For those in Higher Ed who care about Learning Management Systems or just teaching online in general, it seems that Blackboard has always been the thousand pound elephant in the room.  Concerns have ranged from Blackboard allegedly holding institutions ransom with their high maintenance costs to the giant company gobbing up much of the competition in the market.  Whether or not these are fair concerns is not necessarily the issue, but rather illustrates how they are often the center of the conversation.

On Friday, the company announced it was being sold to a private equity firm and I thought it was important to note two quick takeaways from this announcement:

1. New Ownership will likely want to make their mark on the company.  This could translate into even more aggressive purchases (again reducing competition) and/or consolidation among their various brands as we have seen with Wimba and Elluminate becoming Blackboard Collaborate.
2. Private Companies do not have to disclose as much information. This issue is important because without stockholders to answer to, the public will no longer have as much access to information regarding the general health and business plan of the company.  For institutions deciding whether to stick with Blackboard or look for alternatives, this could mean that they have less information on which to base their decisions. 

Again, this is all food for thought, but it would be wise to try to keep closer tabs on the company moving forward, especially if you are currently evaluating your own LMS platform.

1. jchiappa posted this