CompTIA Blog

CompTIA’s Telecom Advisory Council met for the first time today at the association’s Annual Member Meeting, happening this week at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers. The meeting saw the new council in the initial stages of defining its goals; CompTIA director of communities Kate Hunt said a key goal of the meeting was to find one issue the TAC wanted to start collaborating on.During the open discussion that followed, TAC vice chair Mike Saxby, principal at Allied Tech Solutions, said he se ...

CompTIA ChannelCon is the new name and identity of our premier annual event. The inaugural CompTIA ChannelCon is scheduled for July 29-31 at the Peabody Orlando Hotel in Orlando, FL. “Our premier event, known for many years as Breakaway, now has a name that truly reflects its scope,” said Kelly Ricker, senior vice president, events and education, CompTIA. “The quality of the meetings, partnership opportunities, hot topic sessions and channel-neutral training make ChannelCo ...

Mike Dellacava Sr. Systems Engineer, Reflexion Networks Mike Dellacava didn't choose IT as a career. "It chose me," he believes. "I was formed along the way, as I learned to do what needed to be done. But I've been happy doing the work." Dellacava's father, a systems enterprise administrator and project manager, introduced him to computers, starting with an old 386, an early desktop PC. "I've been taking apart computers, building, breaking and fixing them since I was seven," says Dell ...

Are you highly skilled? Do you have (or nearly have) your certifications? Are you still job hunting? Think about contracting. It allows you to put your skills to work, get paid and test out different companies at the same time. CompTIA recently partnered with Field Nation, a leading provider of independent field service technicians to the computer service industry. The new partnership is designed to help bring paying work to certified IT pros. It helps IT pros on the hunt for short- or long-te ...

The trending workplace story last week originated with an internal memo sent to Yahoo employees by Marissa Mayer. In her message, the CEO basically eliminated her company’s remote workforce policy and questioned the value of letting employees work from home. The outcry from those inside and outside the high-tech community has been quite animated, with many suggesting that increased face-to-face interaction will not be the magic bullet that solves Yahoo’s problems. The telecommuting ...

It’s another beautiful day here in San Francisco and the RSA Conference – an annual information security event held by security solutions provider RSA – is underway with its usual buzz and excitement. So far, it has been a productive few days for CompTIA.We started the week meeting with the Cybersecurity Credentials Collaborative (C3) – a group that we co-founded along with other certifying bodies such as (ISC)2 and GIAC. CompTIA was voted vice chair of the C3 and will be playing an active role ...

Pete Caro Senior IT Architect, IBM Fifteen years ago, Pete Caro had trouble breaking into the IT field, despite the fact he had multiple, college-level computer courses under his belt. So he joined the Army in 1998. There he steadily gained IT experience and expertise that enabled him to establish a successful civilian career in IT security and support the armed forces as an Army Reservist. Working IT in the Army, Caro, now 36, started out in mid-1999 as a systems administrator, doing Ti ...

CompTIA believes that the looming budget cuts known as sequestration expected on March 1 will be a huge issue for all Americans, particularly tech entrepreneurs. We believe the largest impact will be on those small businesses who sell goods and services to the federal government.Furthermore, the fall-out from sequestration will cause major trauma for our economy and our tech entrepreneurs.So, as Congress and the Administration move to grapple with budget cuts, we call upon policymakers to contin ...

For just about everyone on the outside looking in, the healthcare sector can be a strange and puzzling place. It raises big picture questions, such as how can the U.S. spend twice as much as other countries on healthcare and yet do worse on key metrics such as average life expectancy? There are also practical questions, such as why are so many paper forms still in use? Then there are head-scratchers, such as why do some hospitals that treat heart disease have a McDonald’s in lieu of a cafe ...

John Tippett, chief operating officer of EDTS, which provides managed IT and security services to clients in the southeast U.S., can’t imagine his company not earning CompTIA’s MSP Partners Trustmark. “How could a company like ours that says that we’re here and we participate and follow industry standards not pay attention to something like this?” he asked. Tippett was involved in the development of the MSP Partners Trustmark – a business credential designed ...

It was a great feeling to pass that first test. I was focused, I was ready, and when I passed the exam it lit me on fire. I said, 'I can do this.' It gave me a whole bunch of confidence. Larry Romero It took nearly 20 years, but Larry Romero is on his ideal career path. He began his journey in military personnel. First, he was stationed at an air force base in Nebraska, and then he moved on to the Navy. Even though he was happy to be working, he wasn't happy with his job. "My wife ...

St. Louis is one city that IT staffing firms see consistently adding more IT jobs. San Francisco, Silicon Valley and New York City may be the nation's largest job markets for IT, but industry staffing firms report that faster growth rates can be found in smaller, less traditional markets as well. Secondary and tertiary markets can provide high-quality, lower-cost standards of living and strong educational systems, and companies find that a very attractive environment for efficient growth. ...

"The closer you are to the application, the stronger the demand," says Dice.com Vice President Jennifer Bewley. That seems to be the trend for IT skill demand in 2013, as reported recently by IT staffing companies Dice, Robert Half Technology and TEKsystems. Skill sets seeing strongest demand this year include: Data Analytics/Business Analytics — "The term 'Big Data' has become so trite, but the demand for data analytics skills is off the chart," says Bewley. "Companies are willing to invest ...

Last week, the president issued a long-awaited executive order that seeks to protect critical infrastructure – an action he promised soon after Congress didn’t reach agreement on cyber-security legislation last year. This week, the New York Times reported that a link has been established between cyber-attacks against U.S. companies and firms that provide a variety of services, including those that provide services to critical infrastructure owners and operators. This is an alarming development t ...

A new version of Startup 2.0 was introduced in both the House and Senate last week. Startup 3.0 is co-sponsored by Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Representatives Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) and Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.). Startup 3.0 continues the mission of its predecessor legislation, intending to boost our economic recovery by providing greater support for high-paying, high-skilled jobs in science, technology, engineering and math ...