1 Blackboard ASP Services: Focus on Your Priorities.

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Blackboard ASP Services: Focus on Your Priorities

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Agenda

Requirements of the Networked Learning Environment

Five Reasons to Choose Blackboard ASP Services– Reliability– Security– Scalability– Fully Managed Service– Cost Control

Summary

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The Networked Learning Environment

A true networked learning environment exists when any student or teacher can:

– view instructional content

– collaborate with educators

– evaluate academic performance

– access any learning resources at any time

to achieve their educational objectives.

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MISSION CRITICAL

EXPLORATORY

TIME

SUPPORTED STRATEGIC TRANSFORMATIVE:THE NETWORKED

LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Phase I Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5

INS

TIT

UT

ION

AL

GR

OW

TH

The Blackboard Applications for aNetworked Learning Environment

Bb Learning System Bb Learning Sys

Bb Community Sys

Bb Learning Sys

Bb Community Sys

Bb Content Sys

Bb Learning Sys

Bb Community Sys

Bb Content Sys

BlackboardAcademic Suite

Bb Learning Sys – Basic Edition

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The Architecture of the Blackboard Academic Suite

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MISSION CRITICAL

EXPLORATORY

TIME

SUPPORTED STRATEGIC TRANSFORMATIVE:THE NETWORKED

LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Phase I Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5

INS

TIT

UT

ION

AL

GR

OW

TH

Production Environment

Evaluation Environment

Production Environment

(Load Balanced)

Development Environment

Production Environment

Staging Environment

Advanced Backup/Restore

Production Environment

Development Environment

Staging Environment

High Performance /

High Availability

Complex Hosting Manager

Business Continuity

Development Environment

The Challenge: Managing Blackboard Infrastructure with Limited Resources

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Why Consider ASP Services?

MISSION CRITICAL

EXPLORATORY

TIME

SUPPORTED STRATEGIC TRANSFORMATIVE:THE NETWORKED

LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Phase I Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5

INS

TIT

UT

ION

AL

GR

OW

TH • Blackboard Applications are no longer “optional”

• 24/7/365 Availability & Support is Mandatory

• Allows Institutions to Focus on Teaching and Learning

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5 Key Reasons to Choose Blackboard ASP Services

CostControl

SecurityReliability

ScalabilityFully

ManagedService

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Reliability: Build Redundancy & Stability

ASP Infrastructure located in Tier-1 Datacenters at the heart of the Internet (MAEast in Virginia)

Multiple ISP connections to three Tier-1 ISPs for redundant access to Internet & aggregate 2.4 Gbps capacity

Multiple, Redundant Routers, Firewalls, Load Balancers, Switches & Servers

4 levels of power backups for 100% power availability

Climate control for optimal network environment

CostControl

SecurityReliability

ScalabilityFully

ManagedService

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Reliability - Network Design

Private Zone Public Zone

Blackboard ASP VA1 Facility

Private Zone Public Zone

Blackboard ASP VA2 Facility

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Security: Protect Network and Backup Data

Physical Security: Tier-1 datacenter security including:– limited access to authorized personnel– identification badges– security cameras– 24x7 on-site security

Network Security: Including – Firewall & Intrusion Detection System – Full-time Security Engineer – Third Party Audit

Data Security: Multiple levels of database and file backup

CostControl

SecurityReliability

ScalabilityFully

ManagedService

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Security: Data Backups

1st level backup:using snapshot technology, file systems & database backed up nightly

2nd level backup:using NetApp filers, 1st level backups are stored online 30 days

3rd level backup:weekly backups are stored in tape, off-site for 30 days

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Scalability: Build an Environment to Support Growth

Bandwidth and Storage is Never Capped Additional Bandwidth on Demand

– Available in 1 Mbps increments Additional Storage on Demand

– 10 GB unit increments for Learning System– 1 TB unit increments for Content System

Additional Servers Added as Needs Grow Additional Active Users Support

– Includes incremental bandwidth, storage and hardware Software Updates/Upgrades Made Easy

CostControl

SecurityReliability

ScalabilityFully

ManagedService

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Scalability: Supporting Growth

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Scalability: Add Additional Services as Needed

Staging Environment– Designed for new release/updates simulation in

production environment before migration to production– Production Environment with full SLA guarantee & backup– 20 GB Storage space– 24 x 7 monitoring & management– No root access allowed

Test & Development Environment– Designed for “test & development”– Full root access given to clients– Not in production environment– 9 GB storage space– No backup guarantee

SSL & VPN Services Also Available

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Scalability: Complex Hosting Service for High Availability Environments

Developed for clients requiring high availability and performance oriented solutions: Oracle RAC & Mirrored Dedicated Arrays

Three Components:– High Availability Infrastructure Design and Deployment– Dedicated Complex Hosting Engineer/Manager– Business Continuity Service

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Scalability: Business Continuity Service Levels

Recovery Time Objective (RTO)

