Why work with Blackboard?
No man is an island…we know you’ve heard that phrase before. In today’s competitive business environment, no business is an island. One company cannot be all things to all customers. That’s why being successful in business these days takes having a strong core competency and aligning with companies that have complimentary products and services. Working together requires a commitment to the relationship and a team spirit. That is just what you get when you enter a business relationship with Blackboard.

Working with Blackboard can help broaden your organization’s presence in the education market. Blackboard has a global reach exemplified through more than 3,700 client institutions –more than 1,200 are outside of the United States.

Together with our partners, resellers and developer program members Blackboard provides customers with industry-leading eLearning solutions and services. By establishing a relationship with Blackboard, you can extend your market reach and deliver market leading technology solutions to your educational clients.

Relationships with Blackboard – There are many benefits to having a relationship with Blackboard. There are three primary ways Blackboard works with other companies.

• Members are typically Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) who independently develop and market software solutions to extend the Blackboard applications.
  
  
• Partners strategically invest in and collaborate with us to deliver joint solutions to our clients.
  
  
• Channel Partners/Resellers are primarily focused on international sales and distribution of Blackboard software and services.

How do I become a Member?
Joining the Blackboard Developers Network (BbDN) grants you membership in the program. This membership is an annual subscription. Traditionally, members are commercial vendors or academic institutions that have integrated their software or services with Blackboard enterprise products including the Blackboard Academic Suite and the Blackboard Commerce Suite. Integrations developed by members are referred to as Building Blocks or PowerLinks.

What are the benefits of Membership?
Benefits of membership include a Developer Edition of the Blackboard Academic Suite software which allows for the development, test, and demonstration of the integration of your Building Block or PowerLink. Members of the Blackboard Developer Network are invited to participate in a variety of marketing and sales outreach opportunities including Blackboard’s annual users conferences, industry events, and other online and print outreach mechanisms.

Members can post information about their Building Blocks and PowerLinks on our online Catalog, the central source for clients looking for information about extensions to the Blackboard platforms.

As members demonstrate success in the Blackboard community they may be eligible for consideration for a Partnership with Blackboard.

Apply to join the Blackboard Developers Network here: https://www.blackboard.com/common/inc/ccprocessing/b2/enroll.asp

How do I become a Partner?
Blackboard Inc. has entered strategic alliances with a few companies selected for their core competencies and shared vision of expanding the Networked LearningEnvironment. Providing complementary products or services or incorporation of the partner’s products or services into our Blackboard’s core system architecture is a key to partnering with us.

Partnerships also require a significant financial commitment from both parties. Therefore, the relationships between Blackboard and our partners are orchestrated on a global scale, including multiple long-term business agreements, hardware and/or software grants, research and development collaboration, co-funding of market development programs, and events sponsorship. Some efforts commonly included in our partnerships agreements are cooperative marketing, integrated sales efforts, and channel reselling with special discounts extended to customers.

Partnering is by invitation only. To be considered for a partnership, we encourage you to complete a Blackboard partnership application. Click Here