlier operating model and has since been extended past its design. Replacing it outright means a multi-year programme and a cutover risk the business will not accept, so the usual outcome is that nothing happens and the workarounds accumulate.
National government agency · 2024 · pending case volume reduced 60% across two quarters
Cost of the status quo
How we approach it
Each system holds a defensible version of the same fact, recorded at a different time under different rules. Without a defined source of truth and a reconciliation process, every reporting cycle turns into a negotiation between departments.
Beverage distributor · 2024 · monthly stock reconciliation reduced from days to same-day
Cost of the status quo
How we approach it
Integrations were built point-to-point as each need arose. The number of connections now grows faster than the team can maintain them, and every new initiative inherits the full weight of that history before it can start.
Cost of the status quo
How we approach it
The handover covered access but not knowledge. Without documentation, test coverage or a working local environment, any change carries unquantified risk, so the system is frozen in place while the business moves on around it.
Cost of the status quo
How we approach it
Manual steps that are tolerable at current throughput become the binding constraint once volume rises. The failure is rarely gradual: it appears as a queue that stops clearing, usually at the least convenient moment.
Beverage distributor · 2024 · keg movements tracked across a national distribution network
Cost of the status quo
How we approach it
The systems record outcomes but not the decisions behind them. When an auditor asks who approved something, on what basis and when, the answer has to be reconstructed from email and memory.
National government agency · 2024 · full chain of custody per case record
Cost of the status quo
How we approach it
Each figure below expands to show the baseline it was measured against, the method used, and the factors we cannot rule out as alternative explanations. Client references are available on request and under NDA where the engagement requires it.
Case management, licensing and workflow systems for national agencies and county governments, built to hold up under audit. We are registered on eGP; our statutory documents are published on the company profile rather than held behind a request form.
Discuss a project in this sectorAsset tracking, stock reconciliation and field operations across distributed networks. Immutable movement records and chain of custody, so balances can be evidenced rather than negotiated at period end.
Discuss a project in this sectorPayment channel integration and automated reconciliation against a single ledger, with each transaction traceable to its source channel. Built for the controls and audit requirements that regulated operations carry.
Discuss a project in this sectorField data collection that continues to operate without connectivity, and reporting produced in the donor's required format. The underlying record is preserved so any figure in a report can be traced to source during evaluation or audit.
Discuss a project in this sectorSend us an outline of what you are trying to achieve and the constraints you are working within. We will respond with an assessment of whether we are a suitable fit, and where we are not, what we would recommend instead.
Alternatively, use the contact form to send a written brief.
