CompTIA Blog

Prognosticators come in many flavors. In my opinion, the ones who actually put real money at risk provide some of the most useful insights. I recently attended Potomac TechWire’s annual Venture Capital Outlook breakfast roundtable, held just outside of Washington, DC. With panelists from New Atlantic Ventures, Columbia Capital, Calvert Funds, Valhalla Partners and LaunchBox Digital, there was a wide range of expertise, investment styles and opinions.Even for those far removed from the VC world, ...

We’re ending the year right, ranking on several top lists of 2009. Channel Insider noted CompTIA’s success in its end-of-year Bull’s Eye Awards, bestowing upon us the “Challenger” designation for being a vibrant Channel Community and for CEO Todd being a top IT industry influencer.  The magazine praised Todd’s leadership in encouraging community and collaboration, noting, “Thibodeaux has infused a level of energy and activity in CompTIA not seen i ...

So much of the Green IT revolution is yet to be defined and I’m not even sure we’ve really gotten started. We’re beginning to get a good handle on how to market and sell software as a service (SaaS) while managed services and cloud computing are becoming less foggy. However, the Green IT revolution has lagged behind. Here are some of the reasons for this:Green IT has a lot of moving pieces and dependencies – In the broadest sense Green IT will include the power grid, smart buildings, telepresenc ...

I came across an article today, “Security in the Ether” by David Talbot in Technology Review that speaks to a number of issues with cloud computing security.  At nearly 3500 words, it’s a hefty piece that gives a wide perspective on the multifaceted debate around the definition of cloud, the ever-increasing security threats, and the future standards for securing the cloud.Among a number of thought provoking areas, one note that struck me is that the National Institute of Standards and Technology ...

Todd was featured on WGN Midday News today giving some tips on how to keep your mobile devices and information safe while travelling this holiday season. The CompTIA President and CEO urged travelers to keep their devices password-protected and to use secure connections.But “the overwhelming biggest security risk is just people not paying attention,” Thibodeaux told anchor Steve Sanders. Even if it’s a hassle, your laptop should always be with you, Thibodeaux advised.Having trouble viewing this ...

I was recently on Capitol Hill talking with staffers on both sides of the aisle whose job it is to focus on legislation impacting small businesses. To their credit they are always open to the feedback and ideas of the small business community so we had many opportunities to tell the same disappointing story.As the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was being drafted and put into law our industry was supportive. It wasn’t a perfect bill by any stretch, but there were enough reasons to ...

We are cooperating with Technical Communities, Inc., to make CompTIA certifications more accessible to federal and state government workers. The two organizations signed a government service partnership agreement that authorizes Technical Communities to offer CompTIA certification exams under the General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedules managed by Technical Communities. This means any government agency or department at the federal and state levels that make purchases off a ...

We have been asked by the US Trade Representative to participate in an SMEs in Trade seminar to be kicked off by Ambassador Kirk on January 21st. As part of that event, we will be providing some VAR speakers and will conduct a survey of small IT companies who export. We will partner with the Coalition of Service Industries and the National Association of Manufacturers in this event. Visit www.comptia.org/publicpolicy or contact Robert Kramer for more information. ...

On Tuesday Dec. 15th CompTIA CEO Todd Thibodeaux and a delegation of CompTIA and the Technology Leadership Political Action Committee (TLPAC) companies will attend five Congressional Committee meetings with key House and Senate committees and staff to pitch a number of proposals to help VARs weather the recession and create jobs. The mini-fly-in led by Todd and CompTIA Treasurer Oli Thordarson will include an explanation of the “Growth Tech Capital Initiative” designed to apply stimu ...

Last week at its December board meeting, CompTIA renewed its commitment to match cash and in-kind donations of as much as $1 million per year to the CompTIA Educational Foundation for the next five years. That means your donation counts double.For the past two years, the dollar-for-dollar match has allowed the Foundation to help more than 1,100 individuals in need launch a career in IT. Bob O’Malley, chairman of CompTIA and the CompTIA Educational Foundation, and president and CEO of InFocus, re ...

Want to give back while widening your brand with the newest bright stars in our industry?  Let us help!With the CompTIA Education Foundation, you can establish merit award scholarships in your name for students pursuing IT careers. When you endow the IT Merit Awards Scholarships, you can designate the scholarships to a preferred under-represented population or to a geographic location where you do business. You even can make the scholarship presentations, thereby creating a positive publicity op ...

At last week’s jobs summit the President heard from business, labor and academic leaders as they brainstormed about getting America back to work. Over the past decade, small businesses have created between 60 to 80 percent of net new jobs, as well as countless technological innovations.  Yet the major role small businesses play in our economy and job creation was seemingly downplayed at the summit.Next week in Washington, CompTIA’s Public Policy office will host several small, California tech co ...

We challenged our employees last summer to a staff fundraising contest for the CompTIA Educational Foundation, raising $50,000 to fund IT training and certification for people in need.  And we’re gearing up to hold a second contest in early 2010. From May through July last year, six teams composed of three to five employees each developed their own fundraising techniques in a heated competition to see which team could raise the most money for the Foundation’s Creating Futures ...

I’m a big fan of The Onion. Yes, it sometimes trades in cheap laughs, but more often than not, it delivers clever satirical observations on some aspect of society. As a technology geek and researcher, I find the technology related stories especially brilliant.The recent Onion article New Device Desirable, Old Device Undesirable, deftly captures the conundrum of a constantly changing tech landscape (the article is CE focused, but could just as easily apply to IT).Thanks to a seemingly endless sup ...

Last week I blogged about our Focus on HealthIT and received a number of responses from you about how you can get more involved with CompTIA and share your input in CompTIA initiatives.It's easy!  Go to www.comptia.org and check out the membership tab.  You will find information about our various IT communities, the current focus of each community, upcoming meetings, events, etc.  Choose the one that interests you most and contact the community manager listed for that community.  It's that easy. ...