Choosing a Software Provider in Nairobi: 10 Questions to Ask
Nairobi has hundreds of software providers and no shortage of polished demos — ten questions that separate partners who will still serve you in year three from vendors who disappear after the deposit.
Choosing a software company in Nairobi is a trust decision disguised as a technical one. The demo will look good — demos always look good. What you are actually buying is the next three years: support when the till won't reconcile at 7pm, updates when KRA changes a rule, and honesty when you ask for something the product shouldn't do. These ten questions surface that future before you sign.
The ten questions
1. Can I speak to two customers my size, in my industry?
Not logos on a slide — phone numbers. A provider confident in their customers connects you within a day. Ask the references what went wrong during implementation and how it was handled; every project has a wobble, and the handling is the data.
2. Is this your product, or are you reselling someone else's?
Resellers can be fine — but your feature requests then travel through them to a vendor abroad who has never heard of you. If it's their product, ask to meet someone technical who builds it.
3. What does support actually mean?
Hours, channels, response times — in the contract, not the conversation. "WhatsApp us anytime" is not an SLA. Test it: send a pre-sales technical question at 4pm on a Friday and time the answer.
4. How does your product handle Kenyan compliance?
eTIMS invoicing, PAYE bands, NSSF tiers, SHIF, housing levy. "It's configurable" means you maintain compliance; "it ships in updates" means they do. The difference lands on your finance team every time rules change — the full checklist is in our compliance features guide.
5. What is the all-in cost over three years?
License, implementation, training, support, customization, integrations — one figure, in KES, in writing. Vendors who resist this arithmetic are telling you something; our ERP pricing breakdown shows what the honest math looks like.
6. Who owns my data, and how do I leave?
The answer you want: your data, exportable in standard formats, at no ransom fee, with a defined offboarding process. Ask for the export demo, not the assurance.
7. What happens when I ask for a change?
Product companies route requests into a roadmap; consultancies bill hours. Neither is wrong — but know which relationship you are entering, and what a typical change costs.
8. Show me your update history.
A changelog or release notes from the last six months proves the product is alive. No visible updates for a year usually means maintenance mode — you would be buying a sunset.
9. How will you train my team — on whose data?
Training on demo data teaches the demo. Insist on training against your items, your customers, your workflows, with follow-up sessions two weeks after go-live when the real questions surface.
10. What happens to my system if your company struggles?
Uncomfortable, necessary. Reasonable answers include hosted-data export guarantees and continuity arrangements. A provider offended by the question hasn't thought about it — which is itself the answer.
The pattern behind all ten
Every question converts a promise into evidence: references instead of logos, SLAs instead of vibes, changelogs instead of roadmap slides, exports instead of assurances. Buy evidence.
Put us through the ten questions
AWRA OpsHub is Nairobi-built, KES-priced, with published plans and Kenyan compliance shipped in updates. Ask us all ten — we enjoy this quiz.
About AWRA in NairobiFrequently asked questions
Should we prefer a local Nairobi provider over a global brand?
Prefer whoever gives you evidence on the ten questions. Local providers typically win on support hours, KES pricing, and compliance speed; global brands win on depth for complex multi-country needs. For most Kenyan SMEs and institutions, the local evidence is stronger — but make them show it.
How long should a software selection take?
For an SME: four to eight weeks — needs definition, a shortlist of three, demos with your data, reference calls, then a decision. A year-long selection usually signals unclear requirements, not diligence.
Is a pilot worth doing?
A scoped pilot (one branch, one module, 30–60 days, with success criteria written down) is the best evidence money can buy. An open-ended "trial" with no criteria just delays the decision.
What red flags end a conversation immediately?
Pricing only revealed after a workshop; no reachable references; compliance "on the roadmap"; data export treated as a custom job; and pressure to sign before a quarter ends. Any two of those together — walk.
