[chesspro]

Also we have to keep in mind sometimes incompetent IT people are in charge. We had a grad who came back and designed a software for the entire school (potentially district) to use.

Although it's in place, it's been severely restricted due to irrational concerns over security and other illogical arguments. In order for the buying to even occur (keep in mind this was free for the school), there must be knowledgeable IT people in charge.

This is a much smaller scale here since it was for a high school instead of a college, but you'd be surprised at how incompetent people can be.

Right now in the IT people I work under at the university are smart, but lightyears behind when it comes to good user interfaces and the latest technologies.

[sskates]

This seems to be why people don't go into educational software. Educational software doesn't win because it's the best, it wins because a bureaucrat mandates it for use.

[bphogan]

I am in education during the day and we write software for our campus using cutting edge tools and technology, but only for "non administrative" things.

It was decided well above my pay grade that grade checking, admissions, financial aid, registration, and online courses would use Oracle, PeopleSoft and Desire2Learn.

Your assessment is 100% accurate.