[Technical] WebCT and Blackboard eLearning systems to merge

[Tony Richardson]

Given that both WebCT and Blackboard both have their content management run by Masterfile at the backend, I would think that there would be little issue with migrating WebCT users to Blackboard or vice versa
 
As to Moodle I don't know why more schools are not looking at Dokeos http://www.dokeos.com/ -  a far superior open source product in my opinion
 
Tony  

	-----Original Message----- 
	From: tech-bounces at edulists.com.au on behalf of Con Zymaris 
	Sent: Thu 13/10/2005 9:58 AM 
	To: Technical Discussion in Schools Mailing List 
	Cc: 
	Subject: Re: [Technical] WebCT and Blackboard eLearning systems to merge
	
	

	On Thu, Oct 13, 2005 at 09:31:13AM +1000, Donna Benjamin wrote:
	> http://tinyurl.com/bh7xr
	>
	> Blackboard and WebCT, leading providers of enterprise software and
	> services to the education industry have announced plans to merge." From
	> the article: "Under terms of the agreement, Blackboard will acquire
	> WebCT in a cash transaction for $180 million, which values the offer at
	> approximately $154 million, net of WebCT's August 31, 2005 cash balance
	> of $26 million. The ultimate value of the offer will vary depending on
	> WebCT's cash balance at closing.
	>
	> What might this mean for Moodle?
	> http://www.moodle.org/
	
	Consolidation of proprietary vendors is normally always good for open
	source contenders.
	
	One (or possibly both) group(s) of either the WebCT or Blackboard users
	will need to eventually migrate to the resulting product that this new
	merged entity will decide to continue development on. If they merge the
	products rather than opt to go with WebCT or Blackboard, then both groups
	of users will need to migrate.
	
	Any such migration is good for competitors, as it gives all users who are
	forced to migrate the opportunity to sample the market: "since we are
	being forced to migrate and pay, let's see what else is on offer."
	
	Additionally, it reminds all users of proprietary products, that they are
	not immune to product extinction - that paying money to a vendor is no
	guarantee that the product you bought will still be around or supported in
	5 years. This too dovetails nicely with open source competitors in
	particular. Successful open source products, like Moodle and Plone, are
	far less likely to meet evolutionary dead-ends, than say WebCT, Siebel
	CRM, Visua Basic 3 & 6 or Wordperfect.
	
	Cheers,
	
	Con Zymaris
	
	- CEO, Cybersource Pty. Ltd.
	- Director, Open Source Industry Australia, Limited.
	- Convenor, Open Source Victoria (A Government-funded industry cluster.)
	--
	
	___________________________________________________________________________
	Con Zymaris <conz at cyber.com.au> Level 4, 10 Queen St, Melbourne, Australia
	Cybersource: Australia's Leading Linux and Open Source Solutions Company
	Web: http://www.cyber.com.au/  Phone: 03 9621 2377   Fax: 03 9621 2477
	
	
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