CompTIA Blog

The IT training industry needs to stress the importance of hiring skilled workers and providing additional IT training to the employer audience, speakers at CompTIA Colloquium said on Tuesday.  It’s an audience that is sometimes overlooked, Terry Erdle, CompTIA executive vice president of certification; and Cushing Anderson, program vice president for research firm IDC, told attendees. “We haven’t necessarily sold this to the employing world, that if they get a skilled person, it’s much bet ...

In the often byzantine route that is today’s professional job interview process, nothing is ever simple, but how you dress comes incredibly close. Unemployment figures are still high and the economy remains down, so if you’ve received those oh-so-wonderful sounding words, “We’d like you to come in for an interview,” consider yourself among the chosen few. Now, just don’t blow it with your attire. “First impressions can be lasting impressions, so be sure that your appearance isn’t distracting ...

The IT training industry needs to stress the importance of hiring skilled workers and providing additional IT training to the employer audience, speakers at CompTIA Colloquium said on Tuesday.  It’s an audience that is sometimes overlooked, Terry Erdle, CompTIA executive vice president of certification; and Cushing Anderson, program vice president for research firm IDC, told attendees.“We haven’t necessarily sold this to the employing world, that if they get a skilled person, it’s much better fo ...

With a jam-packed room of CEOs from IT training companies during Colloquium today in Chicago, CompTIA discussed how as a group we can solve the IT skills gap quandary.  Speaker Cushing Anderson, VP of worldwide project-based services research, IDC, also broadened the discussion to how trainers can best equip their students and clients to prepare them for the 3rd platform now coming of age in the IT industry. As CompTIA Todd Thibodeaux explained to the training audience, Colloquium is really ...

In its second year, the CompTIA IT Business Growth Professionals Community is still working to cement its identity. The group, which includes consultants who provide coaching and business services to the IT industry, discussed its purpose and direction at the CompTIA Annual Member Meeting on Tuesday.“I think our value is in sharing knowledge,” said community member Larry Kesslin. “There are areas that each person in this room has expertise in that we can share to help us become better at what we ...

One highlight of today’s IT Services and Support Community gathering during the CompTIA Annual Member Meetinghttp://www.comptia.org/amm (AMM) was the presentation by IT Services Marketing Association President and CEO David Munn. Starting out with a review of Google results for “solutions,” he demonstrated how generic the term has become. With millions of hits across a variety of different categories, the descriptor is clearly favored by businesses throughout the world.According to Munn, today’s ...

Business technology isn’t what it once was. A little more than a decade ago, the system infrastructure consisted of servers, work stations, network components and the software manually loaded in each machine. The support process was primarily on site, with the occasional call center to walk users or the company’s IT staff through some primary diagnostics and repair steps.A lot has changed, with the new business system environment encompassing extensive cloud platforms, a wealth of mobile devices ...

IT solution providers need to do their homework – especially when it comes to security – if they plan to do business in the cloud computing market.“You need to educate yourselves on what your cloud provider is including or not including in a service level agreement,” advised Wendy Frank, president, Accell Security Inc. “Customers are going to rely on you. You need to understand what’s included and what happens if something goes wrong.”Frank spoke today at a meeting of the CompTIA Cloud / SaaS Co ...

With a jam-packed room of CEOs from IT training companies during Colloquium today in Chicago, CompTIA discussed how as a group we can solve the IT skills gap quandary.  Speaker Cushing Anderson, VP of worldwide project-based services research, IDC, also broadened the discussion to how trainers can best equip their students and clients to prepare them for the 3rd platform now coming of age in the IT industry.As CompTIA Todd Thibodeaux explained to the training audience, Colloquium is really a con ...

A look at the week of April 9 in public advocacy for the IT channel:  When Congress returns from April recess, it is expected to focus on taxes, jobs and cybersecurity legislation.  Politico examines how the upcoming election is influencing cybersecurity legislation.  At the FOSE conference, futurist Thomas Koulopoulos discussed how disruptive technologies such as cloud computing can change the behavior of government agencies.Taxes, Cybersecurity, Jobs Programs Expected To Dominate April Agenda ...

You would have to be living in a cave for the last few months to not have heard of Office 365, Google Apps, or Salesforce.com by now. All three of them are major Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) brands with attractive partner programs, but if SMBs really do set off on a march to the cloud, then most SMB IT shops will have to find additional SaaS partner opportunities to achieve sustainable revenue levels.Over the past six months, I've done a substantial amount of research into SaaS partner programs. ...

For Dujon Walsham, passing up university in favor of taking IT certification trainings was a great decision. Five years after receiving his first professional certification (CompTIA A+), he has multiple CompTIA and vendor-specific certifications under his belt, and his career in the United Kingdom is flourishing. His current job involves helping companies like eBay and British Airways adopt cloud computing systems, and he receives several calls per day from companies like Microsoft and Barclays ...

For Dujon Walsham, passing up university in favor of taking IT certification trainings was a great decision. Five years after receiving his first professional certification (CompTIA A+), he has multiple CompTIA and vendor-specific certifications under his belt, and his career in the United Kingdom is flourishing.His current job involves helping companies like eBay and British Airways adopt cloud computing systems, and he receives several calls per day from companies like Microsoft and Barclays a ...

Takeaway of the week is computer-related occupations are projected to have a 22-percent increase in employment according to the U.S. government. However at least one government official is already pointing the finger at the dearth of IT pros for U.S. cybersecurity challenges.  U.S. Report: Healthcare and Mobile Technology to Boost IT Jobs  Employment in all computer-related occupations is expected to grow by 22 percent by the year 2020, U.S. officials said.  According to the ...

Dell is on a tear this week, scooping up Wyse Technologies and Clerity Solutions and adding thin client and even more cloud solutions to their ever-expanding portfolio. The former hardware-centric vendor obviously has a plan to transform its business model, rapidly expanding into areas formerly supported by channel organizations. The moves help the company continue to reduce its reliance on hardware, shifting to more profitable and higher growth segments of the IT industry.But Dell’s strategy is ...