The two powerhouses of learning management system software are merging, to the delight, and the disgust, of online teachers and administrators everywhere.

From eSchool News:

The top two providers of learning management system (LMS) software and services for higher education, Blackboard Inc. and WebCT Inc., have announced an agreement to merge. The merger would leave the combined entity with more than 80 percent of the LMS market share in higher education, which includes the software platforms that drive online learning. The impending deal has a price tag reported to be approximately $180 million.

Blackboard says the transaction will combine two academic eLearning organizations into a single company with the client base, resources, and expertise to meet the rapidly evolving needs of educators around the world. But the deal also has the potential to squeeze out other LMS providers and reduce competition, some observers fear.

Many teachers, feeling they have just tackled the intricacies of one or the other, are not looking forward to learning a new system.

Campus Technology offers some transition tips:

Use the merger news to heighten awareness of the growing nature of eLearning as critical institutional infrastructure. Attention is the scarcest resource in any social system. Use this interest to your maximum advantage--for about one month folks might listen.

De-couple, to the extent you are able, the pieces of course creation, access and delivery. Research content management systems that can be called from any course management system, place a campus level authentication system in front of the CMS authentication system. What a great opportunity to begin developing a solid single-sign-on approach to campus authentication--unplug one service, plug-in the next.