Blackboard, Inc: Tech Trouble Ahead?

Implications: Blackboard's financial picture looks rosy, but its technical underpinnings show significant wear.  This leaves the educational software company susceptible to competitive pressure.  University and K-12 buyers are becoming more sophisticated consumers of software, and Blackboard's sloppy design, lack of user friendliness, and uneven support will eventually make it vulnerable.  Blackboard's generous pledge not to pursue its patent rights is, perhaps, less than it seems.  Some analysts believe the patent was indefensible in any event, and it appears it may not survive a legal challenge.  And given the haphazard software methodology in use at Blackboard, it is entirely possible an open source provider will emerge that will provide a far superior offering. 

Analysis: Blackboard software is hardly beloved by its users, except when compared with pen and paper.  Key actions take superfluous keystrokes, common functions are hard to access, and professors complain because their students complain... to them.  Meanwhile, the university IT departments responsible for the buying decision find Blackboard so frustrating to support that they post "Function disabled until we can get a bug fix from Blackboard."  This leaves Blackboard vulnerable to a player with a better software development process.

Players to watch include K12, as well as Desire2Learn (making progress in a patent dispute with Blackboard), eCollege, Angel, Sakai, Moodle, ATutor, Elgg and Bodington.