Disaster recovery isn’t a subject that many of us would like to think about. The likelihood of a catastrophic event—be it a tornado, hurricane, earthquake or even deliberate sabotage—is so low that many institutions simply forgo the effort to plan for one. It’s a mindset I can understand and appreciate. But as a leader of Blackboard Managed Hosting, it’s my job to plan for these kinds of things—and ensure that my clients have the business continuity they need should disaster strike.

Whether your institution is self-hosted or managed by a vendor, there are five worthwhile exercises that I think every institution should do to have peace of mind:

I’ve noticed that the term “outsourcing” has gained an unfavorable reputation.  Rather than being a neutral word that describes the act of leveraging outside help for an aspect of one’s business, it’s become synonymous with “something bad.”

Much has been written on the topic in general, so I’d like to focus specifically on what outsourcing really means to the field of education. (As an aside, there are two great blogs posted by About.com that contrast the two opposing views:  “Top 7 Outsourcing Advantages” and “Top 6 Outsourcing Disadvantages.”)

We’re excited to share that Blackboard Managed Hosting was given top honors as the “Support Team of the Year” at the 10^th Annual American Business Awards. The Awards took place June 19, at the Marriott Marquis Time Square in New York City where Blackboard was presented with the Gold Stevie® Award.  Nicknamed the Stevies for the Greek word meaning “crowned”, the American Business Awards are the nation’s premier business awards for organizations operating in the US. Blackboard was selected from more than 3,000 nominees from organizations of all sizes. To be selected as a winner, companies were judged by more than 270 executives nationwide. Jason Minkoff, Senior Director of Managed Hosting and Support was on-hand to accept the award.  “It was a fabulous time and I was thrilled to represent Blackboard and have our work acknowledged among the best in the country.”

Blackboard’s 2011 and 2012 customer satisfaction surveys reported unprecedented results from Blackboard Managed Hosting clients in overall satisfaction, willingness to recommend, and perceived value from our solutions.  “These scores are a testament to the 250 dedicated experts across four continents that support over 1,000 managed hosting clients,” said Minkoff.  “Because our team is skilled both in Blackboard applications and infrastructure design and management, we’re able to provide superior customer support and technical service to our clients.”