Every year, I attend a lot of conferences: association conferences, vendor conferences, startup events, and events focused on specific technologies or communities. While most of them have a fairly clear mandate, EDUCAUSE tries to be all of them at once and, somehow, manages to pull it off.
Last week in Denver, my schedule was packed with over 25 meetings. I sat down with solution vendors, consultants, university leaders, association executives, and old friends whom I don’t see enough. That, ultimately, is what keeps me coming back to EDUCAUSE. Where else can you spend your morning dissecting SIS migration strategies with a university CIO, grab lunch with a tech company CEO, explore the latest market trends with a consultant in the afternoon, and then run into someone you haven’t seen since the pre-pandemic days while waiting in line for your caffeine boost. EDUCAUSE remains one of the very few places where the entire HigherEd EdTech people converge under one roof.
Conversations with ListEdTech Clients
A major part of our work at ListEdTech involves tracking market movements in EdTech. While all of our implementation dataset is backed by a public source, conversations in the EDUCAUSE Commons allowed us to get invaluable context on what is actually happening, before it’s announced in press releases or on a vendor website.
- Jenzabar: Interesting conversations about the possible Tribal Group acquisition and what might be happening in this evolving story. Jenzabar has submitted a counter offer.
- Blackboard: Good updates on their Ultra migration numbers (roughly 95% of their clients have transitioned) and some talks on their current AI initiative being tested in real-world environments.
- Instructure: Interesting conversations about the market and what they’re seeing from institutions during a great evening event.
- Moran Technology Consulting: Caught up with Charlie about his transition from CEO to Chair of the Board, with Scott Weyandt becoming CEO in January.
- D2L: The conversation centred around market share dynamics and their continued expansion into specialized regional markets.
- Workday: EDUCAUSE was the opportunity to touch base with newer members of their HigherEd team and hear more about their strategic priorities.
- Ellucian: We discussed the ongoing, large-scale migration of clients to the cloud and what those operational shifts mean for campus IT resources.
- Pathify: I always appreciate seeing how portal solutions are maturing; their Campus Experience Platform shows that the portal category is alive and promising.
- 1EdTech: We are exploring a new collaborative project which could combine some of our datasets. I’m intrigued in where that could go.
- AWS and Microsoft: Good talks around cloud infrastructure trends, HigherEd deployment strategies and ongoing developments in Identity and Access Management (for Microsoft).
- CourseDog, CourseLeaf, and others were also great opportunities to catch up and learn more about what they’re working on.
We usually spend a lot of time looking at market trends from the institution’s perspective, but talking directly with the companies building these products gives us another perspective on what is happening in HigherEd technology.
Beyond the Booths
Not all of the best conversations happened with our current clients. I also had some great conversations with organizations we don’t work with yet, as well as others where we’re just beginning to explore what we might do together.
- Oracle: Catching up on the ongoing development cycles of their next-generation SIS.
- Accenture and Huron: Interesting conversations on how consultants are leveraging implementation data and how our market intelligence could support their advisory work in the future.
- Internet2: A great exchange regarding community-driven initiatives and collaborative projects across their community.
I also crossed paths with 27zero, AppsAnywhere/LabStats, Copyleaks, Salesforce, and a number of other companies and associations.
And, naturally, there were some informal chats that have nothing to do with software or databases at all. I always make time to catch up with Raymond Blackwood from QuickLaunch; he has this knack for breaking down new concepts in a way that completely shifts how someone thinks about where technology is going. I also heard through the grapevine that two friends are switching jobs, which is always a little bittersweet.
Between meetings, I always chase the best coffee in town. My discovery this time: Little Owl Coffee, which has a few locations scattered across downtown Denver.
A conference would not be a conference without the swag. Two unusual swag this year: the Info-Tech Rubik’s Cube and the Accenture cookie. Imagine having your face printed on a cookie.
But after long days of conference, what I remember most isn’t the booths or the sessions; it’s the people. EDUCAUSE is one of the few places where so much of the HigherEd technology ecosystem comes together in one place.
I came home with a lot of new ideas, a few potential projects, several things I need to follow up on, and a much better understanding of what the industry is chatting about right now. That’s what makes EDUCAUSE different for me.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to meet with me. It was great seeing so many familiar faces and meeting so many new ones. Already looking forward to next year.