UPDATE (in cont. to my previous post “OpenClass is license and hosting free. What about reporting and integration?”):
Sannier posted this on his blog in answering to Joshua Kim’s 4 thoughts on OpenClass transparency (which in turn reflects on M. Feldstein’s post on Why OpenClass is a big deal). Socialnetworking makes the degrees of connection between my bother-in-law’s second cousin’s sister-in-law’s grandmother’s parrot and I look so simple.
I must say, in my opinion, Joshua Kim & Michael Feldstein do a wonderful job in asking the right questions, and getting answers to many of them. Thank you both! I’m looking forward to the coming discussions.
Sannier, in his post Josh Kim’s 4 Injuctions writes:
As Pearson better understands the integration and support models that the community will be receptive to, we will publish how we plan to provide those services commercially. Pearson will offer helpdesk, integration and other commercial services to help meet the needs of institutions that would choose Pearson to provide those services. Remember though that Pearson is committed to provide to OpenClass institution at no cost in a self-service way.
Some folks asked me: what do you mean OpenClass isn’t free? Well, it is and it isn’t. It depends. I really like this line by Feldstein on “How Much Does Free Cost?”:
“What is so valuable to Pearson that they are trying so hard to give away something that normally costs real money?” I asked Adrian something along these lines, and his first answer was that it accelerates the adoption of digital products.”
And I’d like to invite the reader to look into the business model of current LMS: assume Blackboard, Desire2Learn the two major paid LMS today. The payment goes for: licensing, hosting (if hosted outside), and support. This support includes integration with ERP systems and other third-party tools, as well as user and system reporting, If Pearson isn’t making profit on licensing and hosting but rather on services – and by charging for quintessential services like these that’s when the added value becomes more apparent. We realize institutions can’t live without them because it’s all about the data and content. It’s the middleman’s profit.
