Compare Meridian
What Meridian is, and what it is not.
Five kinds of product sit near Meridian. Each is good at its job, and many teams keep them. The tables name real products so the comparison is honest. Everything stated about another product is from its public documentation at the time of writing.
Statements about other products are from their public documentation, checked in October 2026.
Example data from a lab estate.
At a glance
Compared with what you may already run.
Four kinds of product next to Meridian, one question per row. The sections below take one kind at a time, and add ticket tools' own automation.
| What | Data pipelines and log platforms IBM Z Common Data Provider (in Z Observability Connect), Splunk, Elastic | Console and system automation Broadcom OPS/MVS, IBM Z System Automation, BMC AMI Ops Automation | Scheduler SLA tools CA 7 with iDash, Control-M SLA Management, IBM Z Workload Scheduler | Mainframe AIOps IBM Concert for Z, BMC AMI Ops Insight, Broadcom WatchTower, Dynatrace | Meridian |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collects console and SMF | Yes, most of it, to a store you choose | Console and subsystem messages; no SMF | Job events only, for their own tracking | Metrics, and logs in some | Yes, what operations needs |
| Understands jobs, abends, WTORs, batches | Partly; some ready-made dashboards | Partly, by rules you write | Their own jobs, abends and flows; not WTORs | Finds anomalies | Yes, built in |
| Acts on the mainframe | No | Yes, by rules | Mostly on their own jobs; some issue MVS commands or WLM changes | Some, by typed command; automation through another product | Yes, by cards and earned autonomy |
| Predicts SLA breaches in words | No | No | Status labels (on time, at risk, late), from history | No | Yes, from the chain, your history and live subsystem status |
| Answers “can it still make it after the restart” | No | No | Partly | No | Yes, on the restart card |
| Reads tickets, acts, writes back | No; they can open a ticket from an alert | No; they can open a ticket, not act on one | No; some open a ticket when a job fails or runs late | Some open tickets; no loop unless you build one | Yes |
| One screen for console, scheduler and tickets | No | Partly, through IBM's chat tool | Partly, through IBM's chat tool | Console and tickets in some; no scheduler | Yes |
| Learns from what operators do | No | No | No | Models learn from system data, not from operators | Yes, per situation |
| Footprint on the LPAR | Collectors and a streamer, often Java | Agents | The scheduler's own tasks; iDash adds a task and a separate server | Agents | Light |
| Priced by | Data volume, compute or MSU | MSU or MIPS | MSU; Control-M by jobs per day or MIPS | MSU or capacity | Per LPAR |
Scroll sideways to see every column.
If you already run a data pipeline, Meridian can use the data it already collects. If you already run console automation, it keeps doing the deep recovery it is good at while the operator gets one screen. If you already run AIOps, it finds the needle (some also let you type a command), and Meridian is the hand that picks it up.
1 of 5
Data pipelines and log platforms
Products compared
IBM Z Common Data Provider (in IBM Z Observability Connect, the successor to IBM Z Operational Log and Data Analytics), Splunk with third-party z/OS add-ons, Elastic.
| What | They do | Meridian does |
|---|---|---|
| Collect SMF and SYSLOG | Yes, most record types, through a z/OS forwarder, to a store you choose | Yes, the record types operations needs, kept inside your network |
| Understand jobs, abends, WTORs, batches | Partly: some ready-made job and subsystem dashboards; WTORs and batches you build yourself | Yes, built in |
| Act on the mainframe | No | Yes, by cards and earned autonomy |
| Predict SLA breaches | Not for batch; some forecast the health of services you model | Yes |
| Tickets | Open or update a ticket from an alert; no mainframe action | Reads, derives the action, writes back |
| Footprint on the LPAR | Collector tasks and a streamer, often in Java | Light |
| Priced by | Data volume or compute; IBM's by MSU | Per LPAR |
Scroll sideways to see every column.
In one line.
Keep your pipeline if you have one; Meridian can use the data it already collects. It does not replace Meridian, because it stops at search, charts and alerts. Here is how Meridian is set up next to it.
2 of 5
Console and system automation
Products compared
Broadcom OPS/MVS, IBM Z System Automation (formerly IBM System Automation for z/OS), BMC AMI Ops Automation for z/OS.
| What | They do | Meridian does |
|---|---|---|
| React to console messages by rules | Yes, deeply, with rules and policies you set up and maintain | Yes, with flows drawn as flowcharts, and cards for anything that changes state |
| Start, stop and recover subsystems | Yes, their core strength | Through flows and cards; the deep recovery stays with them if you run them |
| One screen for console, scheduler and tickets | Partly: IBM's bundled chat tool reaches the console, IBM's scheduler and ServiceNow | Yes |
| Learn from what operators do | No | Yes; earned autonomy per situation |
| Predict SLA breaches | No | Yes |
| Evidence per action, exportable to a ticket | Logs, plus tickets or events a rule opens | Yes, by design |
| Priced by | MSU or MIPS | Per LPAR |
Scroll sideways to see every column.
In one line.
If you run one of these, Meridian sits above it: the operator gets one screen, and the automation product keeps doing the deep recovery it is good at. The product tour shows that screen.
