Business Application Development Expertise
Custom development has a bad reputation. It's avoidable.
Budget overruns, the tunnel effect, vendor dependency: custom projects almost always fail for the same reasons — and none of them is inevitable. AKILI Labs builds your web and mobile applications and business platforms with verifiable safeguards: short sprints, contractually defined scope, measured quality, code delivered to you. The tool fits your business — and the project stays under your control.
■ The situation
Your processes deserve better than a spreadsheet — and better than a project that derails
On one side, the need is real: case approvals, production tracking, member management, route planning… when no off-the-shelf software covers your specific workflows, teams compensate — shared spreadsheets, re-keyed data, paper tracking. Data scatters and no one has the full picture.
On the other, the wariness is legitimate: too many organizations in the region have experienced the custom project whose budget doubles, the application delivered late and never formally accepted, or the provider who walked away with the code.
Custom projects almost always derail for the same three reasons.
Scope that's never locked down, a tunnel effect with no intermediate deliveries, and code the client doesn't own. Our standards exist precisely to neutralize these three causes — and they're verifiable.
Our doctrine: standard wherever your need is standard — a proven ERP like Odoo will be faster and cheaper there — and custom only where your process sets you apart. During the free scoping session, we tell you honestly which case you're in.
■ Scoping & Delivery
In 5 phases, from business process to production platform — with no tunnel effect
Each phase produces a tangible deliverable that you validate before moving to the next.
1
Scoping & Specifications
Workshops with your business teams, formalizing processes and business rules.
▸ Deliverable: Validated functional specifications
Scoping & Specifications
Workshops with your business teams, formalizing processes and business rules.
▸ Deliverable: Validated functional specifications
1
2
UX Design & Architecture
Mockups of key screens, technical architecture, and justified technology choices.
▸ Deliverable: Validated mockups and architecture document
2
UX Design & Architecture
Mockups of key screens, technical architecture, and justified technology choices.
▸ Deliverable: Validated mockups and architecture document
3
Iterative Development
2-week sprints, regular demonstrations, ongoing adjustments.
▸ Deliverable: Tested functional increments at every sprint
Iterative Development
2-week sprints, regular demonstrations, ongoing adjustments.
▸ Deliverable: Tested functional increments at every sprint
3
4
Acceptance Testing & Training
User acceptance testing (UAT) on a dedicated environment, team training.
▸ Deliverable: Acceptance test report, training materials
4
Acceptance Testing & Training
User acceptance testing (UAT) on a dedicated environment, team training.
▸ Deliverable: Acceptance test report, training materials
5
Go-Live & TMA (application maintenance)
Deployment, stabilization period, transition to maintenance with service commitments.
▸ Deliverable: Application in production, TMA contract
Go-Live & TMA (application maintenance)
Deployment, stabilization period, transition to maintenance with service commitments.
▸ Deliverable: Application in production, TMA contract
5
■ Areas of Intervention
Four ways to put software to work for your business
Web & Mobile Applications
Your teams and customers access your services wherever they are — built to work even with variable connectivity.
Collaborative Portals
A single entry point for your employees, partners, or members: no more endless email chains and missing documents.
REST APIs & Microservices
Your systems finally talk to each other: no more double entry, consistent data everywhere, and integrations that survive change.
Business Platforms
The complete tool that fits your process end to end — not the other way around.
■ Verifiable Safeguards
Every cause of failure has its answer — written into our procedures
These aren't marketing promises: they are our internal procedures, applied to every project, including our own.
Cause: Scope that quietly creeps.
Written Sign-Off
Every scope change is costed and approved in writing before implementation — your budget never moves without your signature.
Cause: The tunnel effect — six months with nothing to show.
2-Week Sprints
A demo at every iteration: you see the value build and correct course early, while it's still inexpensive to do so.
Cause: Quality that stays invisible until the first bug hits production.
Measured Quality
Automated tests (target ≥ 70% coverage), systematic code reviews, and formal acceptance testing on a dedicated environment before every deployment.
Cause: Vendor dependency.
The Code Is Yours
Versioned source code, documentation, and access are all delivered to you: you can hand the next phase to us, your own teams, or a third party.
■ Beyond delivery
An application has a life after go-live
TMA — Application Maintenance
Proactive monitoring, fixes, and minor enhancements under contractual commitments: critical incidents (P1) resolved within 4 hours, major incidents (P2) within 24 hours — 100% SLA compliance on P1 over the past 12 months.
Staff Augmentation or Fixed-Price
Developer reinforcement at a daily rate within your teams, or a fixed-price project with a contractually defined scope — depending on how you prefer to manage delivery.
Continuous Enhancements
Your business evolves, your platform keeps pace: an enhancement backlog prioritized with your teams, delivered sprint by sprint.
Integration with Your IT System
Your applications talk to your existing systems — Odoo ERP, banking systems, business tools — through documented APIs.
Our completed projects, with measured results, are presented on the References
■ Our methodology
The business first, the technology second
Custom Only Where It Differentiates You
If a proven standard covers the need, we tell you so — it's the doctrine that protects your budget.
The Business Before the Code
No line of code before we understand your actual processes: business workshops are the foundation of every project.
Technical Restraint
Proven technologies, sized to your context — no over-engineering that costs a fortune to maintain.
Full Reversibility
Documented, versioned code delivered to you: your platform is yours, with no forced dependency on the provider.
■ Sectors we serve
Every business has its critical processes — we build for yours
Finance & Institutions
Customer portals, case-processing workflows, integrations with banking systems
Trade & Distribution
Sales force applications, route tracking, supplier portals
Agribusiness
Production and collection tracking, batch traceability, field applications
Public Sector & Institutions
Online administrative procedures, citizen portals, internal management platforms
Healthcare
Patient tracking applications, appointment portals, activity dashboards
Telecoms & Services
Self-service portals, operations tools, multi-system integrations
■ What sets us apart
Why choose AKILI Labs
On-the-Ground African Expertise
Variable connectivity, mobile-first usage, budget constraints in XOF: our applications are designed for this context, not despite it.
End-to-End Vision
From business scoping to TMA, a single point of accountability across your application's entire lifecycle.
Experienced Team
11+ years of experience in information systems across Africa, Europe, and the Middle East.
Verifiable Standards
Tests ≥ 70%, code reviews, separate environments, code delivered: quality is demonstrated, not promised.
Local Presence, Regional Vision
Based in Abidjan, active across the entire UEMOA/ECOWAS zone.
The business application development practice by the numbers
4h
resolution time for critical incidents (P1) under TMA
100%
SLA P1 compliance over the past 12 months
70%+
test coverage targeted on application projects
11+
years of experience
6
countries served (UEMOA/ECOWAS)
■ Resources & Content
Go deeper on your business application project
Coming soonGuide
Custom development or off-the-shelf: the decision framework
The doctrine applied to your case, without bias.
Coming soonChecklist
Questions to ask before starting a custom development project
Assess the need, the budget, and the risks.
Coming soonGuide
Business application specifications: what needs to be included
The foundation of a project that doesn't go off the rails.
Coming soonWebinar
From paper process to mobile app: a case study
A real-world demonstration.
■ FAQ
Frequently asked questions about custom development
Your next custom project can be the one that goes well.
Let's start with a scoping session: our experts analyze your processes, tell you honestly what genuinely needs custom development — and lock down the scope, budget, and safeguards with you before the first line of code.