MSAAQ was a simple idea when it was born for the first time in 2015, but it was completely different from the shape it has become later. The primary goal at that time was to make MSAAQ a platform for providing training courses that we prepared ourselves. However, at that time, there was not enough incentive to continue working on the idea, so we decided to postpone it to a later time.
With the beginning of 2020, everything changed. The whole world moved to work and education online. And here was the question: why not enable MSAAQ to be a platform for individuals that empowers them to create their own digital platforms and offer the courses they want? In a very short time, we modified the code to make it a service provider (SaaS). The first version was so primitive that anyone who wanted to register had to fill out a Google Forms with their platform information, and then we would manually enter this information into the database. All we wanted at that time was to launch MSAAQ and test the idea to see if it would succeed.
I still remember those moments when we were eagerly waiting for our first client. And when we got our first two or three clients, we started the actual work. At that time, the team consisted of only three people. We were working very hard to keep up with the required developments. We had no clear vision; our goal was simply to develop the features that clients requested to meet their needs. There was no big budget to do anything special, and the design depended on a template worth $50. Whenever we needed a new feature and did not have a specific design for it, we would improvise something as best as we could.
This situation continued until 2022. In that year, the first additional person joined the team, making our number four. However, we continued to work with the same strategy: improvisation and experimentation. The back-end programmer would come up with a design from his head if there was no ready design, then the front-end programmer would modify it according to his vision, and we would end up with a product that had a different design with each new feature.
But 2022 was a major turning point for MSAAQ. During this year, the team expanded significantly. Amazing people joined us in every sense of the word, and the vision began to clarify little by little. More importantly, we had a specialized designer guiding us on what to do instead of the previous fumbling. We completely rebuilt MSAAQ's identity, and we created our own design system. We had a strong team working hard on developing MSAAQ, and we set a new goal: to make MSAAQ the best Arabic product available.
The biggest secret to MSAAQ's success was the flexibility we adopted from the beginning. When we implemented any feature requested by a client, even if it was small or very custom, we did not realize at that time that this flexibility would become one of our greatest assets. This approach helped us build a comprehensive product that contains all the features that any large educational institution might need. The experience we gained in the early stages, where we worked on "demand", has become a strong foundation for the new direction.
Today, MSAAQ is no longer just a service provider for individuals. We now provide comprehensive solutions for large educational institutions, including universities and massive organizations. This transformation was not only in the size of the clients we deal with, but also in the nature of the solutions we offer. We began to think bigger and work on providing a product that can serve complex and integrated needs.
We learned a lot from our mistakes in the past, and we built significant expertise. The team working behind MSAAQ has become one of the most important factors for its success; a team that shares one concern: changing the concept of education in the Arab region. At this stage, we began to adopt a culture of continuous improvement and work on providing high-quality products as part of MSAAQ's identity.
Recently, we asked ourselves an important question: we at MSAAQ have a great product and an amazing team capable of achieving the impossible, so how can we improve and develop the product to achieve our vision? This question had a significant impact on our way of thinking as a team and on our way of working. We started to work with doubled enthusiasm to reach the bigger goal: to make Masaaq the best Arabic platform and to change the way education is approached in the Arab world.
The story is not over yet, and there is still much for us to achieve. But if there is one thing we have learned, it is that a dream does not become a reality except through hard work and continuous passion. And we at MSAAQ dream of changing the Arab world, step by step.
It started with an extremely simple project serving individuals, and the capabilities were limited and the product was very simple. However, thanks to the flexibility we adopted in our work from day one, where we implemented any feature requested by clients no matter how small or custom, we managed to build a strong foundation. This flexibility, along with the expertise we gained during the early stages, played a pivotal role in reaching where we are today.
Today, MSAAQ has transformed into a platform that offers integrated solutions for major educational institutions, including universities and massive centers. The change we have witnessed was not only in the size of our clients but also in the nature of the services we provide. I learned from this journey that success does not always require a clear vision from the beginning, but requires passion, flexibility, and a readiness to learn from mistakes. This lesson is what makes me believe that MSAAQ is not just a project, but a vision capable of bringing about real change in the field of Arab education.