CompTIA Blog

It was only a decade ago that many of my friends who owned businesses carried two cell phones and rarely travelled without a laptop weighing at least seven pounds. The inconvenience of using multiple devices, especially those without web-connectivity, was assumed to be balanced by the separation of their business and personal communications. Professional acquaintances were typically given the company phone number and email contact information, while their friends and family were granted access t ...

“The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable,” cracked economist John Kenneth Galbraith. Although said in jest (sort of), Galbraith accurately captures the sometimes questionable track record of prognostications. Yes, this applies to tech sector forecasting as well – I know, hard to believe! Nonetheless, no business can avoid thinking about the future. Even if imperfect, economic and industry forecasting serves a useful purpose in fram ...

Let your customer vent their frustrations first, advises Sharon Nielsen, account manager at One Prospect Technologies. "Most people, once they have vented their frustrations and felt heard, calm down on their own and become more willing to listen to your suggested resolutions, or provide feedback with suggestions of their own," she says. Your customer is screaming, or worse, quietly seething. What is the best way for you to respond? Several seasoned IT professionals recently shared their best ...

The human body is quite miraculous. Consider how an assortment of bones, tissues and organs can come together in a machine capable of performing such intricate operations. On top of that, the body employs its own defense systems to protect itself from pathogens and other dangers, from multiple layers of skin to a variety of protective antibodies. While not quite as miraculous as the human anatomy, a business computer system is similarly complex and also employs several layers of defense to pro ...

More money may be coming your way if you're an IT pro. The average annual salary for technology professionals jumped more than 5 percent, from $81,327 in 2011 to $85,619 in 2012, according to the Dice annual salary survey released this week. This is the biggest wage increase in the profession since the early 2000s. And it's not just seasoned professionals who are getting a bigger paycheck. Salaries for IT pros with two years or less experience reported an increase of 8 percent, bringing the ...

In an increasingly digital, interconnected world, cyber security affects organizations on more levels than ever before. Given the criticality of information security, it comes as no surprise that four out of five companies responding to CompTIA’s 10th Annual Information Security Trends study expect to focus on security going forward. The continued focus on information security has made it a unique field in which demand exceeds supply. According to the job board aggregator Indeed.com, the number ...

We may have stepped back from the fiscal cliff – as Congress negotiated an 11th hour deal on taxes at the start of 2013 – but the threat of sequestration still looms. Congress has until March 2, 2013, to work out a deal to avoid automatic across the board budget cuts. If these cuts take place, career and technical education funding could be at risk for a $92 million cut in fiscal year 2013 alone.The Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006 provides federal funds for ...

Every few months, a new technology offering or industry opportunity comes along, seemingly from out of nowhere, and myriad pundits and researchers espouse its merits to the entire channel. From the latest vertical market practice to a new solution delivery method, each undergoes months of close examination and experimentation before it gains traction with the greater provider audience. That process has been instrumental in vetting and promoting the opportunities in cloud and managed services, bu ...

For the next year, I will serve as board chair for the Chicago Tech Academy. This tech-intensive high school located just outside the heart of Chicago is home for over 500 students learning about math, science and technology, as well as entrepreneurship and professionalism. The school is the brainchild of Terry Howerton, the outgoing chair, and has been ably led by Matt Hancock, the current executive director. What makes ChiTech so special is the environment, the culture and, of course, the kids ...

On January 11th, CompTIA partnered with the North Carolina Technology Association (NCTA) to launch our third TechVoice chapter. About 60 technology executives attended a breakfast gathering and panel discussion in Durham, NC featuring Congressman David Price (D-NC), State Representative Marilyn Avila (R), information technology attorney Ed Turlington and myself. NCTA President and CEO Brooks Raiford moderated. With 2012 elections now completed and the fiscal cliff averted for now, the conversati ...

Hitomi Ito For one venerable professional services firm in Japan, the value of a well-trained employee is established the moment he or she walks through the front door. Tokyo-based Quest Co., Ltd. can attribute a long history of successful client relationships to an adaptable, knowledgeable and skilled workforce. For the past few years, CompTIA has helped Quest achieve that goal for employees both new and experienced. The company added CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+, CompTIA Security+ and ...

Cheers to 2013! Happy New Year, CompTIA members, partners and channel folk. On behalf of all of us at CompTIA, we wish you your best year yet. The best way to kick off the New Year is to resolve to come to CompTIA’s Annual Member Meeting (AMM) in Chicago, March 12th and 13th. CompTIA’s AMM brings together 250 of our most committed and engaged members, working together in defined communities to drive the IT industry forward. Vendor/distributor channel execs and solution/service prov ...

When Alexander Graham Bell got together with two other investors to form AT&T in 1875, it signaled the beginning of a communications revolution. His invention, the telephone, was a major improvement over previous forms of communication such as the letter and telegraph, allowing voice communication between individuals in their own homes and businesses. No longer did they have to wait for others to deliver messages and place orders, so the risk of misplaced or lost information was significantl ...

Danny Poull Danny Poull Sr. Systems Engineer, CCC Technologies Inc., Elk Grove Village, Ill. Danny Poull attributes the launch of his IT career to the person who told him that the clocks on the company's phone and computer networks couldn't be synched. "After three hours, I was able to fix it," Poull recalls. "Then I was like, 'What else can I fix?' " That happened in 2006, when Poull was an intern at CCC Technologies, working internal IT support, spending his day changing passwords on V ...

If you can say 'I have juggled multiple tasks successfully, and delivered results on time, within budget and with high levels of customer satisfaction,' you are doing the work of two or three people! Now that can help you land a job." Donna Farrugia, executive director, The Creative Group Good project management skills are highly valued in IT and other industries. But people generally don't arrive in the workforce knowing how to initiate, plan, execute and close a project on time and on budg ...