Meridian KSI – Meridian Global

The following are highlights from the Meridian Global profile in the Association Learning Management Systems report.

A representative of Meridian KSI described the company’s approach to learning management as “short, sweet, and to the point,” and it is hard to argue with that assessment. While the Meridian Global system does offer some social options and other extras, it seems focused first and foremost on excelling at core LMS activities like delivering learning content and managing learner data.

Meridian claims to have been the first company to bring a fully Web-enabled LMS to market (in 1998), and it has certainly embraced the shift to Web 2.0: There are more than 1,700 published Web services for Meridian Global, and the company creates new ones every time a feature or function is added to the system. A few customers, according to the company, have even abandoned the Meridian Global interface entirely and consume all of the LMS functionality via Web services.

• Meridian is one of the handful of companies included in this report that allows client-hosted installations of its LMS. The base code for the application is locked down in its own directory, and all customizations are developed separate from the base code. This approach makes system upgrades significantly easier.
• Meridian Global features a fully-integrated talent management capability that allows for aligning specific courses or learning paths with competencies.
• The system enables the creation of multiple, distinctly branded interfaces to support chapters, corporate members, or other distinct e-learning customer groups.
• Meridian describes itself as authoring tool agnostic—the system can import any SCORM or AICC conformant content—but it does have a formal arrangement with Outstart to provide integrated access to that company’s learning content management system. (Additional costs apply.)
• Meridian Global has very good capabilities for creating assessments that may be published in conjunction with or independently of courses.
• The system supports assigning multiple credit types to a single course and also enables administrators to define “approval paths” and assign them on a course-by-course basis.
• End users are able to personalize their learning environment in a number of ways, including selecting what appears on their home page, rearranging items, selecting from available skins, and changing languages.

Meridian emphasizes customer service as one of its strongest selling points and claims not to have lost a single customer in 2008 or 2009. While we have not experienced its customer service first hand, we can say that its three-year pricing levels, particularly at high user volumes, were among the lowest reported by any company participating in this study. For a pure LMS without built-in course authoring capabilities, it provides very solid value for the money.

To purchase the full Meridian KSI profile, which features more than 40 pages of detailed information about Meridian Global, click the button below. Or, see other individual LMS profiles we offer and find out more about the full Association Learning Management Systems report.

Each LMS profile covers the following areas in detail:

• General Company Information
• General LMS Information
• LMS Implementation
• Pricing
• Technology
• System Requirements
• Integration and Interoperability
• Standards and Guidelines
• Hosting
• Personalization
• Interface Configuration
• Internationalization and Localization
• Search and Catalogs
• Authoring, Managing, and Displaying Learning Content
• In-person, Place-based Courses
• Webinars
• Registration
• Enrollment
• Managing Continuing Education and Certification
• Assessments
• Evaluations
• Reporting
• Support for Multiple Sites
• Collaboration and Communication Tools
• E-commerce
• Support and Training
• Custom Programming and Content Development

If you have any questions about the contents of this page or about learning management systems in general, please do not hesitate to contact us.