Recovery Point Objective (RPO)

Customization & Configuration

Locally hosted client:

Weekly backup service 24 hours Last backup less than 8 days

Fully backed up(if possible)

Monthly backup service 72 hours Last backup less than 32 days

Rebuild

Incident-based service 120 hours Latest backup received

N/A

Blackboard ASP hosted client:

Level 3 Service 6 hours Last backup less than 3 hours

Fully backed up

Level 2 Service 24 hours Last backup less than 12 hours

Fully backed up

Level 1 Service 72 hours Last backup less than 24 hours

Rebuild

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Fully Managed Service: 24x7 Operations and Support

One Stop Client Support from experts who design and host the software

Services backed up by 99.7% Availability Guarantee – credit issued for violations

24 x 7 ASP Support– Dedicated Application Support Manager– Single Point of Contact for Blackboard Software and

Hosting – Two Designated Client System Administrators– Phone, Web and Email based Ticketing System– Escalation and Response Time based on Severity– All Upgrade and Patch Applications Provisioned by

Experienced ProfessionalsCost

Control

SecurityReliability

ScalabilityFully

ManagedService

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Fully Managed Service: Backed by Team of Experts

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Fully Managed Service: Infrastructure Monitoring and Management

Key Performance Metrics polled every 5 minutes

– cpu = 5-minute load average– disk = % free on local mount

points– nfs = % free on NFS mount

points– msgs = scanning syslog for key

words– memory = real, virtual and

swap– procs = scanning ‘ps’ output– Obak = Oracle backup status– ofiles = Oracle data/index file

sizes– files = other file/directory sizes– svcs = Windows Services

checking– Application Check for

Response Time

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Fully Managed Service: Bandwidth Utilization Report

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Fully Managed Service: Performance Management

Disguised group of ASP Clients from each market segment

Benchmarking allows BB ASP to proactively determine hardware configurations and application tuning parameters

# Servers vs. Total Users

y = 1E-05x + 1.9716

R2 = 0.5176

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

0 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000

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Cost Control: Lower Costs than Self-Hosted

By hosting their Blackboard systems through Blackboard ASP Services, institutions gain realize significant savings when compare to hosting the systems on campus.

Baseline 3 year savings depend on the type of implementation:– Blackboard Learning System – Basic Edition: $132,600– Blackboard Learning System: $390,600– Blackboard Academic Suite: $439,200

CostControl

SecurityReliability

ScalabilityFully

ManagedService

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Cost Control: Lower Costs than Self-Hosted

One-Time Implementation Costs 48,600$ Service Setup Fee 0$ Server hardware 6,000$ Network hardware 12,000$ Backup hardware 6,000$ Database software license 6,000$ Monitoring system software 5,000$ Backup system software 5,000$ Implementation personnel $ Staff training 1,000$

Annual Management Costs* 58,000$ Annual Subscription Fee 30,000$ IT Management 30,000$ Application Administration -$ System Administration -$ Database Administration 25,000$ Hardware Administration -$ Bandwidth & Network 3,000$

TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP (3 YEAR PLAN)$158,600 + (3 x $126,000) = 215,000$ $20,000 + (3 x $42,000) = 90,000$

TOTAL SAVINGS BY CHOOSING BLACKBOARD ASP SOLUTION: 132,600$

Self-Hosted Blackboard ASP

Includes dedicated application & database servers, network infrastructure, backup infrastructure, monitoring software and systems, Tier-1 data center and professional implementation

Includes 24 x 7 customer support and management, dedicated Application Support Manager, team of database administrators & network engineers

3 Year Total Cost of Ownership Analysis: Blackboard Learning System – Basic Edition

*Assumes a Red Hat Linux/Oracle implementation on Dell Hardware*Assumes 25% of time of personnel is used for ongoing management

1,600

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Cost Control: Lower Costs than Self-Hosted

One-Time Implementation Costs 160,200$ Service Setup Fee 0$ 20,000 Server hardware 12,000$ Network hardware 47,000$ Backup hardware 12,000$ Database software license 12,000$ Monitoring system software 20,000$ Backup system software 50,000$ Implementation personnel 3,200$ Staff training 4,000$

Annual Management Costs* 126,000$ Annual Subscription Fee 42,000$ IT Management 30,000$ Application Administration 25,000$ System Administration $ 20,000 Database Administration 25,000$ Hardware Administration $ 20,000 Bandwidth & Network 6,000$

TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP (3 YEAR PLAN)$160,200 + (3 x $126,000) = 538,200$ $20,000 + (3 x $42,000) = 146,000$

TOTAL SAVINGS BY CHOOSING BLACKBOARD ASP SOLUTION: 390,600$

Self-Hosted Blackboard ASP

Includes dedicated application & database servers, network infrastructure, backup infrastructure, monitoring software and systems, Tier-1 data center and professional implementation

