Build / buy / mix
For each capability: whether to buy a mature tool, build MALYOMAR's own, or combine both through the hub. Recommendations with reasons, tool categories to evaluate, and the decisions only the owners can make.
No vendor has been chosen. This page names categories of tools, not products. Connector names shown on back-office screens are placeholders to make the prototype readable. Selection happens in phase 0 of the roadmap.
Buy
Mature commodity tools for standard needs. Others have solved these better and more safely than a small team can.
- Payments and e-commerce checkout
- Email delivery and marketing sends
- Video meetings and virtual classroom
- Accounting and e-invoicing: open, see DEC-01
Build
Company-specific workflows and rules that give MALYOMAR its advantage and that no off-the-shelf tool models well.
- Custom business rules: ASME versus MALYOMAR programs
- Training operations: batches, cohorts, attendance
- Approvals and workflows
- Reporting across sales, learning and finance
Mix
Connect bought tools and built modules through APIs and automation, so each can be replaced without disturbing the rest.
- Integrate best-of-breed tools
- Unify data through the hub
- Automate end-to-end processes
- Keep the architecture flexible
Three capabilities have no recommendation yet. Accounting (), HR and payroll () and the website CMS () are open build-versus-buy decisions. The prototype shows the integration boundary and a simulated status for each; it does not claim live books, statutory payroll or a real WordPress connection.
| Capability | Recommendation | What is bought | What is built | Reasoning |
|---|
Recommendations are a starting position for discussion, not a commitment. Capability names link to the prototype screens.
| Need | Category of tool | What to check when evaluating | Connects to the hub through |
|---|---|---|---|
| Card and wallet payments | Payment gateway licensed for the markets served | Local cards and wallets in Egypt; international cards for Gulf learners; instalments; settlement currency; fees; refund API | Webhooks for paid, failed, refunded |
| Live online classes | Video conferencing platform with an API | Meeting creation by API, attendance report per participant, recording export, breakout rooms, access from client networks | Connector: create meeting, fetch attendance |
| Email and messaging | Transactional email service; bulk email service; messaging gateway | Deliverability, Arabic and English templates, unsubscribe handling, event feed for opens and bounces | API send, webhooks for delivery events |
| Books and tax | If a package is chosen under DEC-01: an accounting package (general ledger, trial balance, balance sheet, supplier balances) and an e-invoicing service. The alternative is internal accounting scope in the hub. | Egyptian e-invoice compliance, multi-currency, import of invoices and payments, chart of accounts mapping | Data flow: invoices and payments out, status back |
| Public website | Content management system (WordPress retained, another CMS, or the built-in website administration), or a custom front end on the hub API. | Who edits pages, SEO, speed, Arabic support, how course and schedule data is pulled from the hub | Catalog API, lead forms |
| On-demand course player | LMS engine or video hosting with a custom player | Video protection, progress events, quizzes, SCORM or xAPI only if needed, mobile playback | Progress events into Enrolment |
| Certificates | PDF generation library or certificate service | Template control for ASME and MALYOMAR layouts, verification codes, bulk issue | Called by the certificates module |
| File storage | Cloud object storage | Region, access control per document, versioning, cost for recordings | Used by documents and recordings |
| Dashboards | Reporting tool on a read copy of the hub, or built dashboards | Self-service by the owner, scheduled reports, row-level access | Read-only reporting views |
| AI models | Hosted language model service | Data handling terms, region, Arabic quality, cost per use, ability to switch provider | One internal AI gateway, see AI layer |
| Sign-in | Identity service or framework module | Email and social sign-in for learners, single sign-on for corporate clients later, two-step for staff | Shared across website, portals, back office |
| HR and payroll | HR and payroll provider for the chosen jurisdiction, or internal HR records with payroll calculated by the accountant | Statutory deductions and social insurance for the jurisdiction, leave policy support, payslips, export of approved totals to Finance, access control on pay data | Simulated in the prototype: approved payroll totals to company P&L; employee master kept in People & HR |
| Supplier payables | Follows the accounting choice: payables ledger in the package, or in the hub | Bill and payment import, supplier balances, duplicate-bill detection, payment file format of the bank | Simulated: bills and payments out, status back, on accounting and ledgers |
For each category, shortlist two or three candidates and test them against the journeys on customer and staff journeys.
decisions block detailed design. Select an option to record a working position; nothing is saved and a working position is not an approval. Each shows what it affects. Decisions with a DEC number are also on the open decisions register, where approval is recorded.
Five questions per capability
- Is it the same for every training company? If yes, buy. Card payments and video meetings are.
- Does it carry MALYOMAR's rules? ASME authorization, batch break-even, corporate cohorts, certificate rules: build.
- Who owns the record? If a bought tool would become the owner of learners or enrolments, keep the record in the hub and connect the tool.
- Can it be replaced in a year? Prefer tools with an API and data export. Avoid anything that locks data in.
- What does it cost to run, not only to start? Per-seat and per-transaction fees grow with success; maintenance of built code needs a developer on call.
Cost and effort shape
Indicative, to be validatedBars show relative shape only. No budget figures are given here; they follow vendor quotes and the phase 0 estimate.
The hub makes the mix safe. Because every bought tool connects to the hub and not to another tool, replacing the payment gateway or the video platform changes one connector, not the business.