Blackboard’s IT team had a pressing need to connect Salesforce and Jira to synchronize customer and support data globally, as well as reduce complexity and increase transparency. Hear how MuleSoft has helped Blackboard to think more strategically about their integration and API strategy and be more prepared to transform their business. Also learn best practices from some of their initial projects, including connecting Salesforce to ServiceNow.

1. Blackboard
and
MuleSoft
Moving
from
an
Analog
to
Digital
Business
by
Leveraging
Transforma8ve
Orchestra8on

2. Forward-­‐looking
statement
Statements
regarding
our
product
development
ini8a8ves,
including
new
products
and
future
product
upgrades,
updates
or
enhancements
represent
our
current
inten8ons,
but
may
be
modified,
delayed
or
abandoned
without
prior
no8ce
and
there
is
no
assurance
that
such
offering,
upgrades,
updates
or
func8onality
will
become
available
unless
and
un8l
they
have
been
made
generally
available
to
our
customers.

3. From
There
to
Here
to
There
• Introduc8ons
• From
Search
to
Contracts
• Expansion

4. Blackboard
Introductions
• Company
goal:
– Make
learning
more
desirable,
accessible,
and
meaningful
for
learners,
partnering
with
teachers,
administrators,
and
leaders
to
improve
outcomes
• 19,000+
clients
in
100
countries,
including
1,900
interna8onal
ins8tu8ons
– 80%
of
the
Top
50
academic
ins8tu8ons
worldwide
work
with
Blackboard
• (Source:
2014
Times
Higher
EducaBon
ReputaBon
Ranking)
– 1
in
3
U.S.
school
districts
– 70%
of
the
largest
100
districts
– Over
20
million
K-­‐12
students
– 92%
of
the
top
online
bachelor
degree
programs
• Products
span
learning,
collabora8on,
transac8ons,
mobile
and
more
• www.blackboard.com

5. Blackboard
Team
• Heather
Maniscalco,
Sr
Integra8on
Engineer
– Linkedin/in/heathermaniscalco,
heather.maniscalco@blackboard.com
– PeopleSo],
Blackboard,
JIRA,
Confluence,
Oracle
DBA
/
Architect
/
Systems
Integrator
at
Syracuse
and
Cornell
Universi8es
– Tier
3
So]ware
Engineer,
Business
&
Systems
Analyst,
Integra8on
Engineer
at
Blackboard
• Robert
Sanders
–
Principle
So]ware
Engineer
– Responsible
for
coding
/
developing
many
of
our
development
and
opera8ons
tools,
including
JIRA
and
MuleSo]
• Jason
Niesz
–
Sr
Systems
Architect
at
Blackboard
– Responsible
for
crea8ng
and
implemen8ng
our
hosted
plaeorm
architectures/systems,
including
OpenStack

6. From
Search
to
Contracts
• First
Use
Case:
Salesforce
<>
JIRA
– Knowledge
Base
– Bugs
and
Patches
– Client
Communica8on
and
Case
Resolu8on
Accuracy
– Point
to
Point,
Patchwork
Integra8on

7. From
Search
to
Contracts
• Integra8on
Solu8on
– Leverage
assets
in
product
development,
provisioning
and
infrastructure,
and
client
support
to
enable
internal
resources
to
maintain
compe88ve
edge
in
product
quality,
product
delivery,
and
client
support
– Ensure
data
in
systems
of
record
is
used
efficiently
and
effec8vely
while
providing
a
great
development,
support,
and
customer
experience
– Move
from
short
term,
stop-­‐gap
mechanisms
to
future
state
– Deliver
on
our
promise
of
world
class
hos8ng
with
our
Learn
in
the
Cloud
ini8a8ve,
and
provide
customers
with
the
best
support
and
user
experience

8. From
Search
to
Contracts
• MuleSo]
– Open
standards
– Flexible
– Extensible
– SOA,
SaaS,
and
API
solu8ons
in
one
Plaeorm
– Customer
Service
– Asynchronous
Capability
– Hos8ng
Op8on
– Knowledgeable
and
Pa8ent
Account
Execu8ve
– Unbelievably
knowledgeable
solu8ons
engineers
(SEs)

9. From
Search
to
Contracts
Change
• Internal
compe88on
• Paradigm
shi]
–
manual
to
automa8on,
reac8ve
vs
proac8ve
Momentum
• Internal
Sale
• Demos,
Presenta8ons,
Conversa8ons
Decisions
• Term
and
subscrip8on
8er
• IT
evalua8ng
MuleSo]
Finalized!

10. Expansion
• Service
Now
–
provisioning
and
maintenance
/
CMDB
• JIRA
–
Product
Development
• Salesforce
–
CRM
• AWS
–
LiC
hos8ng
• OpenStack
• Flexgen
–
our
tradi8onal,
custom
hos8ng
plaeorm
• IT
-­‐
PeopleSo]
• IT
-­‐
Fusion
• Blackboard
Products