Matthew Lloyd, of Omniplex Ltd.

Blatant Media Corporation’s Absorb learning management system (LMS) platform – distributed in the UK and Continental Europe by Omniplex – has received a ‘Best in Class’ rating in Brandon Hall Group’s Smartchoice® Solution Provider Certification program. According to Omniplex, a provider of e-learning solutions, Blatant Media Corporation received its highest scores in the area of ‘cost of ownership’, based on ‘price to value’ and extremely high levels of customer satisfaction with the overall return on investment in the Absorb platform.

The Smartchoice® Program, which is based on Brandon Hall Group’s extensive analyst coverage of vendors and industry research findings, is a validation programme that recognises the best product and service providers offering solutions to learning, talent, sales and marketing functions. Its methodology involves a rigorous evaluation process focusing on four core areas: Client Support; Cost of Ownership; Functionality; and Capability. Companies, which receive a superior rating in all four-focus areas, receive the Smartchoice® Program certification.

“Absorb LMS has also been named in TrainingIndustry.com’s 2011 list of Top 20 Learning Portal Companies – for the second consecutive year – and was recently recognised as an ‘Industry Innovator’ in a McLean & Company LMS Landscapes report,” commented Matthew Lloyd, Omniplex’s managing director. “We’re delighted to yet again see Absorb LMS’s superior usability confirmed by Brandon Hall Group’s certification program.”

Comment: This is the seventh time that Blatant Media has earned the recognition of Brandon Hall and the first time that it has participated in the Smartchoice® program. It’s encouraging to see some consistency in the learning technology sector.

This sector – still in its early years – has been both blessed and cursed by the fact that anyone with an idea, a computer and some programming knowledge can produce a system, tool and/or learning content. While this encourages creativity and produces many fine and innovative products, buyers can be forgiven for being unsure over issues such as the continuity and sustainability of the businesses that are producing them. This, in turn, contributes to the very conditions that buyers fear: their suppliers going out of business, leaving them with unmaintainable and un-upgradable products.

The rise in popularity of open source systems and products is both a symptom and sign of this concern – but Brandon Hall Group’s identifying a ‘non open source’ LMS as a consistent market leader is also an indication of where learning technology buyers can also place their confidence.