WASHINGTON, Dec. 16, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Blackboard Inc.
(Nasdaq: BBBB) today reported strong momentum in customer demand
for Blackboard Collaborate solutions since the acquisition of
Elluminate and Wimba was announced in July
2010. In addition, Elluminate has been recognized as a
"Visionary" in Gartner's "Magic Quadrant for Web Conferencing," an
influential industry report.*
According to Gartner, a leading research and advisory firm, "the
market for Web conferencing, teaming and social software will grow
at a compound growth rate of more than 20 percent through 2011. Due
to global economic challenges, interest in Web conferencing is at
an all-time high as companies look to cut costs."
New and renewing Blackboard Collaborate clients include
Central Texas College, Electronic
Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT), Los Angeles Unified School District,
Red Deer College, Tennessee Board of Regents, University of
Arkansas at Little Rock, and more.
"Wimba is unquestionably a 'game-changer' when it comes to
e-learning," said Mark Burris,
Director of Scholarly Technology and Resources (STaR), University of Arkansas at Little Rock. "The ability
for faculty and students to collaborate in real time through a
synchronous learning experience breathes new life into online
teaching and learning. And faculty have discovered that they can
leverage Blackboard Collaborate's asynchronous tools to extend
learning beyond the traditional classroom, while students benefit
from repeated interaction with content and collaboration. I would
not want to develop an online program without it."
Elluminate has been positioned in the "Visionaries" quadrant of
Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Web Conferencing, a report evaluating
the completeness of vision and ability to execute of vendors in the
market.
"We're honored to be recognized by Gartner and agree with their
vision for growth in the collaboration and conferencing space, even
in these challenging economic times," said Maurice Heiblum, President of Blackboard
Collaborate. "Our growth across academic markets suggests that
institutions are eager to invest in learning and collaboration
solutions that positively impact education, significantly reduce
costs, and generate new sources of revenue."
"Central Texas College renewed its
license because Blackboard Collaborate solutions have proven to be
a cost effective and efficient means of providing communication and
collaboration within our online and blended courses," said
Sharon Davis, Director of Distance
Education and Educational Technology at Central Texas College. "And because our students,
faculty and staff are worldwide, we also use these solutions to
support faculty and staff training, professional development,
student orientation and tech support."
"At Red Deer College, teaching and
learning would not be the same without our Blackboard Collaborate
products," said Janet Welch,
Chairperson of the Centre for Teaching and Learning at Red Deer. "Our learners use the products daily to
communicate, collaborate and grow and these solutions have become
core to our business."
Elluminate and Wimba are part of Blackboard Collaborate, which
includes the leading education focused Web, video and audio
conferencing solutions used by thousands of higher education, K-12,
professional, corporate, and government organizations worldwide to
support more engaging and interactive classes, meetings and other
interactions.
For more information about Blackboard Collaborate, please visit
http://www.Blackboard.com/collaborate.
*Gartner "Magic Quadrant for Web Conferencing" by David Mario Smith, November 4, 2010.
About Blackboard Inc.
Blackboard Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB) is a global leader in enterprise
technology and innovative solutions that improve the experience of
millions of students and learners around the world every day.
Blackboard's solutions allow thousands of higher education, K-12,
professional, corporate, and government organizations to extend
teaching and learning online, facilitate campus commerce and
security, and communicate more effectively with their communities.
Founded in 1997, Blackboard is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in North America, Europe, Asia
and Australia.
Any statements in this press release about future
expectations, plans and prospects for Blackboard and other
statements containing the words "believes," "anticipates," "plans,"
"expects," "will," and similar expressions, constitute
forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ
materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements
as a result of various important factors, including the factors
discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of our Form 10-Q filed
on November 5, 2010 with the SEC. In
addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press
release represent the Company's views as of December 16, 2010. The Company anticipates that
subsequent events and developments will cause the Company's views
to change. However, while the Company may elect to update these
forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company
specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These
forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as
representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to
December 16, 2010.
About the Magic Quadrant
The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted 2010 by Gartner, Inc. and is
reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical
representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period.
It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure
against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner.
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in
the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select
only those vendors placed in the "Leaders" quadrant. The Magic
Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to
be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties,
express or implied, with respect to this research, including any
warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular
purpose.
SOURCE Blackboard Inc.