7th Annual LMS Data Update

The fall 2019 US LMS market share data referenced in this post is available for purchase. Additionally, a complete historical data set of all LMS usage data dating back to 2013 is also available for purchase.

For the 7th year, Client Stat is pleased to announce the findings of our analysis of institutional Learning Management System (LMS) usage in US higher education. As in the past, our methodology begins with the current list of institutions provided by the US Department of Education with more than 500 full time equivalent students and counts all LMSs in active, production use at an institution including pilot LMSs and co-production LMSs when used at a department-level scale or larger. Our QA process removes any LMS that is determined to be used by only a single professor, for a single course, or that only exists for sales or evaluation purposes. 

Instructure Slowly Regains Momentum, Blackboard Losses Accelerate Slightly

Despite a slight blip earlier this year, Instructure has slowly regained momentum drawing from all other competing LMSs. Moodle and Sakai continue a slow, prolonged decline with the Sakai install base reaching its lowest point since we began tracking installations. Blackboard Learn losses accelerated slightly this year while the pace of D2L Brightspace losses slowed.

Instructure Definitively Claims Top Spot, Widens Lead by Enrollments

Instructure Canvas passed Blackboard Learn last year in terms of uniquely enrolled students. This year the gap between the two competitors increased from about 50,000 students last fall to over 1 million this fall. In addition, Canvas has become the clear, undisputed leader by number of institutions. Considering that most commercial LMSs are priced per unique student per year, this is a very notable accomplishment.

Blackboard SaaS Success Continues

Despite losing its top slot, Blackboard continues to make significant progress with its newest SaaS deployment model which is now used by roughly one-third of its customer base. Progress against this metric is an indication that Blackboard is improving its ability to provide support for a smaller spread of product versions and reduce operational complexity.

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