Includes 24 x 7 customer support and management, dedicated Application Support Manager, team of databse administrators & network engineers

3 Year Total Cost of Ownership Analysis: Blackboard Learning System

*Assumes a Red Hat Linux/Oracle implementation on Dell Hardware*Assumes 25% of time of personnel is used for ongoing management

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Cost Control: Lower Costs than Self-Hosted

One-Time Implementation Costs 180,200$ Service Setup Fee 0$ 35,000 Server hardware 18,000$ Network hardware 47,000$ Backup hardware 24,000$ Database software license 12,000$ Monitoring system software 20,000$ Backup system software 50,000$ Implementation personnel 3,200$ Staff training 6,000$

Annual Management Costs* 158,000$ Annual Subscription Fee 60,000$ IT Management 37,500$ Application Administration 31,250$ System Administration $ 25,000 Database Administration 31,250$ Hardware Administration $ 25,000 Bandwidth & Network 6,000$

TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP (3 YEAR PLAN)$180,200 + (3 x $158,000) = 654,200$ $35,000 + (3 x $60,000) = 215,000$

TOTAL SAVINGS BY CHOOSING BLACKBOARD ASP SOLUTION: 439,200$

*Assumes a Red Hat Linux/Oracle implementation on Dell Hardware*Assumes 25% of time of personnel is used for ongoing management

Self-Hosted Blackboard ASP

Includes dedicated application & database servers, network infrastructure, backup infrastructure, monitoring software and systems, Tier-1 data center and professional implementation

Includes 24 x 7 customer support and management, dedicated Application Support Manager, team of databse administrators & network engineers

3 Year Total Cost of Ownership Analysis: Blackboard Academic Suite

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Summary: Blackboard ASP Services Fast Facts

Over 300 Customers from All Market Sectors

Over 3 Million Users in our Systems – Over 2 Million Enrolled Users

500,000+ Courses

1000+ Servers

11 Terabytes of Storage Capacity & Growing

7 Terabytes of Data Transferred Daily

72,000,000 + HTTP Requests Served Per Day

99.7% or Better Uptime Guarantee

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Summary: Blackboard ASP Core Offerings

Blackboard Learning System - Basic Edition

Description

• Intel Xeon 3.1 GHz

Multiprocessor Application

Server

• 10 GB of Storage

• 256 Kbps of Bandwidth

• Up to 3,000 Users

• 99.7% Availability SLA

Blackboard Academic Suite

Description

• Intel Xeon 3.1 GHz Multiprocessor

Application Server

• Intel Xeon 3.1 GHz Multiprocessor

Database Server

• Oracle Standard Edition

• Advanced Reporting System

• 20 GB of Storage

• 512 Kbps of Bandwidth

• Up to 8,000 Users

• 99.7% Availability SLA

Blackboard Learning System

Description

• Intel Xeon 3.1 GHz Multiprocessor

Application Server

• Intel Xeon 3.1 GHz Multiprocessor

Database Server

• Oracle Standard Edition

• Advanced Reporting System

• 20 GB of Storage

• 512 Kbps of Bandwidth

• Up to 8,000 Users

• 99.7% Availability SLA

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Summary: Blackboard ASP Value Added Services

Staging Environment Hosting System hosted in production datacenter 99.7% Availability Daily Backups

Test and Development Hosting System hosted in non-production datacenter Client has root access to system No SLA

Virtual Private Network VPN configured and managed by Blackboard 128 Bit Encrypted communication between

Institution and the ASP hosted site

SSL SSL key provided Encrypted access to web pages

High Availability Hosting Oracle 9i RAC based Hosting Redundant Database Servers

Business Continuity Service Host locally or ASP but use Blackboard

ASP services for peace of mind Guaranteed Mean Time to Recover

Bb Commerce Suite Hosting (in Beta)

Hosting of Blackboard Commerce Suite

Complex Hosting Technical Management

Dedicated technical management and support for complex clients

ASP Insight (in Beta)

System and Application Reporting Providing clients full insight into

operations of their environment

On-Demand Storage/BW Additional Storage and BW service

units

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Summary: Blackboard ASP Services Supporting Key Global Blackboard Clients since 1999

•Pearson plc•Houghton Mifflin•Reed Elsevier•LexisNexis•Thomson Learning

•Mitsubishi Corporation•Marsh Inc•Manulife Financial•American Bankers Association•Mortgage Bankers Association

•National Defense University•Naval Postgraduate School•USDA Graduate School•Naval War College•FAO Chile

•Kaplan•Sylvan Learning •Voyager Expanded Learning•Trajal Hospitality •Education Testing Service

•Embry Riddle Aeronautical University•University of Miami•San Francisco State University•University de Neuva Leone•Pole Universitaire Leonard de Vinci

•Fairfax County Public School•Columbus Public Schools•Idaho Digital Learning Net•Second Baptist School•Escualas Daskalas

Publishers Higher Education Government

Corporate Commercial K-12