In several recent posts I have argued about the importance of cloud-based platforms, and Michael Feldstein has written some insightful analysis on the subject. Quite often the terms Cloud and SaaS (software as a service) are misunderstood, or at least used differently as the terms get redefined, which is common in technology markets.
Last week I wrote a post that included a comment about Desire2Learn and their usage of cloud and SaaS terms.
The terms cloud and SaaS, as used in Desire2Learn’s and NEA’s descriptions, tend to blur the distinction between Desire2Learn’s enterprise software virtualization model and multi-tenant platform models. Desire2Learn has made great strides in developing a virtualized cloud servers for business model that is not multi-tenant (where all or most clients run on the same defined application instance on the same version). There are arguments that this issue only matters to the provider. I’ll write more on this subject in a subsequent post, but for now I’ll just point out that the cloud model used by Desire2Learn has significant differences with the model used by Instructure’s Canvas LMS, Pearson’s OpenClass, Lore’s platform, and the majority of new learning platforms coming out.
John Baker, CEO of Desire2Learn, did not agree with this statement as shared in the comments.
One key correction is that our Cloud or Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions are multi-tenant. Multi-tenancy has been part of our solution for over a decade. It may also be important to point out that approximately 90 percent of our clients use our SaaS offering. We’d be happy to share more infromation with you and others on how we have evolved over the years.