Tag Archives: Brightspace

LMS Data – Spring 2020 Updates

The complete historical data set of all LMS market share data available since 2013 is available to purchase for further analysis.

According to Punxsutawney Phil, spring will come early this year and with it our newest report on LMS market share. We accelerated the timeline for producing this data set considering recent news that Instructure is pursuing an acquisition by a private equity firm to present factual, current data on LMS market trends. See this post for a brief review of our US methodology and this post for more information on our international methodology used for Australia, Canada, and UK.

Instructure’s Lead Widens

At the start of spring semester 2020, Instructure’s Canvas LMS continued to widen its lead in US higher education over top rival LMS, Blackboard Learn. D2L Brightspace also saw a slight increase, while all other LMSs saw a net decline.

Global Trends

Globally, however, LMS market share has remained remarkably stable with little-to-no changes. Almost every university in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom continues to use the same LMS that it did last year with very few leading indicators of any impending changes. (This year’s global LMS data set, as in previous years, is available to download for free.)

Comparing regions, Moodle continues to be the predominant LMS outside of the US with Blackboard Learn or D2L Brightspace continuing to hold the position of top commercial LMS.

Blackboard’s Positive Momentum

Despite gradual ongoing losses, Blackboard continues to rapidly move its user base onto its newest Learn SaaS offering. Fewer universities than ever are running older, unsupported versions of Blackboard Learn. And the newest version of Blackboard Learn is even beginning to receive positive coverage from students, who historically have been extremely critical of the company’s software.

Outlook for Instructure

Though Instructure is certainly poised for continued success, it is less well-positioned for continued growth. The market for higher-education-focused, institution-centric Learning Management System software is finite. There is a known maximum number of potential customers (the number of colleges and universities in existence), and nearly all of them currently use a LMS. Fewer institutions than ever are purchasing and supporting multiple different LMSs. And outside of the US, the data we collect indicates little-to-no appetite for switching LMSs.

As LMS software continues to evolve as a product category, there are increasingly fewer ways to differentiate one product from another. Additionally, Instructure’s competitors at this point have largely compensated for past weaknesses. Some are even beginning to argue that the LMS product category as it exists today may be becoming obsolete (1, 2, 3, 4).

In the US, financial struggles for higher education institutions continue despite a modest recovery. Demographic trends, personal financial limitations, and changes in the perceived value of a college degree are reducing the number of high school graduates immediately pursuing college as traditional students. Difficulty securing student visas has also reduced the number of international students attending US colleges and universities in recent years. These trends will have an impact on edtech software packages such as LMSs that have traditionally been licensed by the number of full-time enrolled students.

To Instructure’s credit, the company capitalized on dissatisfaction in the marketplace to secure a commanding presence that will not soon fade. At this point, however, all of Instructure’s easy wins and major system and consortium deals are almost-fully implemented with fewer and fewer schools actively considering a change in LMS. From this point onward, it is likely that each new sale will become increasingly harder to win.

There are, of course, solutions to each of the above challenges – and with every challenge comes new opportunity. We will continue to provide future data and analysis in response to developments in this space.

The complete historical data set of all LMS market share data available since 2013 is available to purchase for further analysis. A current snapshot of just the spring 2020 data is also available

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.

For inquiries, please contact marketdata@clientstat.com