Instructure’s Acquisition and What It Means for Higher Ed
On July 25, 2024, Instructure Holdings, Inc., the creators of the learning management system Canvas, announced it had entered into an agreement to be acquired by KKR, a global private equity firm, for an estimated $4.8 billion. With this acquisition, which is expected to close later this year, Instructure will become a privately owned company. […]
D2L Fusion 2024: A Powerhouse of Innovation and Collaboration in Learning
The 2024 D2L Fusion conference in Toronto, Canada, was abuzz with energy from a sold-out crowd of more than 3,000 educators, administrators, and industry leaders from over 16 countries. This year’s event focused on reimagining learning experiences through a powerful combination of innovation, accessibility, personalization, and a human-centric approach to AI. Strategic Moves Fuel D2L’s […]
Syntellis Acquired by Roper Technologies Post-Virtual Summit for Higher Education 2023
On August 8, 2023, Roper Technologies announced that it had acquired Syntellis Performance Solutions for a total value of $1.4 billion—less than two weeks after the largest gathering of participants ever for the 2023 Syntellis Virtual Summit for Higher Education. The acquisition raises multiple questions for the company’s higher education customers, and for those evaluating […]
Mergers and Acquisitions in Higher Education
The pace of mergers and acquisitions has rapidly accelerated in higher education in recent years as institutions adapt to a changing market. But what happens behind the scenes when two institutions decide to join forces? Northeastern University’s CIO, Cole Camplese knows firsthand from his experience building a unified technology operation for his institution’s recent partnership […]
Silent Cleanup: Managing Technical Debt in Higher Education Mergers and Acquisitions
With financial, political, demographic, and cultural pressures, higher education institutions are looking for new ways to operate and strengthen their standing (as recently highlighted in this survey.) Institutional leaders are increasingly pursuing mergers and acquisitions focused on aligning resources, simplifying operations, reducing duplication, and either direct or complementary alignment of academic offerings and student profiles. […]
Thesis Receives Solid Financial Backing with SilverTree Equity Acquisition
On February 2, 2023, Thesis announced that SilverTree Equity, a leading private equity firm focused on technology, completed the acquisition of the company from Advent International. Thesis is a provider of higher education student systems in North America and Europe. Advent International retained its ownership of the student business when it sold Unit4 (now focused […]
A Look Back at the Most Read Resources for Higher Education Leaders
As the summer draws to a close and institutions and their staff prepare for a new semester, Tambellini Group looks back at the research topics and resources that were the most interesting to IT leaders in higher education for the first half of the year. With modern cloud system selections on the rise in finance, […]
What Is Workday’s Technology Strategy in 2022?
Workday recently held an event for industry analysts, the Workday Summit. The event brought together many Workday senior executives (including Aneel Bhusri, Co-Founder, Co-CEO, and Chairman, Pete Schlampp, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO)) for a deep set of discussions about the Workday strategy. The topics ranged from the core business to the Workday platform, architecture, and […]
Jenzabar’s Acquisition of Spark451 Is An Expected Fit
On April 13, 2022, Jenzabar announced that it had acquired higher education marketing and technology firm Spark451. Established in 2011, Spark451 provides enrollment marketing support, creative design services, and data analytics exclusively for higher education. Spark451 works with over 70 institutions in the United States and maintains offices in New York, North Carolina, and Virginia. […]
Salesforce’s Traction on Demand Acquisition Is Unsurprising and Not Significant for Higher Education
On February 25, 2022, Traction on Demand announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by CRM market leader Salesforce. Traction on Demand is currently a Salesforce partner firm specializing in Salesforce consulting, application development, and implementation services. The statement indicated that the company would become part of Salesforce Professional Services with […]
