Nicole Engelbert of Ovum says it better than I could’ve,

‘While sniping at Blackboard continues to be a popular sport and many are debating whether to move to an open-source LMS, the reality is that most institutions continue to use one of Blackboard’s LMS and are likely to do so for the foreseeable future. As SunGard Higher Education executes on its vision of an “open digital campus”, supporting the large percentage of its client base using Blackboard is crucial.’

And

‘However, a lingering question is whether these vendors will be able to cultivate this partnership in such a way that it accelerates the client service and technical innovation gains each has made, rather than inciting squabbles over who owns the land upon which the fence sits.’
I also learned from her article of other LMS/SIS events I wasn’t aware of:

• Oracle and Sakai (yeah, I knew that one…hello Michael Feldstein)
• Campus Management (they also own Talisma CRM) and Moodle
• Jenzabar’s relaunch of its e-Racer solution
• Datatel and Moodlerooms