Business & commercial aspects
blackboard > about blackboard > blackboard vs. webct > business & commercial aspects
No banner ads, mandated commercial links, or other forms of Web advertisement are to be allowed.
Price was not a primary consideration for this group.
The vendor must show stability and longevity, and a commitment to UT.
WebCT
- Must remove any commercial links if chosen
- Recently received a substantial investment from Chase Manhattan
- Has longer history, more experience
Blackboard
- Must remove commercial links and ads if chosen; has already agreed to do so
- Recently received a substantial investment from Dell
- Charges between $150 and $250 per hour for vendor consulting
Conclusions
The stability and trustworthiness of both has been found to be acceptable. Though
WebCT has had more experience and has already built a relationship with the
University, Dell has invested heavily in Blackboard and has an existing relationship
with the University. Though the consulting costs of Blackboard's product were
high, the issue of price was left for later debate.
Outcome: Both acceptable.
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comments about the site to: Malaika Boyd: mboyd@mail.utexas.edu.
