Blackboard Inc. is an educational technology company with corporate headquarters in Washington, D.C.. It is known for its Blackboard Learn learning management system. The company's CEO is Jay Bhatt, who has led Blackboard since October 2012. The firm provides education, mobile, communication, and commerce software and related services to clients including education providers, corporations and government organizations. The software consists of seven platforms called Learn, Transact, Engage, Connect, Mobile, Collaborate and Analytics that are offered as bundled software. The firm was founded by Michael Chasen, Matthew Pittinsky, Stephen Gilfus and Daniel Cane in 1997, and became a public company in 2004. It operated publicly until it was purchased by Providence Equity Partners in 2011. As of January 2014
Polycom, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that develops video, voice and content collaboration and communication technology. In 2014, it was the largest pure-play collaboration company in its industry. Polycom was co-founded in 1990 by Brian L Hinman and Jeffrey Rodman, who were colleagues at PictureTel Corp. Polycom's first products to market were audio conferencing speakerphones. Soon after, the company added content sharing, video conferencing, and video network and bridging products.
