Folsom, CA (October 23, 2006) – Visionary Integration Professionals (VIP), a national information technology solution provider, announced today that it has acquired Virginia-based Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian), a provider of Knowledge Management and e-Learning Solutions.

“Our clients need solutions that enable performance management across the enterprise.  We see repeated demand from our clients for integrated solutions that bring analytics, data, and human capital management together.  This acquisition will bring VIP expanded capabilities that leverage what we already do well and allow us to offer our clients additional solution offerings that they tell us they need,” said Jonna Ward, Chief Executive Officer of VIP.

“With an eye toward cultural fit and what's good for our customers, staff, and VIP as an enterprise, Meridian was impressive from moment one,” said Ward. 

Founded in 1997, Meridian has realized industry leading growth and profitability in the highly competitive Knowledge and Learning Management System (LMS) space with revenues growing at a compound annual rate greater than 46% over the past 8 years.  Meridian KSI's flagship product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic product suite that integrates learning and content management, knowledge management, and competency modeling functionality tailored to manage the human capital of an enterprise.

“We were looking for a strong partner with deep expertise in business intelligence and analytics as well as world class enterprise integration experience,” said Paul Somerville, Meridian's Chief Executive Officer.

“We see a growing demand for business intelligence, data integration, and data warehousing to integrate disparate information well beyond that captured by the LMS or analytics capabilities of our competitors. This demand is driven by the desire to accomplish true performance management across the enterprise,” said Somerville, adding, “While we considered alliances as an alternative, we decided a long-term strategic partner with ‘skin in the game' was better for our customers.  VIP provides this capability, as well as strong expertise in system integration and quality assurance.” 

Jonna Ward, Chief Executive Officer of VIP, said: “VIP fully understands that the playing field of ‘information' is where organizations will win or lose competitive advantage in years to come.  We believe the combined force of our core competencies and Meridian's proven LMS platform will close the gap between the performance data an enterprise possesses and the data it uses to manage its human capital.”

“We believe this is the area that will differentiate the players in the LMS market and will position Meridian as the premier learning and performance management provider,” said Ward.

“The learning management space has seen a number of recent acquisitions and mergers, almost all of which have been focused on the software capabilities with little regard for the customer,” stated Somerville. “Unlike those transactions, our decision was focused on providing a higher level of service and broader offerings to meet the expanding learning and performance management needs of our customers.”

Meridian will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of VIP.  Paul Somerville will continue to manage Meridian within the VIP enterprise.  Although terms of the deal were not disclosed, the acquisition will bring VIP's staff base to over 500 professionals with 2007 projected results of nearly $100 Million.

About Meridian KSI

Headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. (Meridian) is a leading provider of enterprise learning and knowledge management products and services.  Meridian KSI's flagship product, the Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre™, is a dynamic LMS suite that integrates learning content management, knowledge management, and competency modeling functionality.  Meridian supports a number of large enterprise implementations including the U.S. Air Force, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, numerous enterprise-wide state governments, and other large organizations.  Meridian has successfully implemented the LMS for over 150 customer partners, several with over 100,000 registered users.  Meridian is recognized as a "visionary" provider in the Gartner LMS Magic Quadrant and was named a "2005 Cool Vendor" by Gartner for its Meridian Player: a SCORM 1.2 and 2004 certified desktop application delivering learning materials to offline or disconnected personnel. For more information, visit www.meridianksi.com or email at info@meridianksi.com.

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About VIP

Established in 1996, Visionary Integration Professionals (VIP) is a global technology and outsourcing firm that has provided solutions to over 900 clients in multiple industries as well as federal, state and local government. VIP helps companies challenge boundaries and uncover new possibilities to increase productivity, maximize revenue, improve performance, mitigate risk, and reduce costs. With nearly 1,000 staff companywide, VIP offers expertise in areas of Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing, SAP Integration and Consulting, Technology Integration and Operations, Talent and Learning Management, Quality Management, and Management Consulting. VIP’s corporate headquarters is located in Folsom, California with offices in Sacramento, Minneapolis, Dallas, Denver, New York City, Alexandria, Houston, and Bangalore, India. More information can be found at www.vipconsulting.com.