There are a few problems with trying to take on the WebCT/Blackboard gestalt. As others have already mentioned, out-of-the-box integration with ERP systems is a

There are a few problems with trying to take on the WebCT/Blackboard gestalt. As others have already mentioned, out-of-the-box integration with ERP systems is a big selling point for the commercial solutions, even though it largely doesn't work. CIOs and other college administrators sometimes don't look beyond the sales pitch, though, so the inflated promises of the sales drones go a long way. Secondly, many organizations are understandably nervous with hosting core academic resources off-campus. That attitude may shift over the coming years as outsourcing of other systems such as student email becomes more common, but in the meantime, most IT staff in higher education still get squeamish about letting some 3rd party become solely responsible for managing such critical systems. That breaks the usual web startup model of being able to host the app, and forces you to do support for on-site installs.