The current Blackboard Collaborate contract ends 31/07/17. This project is to review the current product and the market, with the potential for a re-procurement. This will be necessary to ensure that the service provided is up-to-date and meeting user requirements whilst offering the university value for money.

The critical question that this project will seek to answer is whether we need to renew our Collaborate license versus using Skype for Business, which we now have on campus through our Office 365 subscription, or another solution. There are significant functional differences between products and their integrations with various learning environments which need to be considered.

Its is anticipated that effort required from Apps will be light touch project management to steer the production of a business case, plus potentially some assistance looking more deeply into Skype for Business.