CompTIA Blog

Today we unveiled the new certification.comptia.org website, a complete source for everything you have ever wanted to know, and more, about CompTIA certification. The site includes basic exam information like what is on the exam, pricing and other certification information previously found on the main CompTIA.org, and adds new IT job role and career planning tools.The new Explore Careers section includes information on IT career paths, with an interactive chart to guide IT pros through the certi ...

[podcast]http://www.comptia.org/media/intlcerts.mp3[/podcast]Two out of three human resources directors place a high value on certifications when it comes to hiring an IT professional.  If you’re ready to get a job in IT or move up the career ladder in IT, you need certification.CompTIA has been the leading vendor-neutral certification organization since 1985.  And its certifications aren’t just U.S.-centric, but can help you move your career worldwide.Hear from Matthew Poyiadgi, our senior VP o ...

When we talk of our Breakaway conference and the slew of educational sessions we offer, most people normally think we’re talking education for solution providers.  More than 350 VARs are expected to attend Breakaway this August in Washington, D.C., but the conference is for the entire IT channel, not just the VARs. New at Breakaway this year, our Understanding Your Partners’ Business track includes four sessions to help vendors and distributors understand how their partners run their own busines ...

For years now, Congress has kicked the subject of tax reform down the road.  Even so, most everyone is in agreement that the tax laws and regulations are too complex, that the system is inefficient, and that compliance costs are too high. The last major tax reform occurred in the 1980s.  Lessons to draw from that exercise are that any industry – including technology – must be prepared to analyze and advocate when major legislative proposals are being developed. Last year, the President’s Commiss ...

I am an extremely mobile and well-equipped executive. On a recent trip to South Korea, I carried an iPhone 4, two Android phones, an Apple Mac Book Pro, a Samsung Galaxy Tablet, an iPad 2, a Microsoft Zune media player, an iPod Touch, a CLEAR WiMax modem, a Verizon 4G LTE modem, Sprint 3G hotspot and last but not least a Verizon/Motorola Zoom tablet and a Amazon Kindle e-book reader.You might be asking yourself why would someone carry so many pieces that do similar things? Well my answer is you ...

Last week Senators Kerry and McCain introduced the “Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights”.  The purpose of the bill is to impose stricter guidelines for the collection, storage and transmission of consumer data.  If enacted into law the bill would require the following: Companies that collect consumer data would have requirements for ensuring that the information is protected and secure. Companies would have to provide more robust notice requirements prior to sharing consumer information with third ...

Today we celebrate the 42nd annual Earth Day, intended to highlight the need for global ecological consciousness and inspire people to think of new ways to preserve our planet. Quite a hefty goal, but most everyone agrees we need to do all we can to safeguard our valuable resources.In recent years, the tech community has gotten in the act with the advent of green IT, driven by a number of federal, state and local initiatives to reduce energy use and the waste associated with computing systems. T ...

In her job as a dispatcher at an IT company, Verna Matera, 54, spends long stretches at her desk, which makes losing weight a challenge.But a recent effort by several IT companies to raise money for Lance Armstrong’s cancer-fighting charity got Matera moving – and losing. The grandmother of two began an ambitious walking and workout regimen that allowed her to lose four pounds in six weeks.Dispatcher Verna Matera of Northwest Computer Support in Seattle changed her lifestyle over six weeks. Alth ...

At the direction of Vivek Kundra, chief information officer for the United States, the National Institute for Science and Technology (NIST) is pushing the federal government to the cloud computing finish line with the near completion of a roadmap to assist federal agencies moving to a cloud computing environment.NIST is helping to translate mission requirements into technical portability, interoperability, reliability, maintainability and security requirements.  The roadmap document is the mecha ...

Spring is wafting through the windows.  Summer will be here before we know it.  It’s time to plan out your summer travels.  Between trips to the beach and hanging by the pool, there’s one trip you need to take to keep your business running at top efficiency.  CompTIA Breakaway.  It’s the premier education event for companies doing business in the IT channel.More than 1,100 IT channel leaders – including some 350 solution providers – are expected at Breakaway 2011, which for the first time will b ...

This week Verizon released results from its annual IT security study conducted in cooperation with the U.S. Secret Service and the Netherlands Policy Agency. The study found that while penetrations increased to a record high 760 in 2010, the number of records compromised in the process fell dramatically to around 4 million from 144 million in 2009.  While hacking and malware continue to make up the largest chunks of the problem, physical intrusions such as compromising and ATM were up sharply.Bu ...

Alexander Irigoyen Alexander Irigoyen 
 Network Administrator, Lockheed Martin Which exams have you helped develop? CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+, CompTIA Storage+, CompTIA Security+, and the new CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP) exam. How did you get into IT? IT was my MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) in the Marines. Following boot camp, I was sent to a 36 week technical school and I have been working in IT ever since. Semper Fi! What do you do for your day job? ...

Last week the Obama Administration issued the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace.The Administration is promoting a new online “identity ecosystem”.  The way the system works is that consumers could choose to obtain an online credential (from a variety of third-party certificate providers) that serve as digital key chains to authenticate their online identities.  Thus, when consumers are engaging in online activities, such as accessing proprietary financial and medical records ...

A look at the week of April 18 in public advocacy for the IT channel   This week, President Obama signed the bill repealing the much-debated 1099 tax provision.  The federal government will be closing a third of its data centers and shifting agency programs to the cloud in order to reduce costs and increase efficiency.  Farzad Mostashari, the new health IT coordinator, is beginning his position in a much different political environment than his predecessor and faces signif ...

Research, data, statistics, opinions, insights, trends... What aspects of CompTIA’s industry research provide value to you? In an effort to make your job easier, CompTIA research analysts work diligently every year to provide numerous studies that yield reams of valuable data. Incorporating statistics into your sales proposals and other collateral lends both content and credibility to your projects and can help you close business – especially if the data is from a third-party, vendor-neutral sou ...