3 of 5
Scheduler SLA and critical path tools
Products compared
Broadcom CA 7 with iDash (the replacement for CA 7's critical path monitoring) or Automation Analytics & Intelligence, BMC Control-M with SLA Management (formerly Batch Impact Manager), IBM Z Workload Scheduler with Workload Service Assurance.
| What | They do | Meridian does |
|---|---|---|
| Predict a batch's end from history | Yes, from run history: in the scheduler, or for CA 7 in iDash on its own server | Yes, from the scheduler's chain and your history |
| Take live subsystem status into the prediction | No; IBM's only through resources you define and keep current | Yes; a batch waiting on a region that is down is predicted as such |
| Say it in words an operator and a manager both understand | Status labels such as on time, at risk or late, with times | On time. Tight. Slightly delayed. Breach incoming. With the job that decides it |
| Answer “can it still make it after the restart” | Partly | Yes, on the restart card itself |
| Carry the breach procedure as steps | As automatic actions (rerun, notify, open a ticket), not as steps a person works through | Yes |
| Work across schedulers and clients | Usually one scheduler; Broadcom's Automation Analytics & Intelligence spans several | Many clients; CA 7 today, more on the roadmap |
Scroll sideways to see every column.
In one line.
Their prediction lives in the scheduler or its analytics add-on. Meridian's lives where the operator and the manager look, and speaks their words. See what Meridian does.
4 of 5
Mainframe AIOps
Products compared
IBM Concert for Z (successor to IBM Z Anomaly Analytics), IBM OMEGAMON AI Insights, BMC AMI Ops Insight, Broadcom WatchTower Platform with ML Insights (successor to Mainframe Operational Intelligence), Dynatrace for z/OS.
| What | They do | Meridian does |
|---|---|---|
| Find anomalies in metrics and logs with models | Yes, their core strength; some use metrics only | No; Meridian works from facts it can name |
| Explain what to do about it | Yes, as a suggestion | Yes, as a card with the action and the evidence |
| Act | Some have a command console; automation comes from another product | Yes |
| Run tickets and batches | Some open tickets; none runs batches | Yes |
| Priced by | MSU or capacity | Per LPAR |
Scroll sideways to see every column.
In one line.
They find the needle, and some let you type a command. Meridian is the hand that picks it up. Both can live on the same estate.
5 of 5
Ticket tools' own automation
Products compared
ServiceNow ITOM and Workflow Studio (formerly Flow Designer), BMC Helix.
| What | They do | Meridian does |
|---|---|---|
| Route and automate tickets | Yes | Reads the ticket, derives the mainframe action, acts after a click, writes the result back |
| Know the mainframe | Only as CMDB records and events from add-ons; no console, no scheduler, no SMF | Yes |
Scroll sideways to see every column.
In one line.
Your ticket tool stays the system of record. Meridian is the mainframe hands it does not have. Pricing is per LPAR, with a free 90-day proof of concept on one LPAR.
Questions
Questions about the comparison.
Short answers; the tables above have the detail, and every statement about another product comes from its public documentation. Or write to hello@hexab.in.
More on Meridian: for enterprises, for service providers, batch monitoring, industries and security.
Does Meridian replace the tools we already run?
Usually not. Many teams keep them. Meridian can use the data a pipeline already collects. Console automation keeps doing the deep recovery it is good at while the operator gets one screen. AIOps finds the needle and Meridian is the hand that picks it up. Your ticket tool stays the system of record.
How is Meridian different from a data pipeline or log platform?
A pipeline collects console and SMF to a store you choose and stops at search, charts and alerts. Meridian collects the record types operations needs and keeps them inside your network, understands jobs, abends, WTORs and batches out of the box, acts on the mainframe through cards, and predicts batch SLAs.
How is Meridian different from console automation such as OPS/MVS or IBM Z System Automation?
They react to console messages by rules you set up and maintain, and start, stop and recover subsystems; that is their strength, and they keep doing it. Meridian sits above them with one screen for console, scheduler and tickets, flows drawn as flowcharts, a card for anything that changes state, evidence per action, and SLA prediction, which they do not do.
How is Meridian's SLA prediction different from the scheduler's own?
Scheduler tools predict a batch's end from run history, in the scheduler or its analytics add-on, with labels such as on time, at risk or late. Meridian also takes live subsystem status into the prediction, says it in four plain phrases with the job that decides it, answers on the restart card whether the batch can still make it, and works across many clients.
Is Meridian an AIOps product?
No. AIOps products find anomalies in metrics and logs with models. Meridian works from facts it can name: messages, jobs, abends, WTORs, subsystem status and scheduler state. It explains what to do as a card with the action and the evidence, acts after a click, and runs tickets and batches. Both can live on the same estate.
Can our ticket tool's own automation do this?
ServiceNow and BMC Helix route and automate tickets well, but they know the mainframe only as CMDB records and events from add-ons: no console, no scheduler, no SMF. Meridian reads the ticket, derives the mainframe action, acts after a click and writes the result back. The ticket tool stays the system of record.
See it on your own estate.
A ninety-day proof of concept on one LPAR, free, with our engineers on the call. After ninety days you decide on your own results.