CompTIA Blog

This addition to the CompTIA blog is part of a guest series celebrating Small Business Week. IT companies today operate in an environment that’s both exciting and challenging. The persistent evolution of technology — cloud computing, mobility, unified communications, cybersecurity and virtualization, for example — make technology solutions more accessible and affordable than ever before.  The willingness of businesses and consumers to embrace these innovations has created ...

The dilemma: Companies have job openings or want to hire in order to expand, but are fearful of a slowdown in new business orders. This scenario has been the default for companies across the IT channel during the past few years of economic uncertainty. New research from CompTIA suggests we may have finally reached a point of sustained stability. According to CompTIA’s recent Q2 IT Industry Business Confidence Index, executives feel more positive about the overall economy and growth prosp ...

On Tuesday, the House Ways and Means Committee approved six tax extender provisions and left 50 more on the chopping block. It’s unclear if the committee will reconvene to review the other 50, but in keeping with the desire of Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) to bring certainty to the tax code, yesterday’s action would make the six extenders that did pass permanent. The extenders currently have expiration dates, which most agree hamper their effectiveness, so those supporting the six provisi ...

Laser-like focus is critical to the success of any business, but perhaps even more so for small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs). With less of a margin for error than their larger counterparts, anything that causes a small business to take its eye off the ball is a threat to that company’s livelihood. My industry — the conferencing and collaboration space — has been blanketed in recent years by a demand letter from a so-called patent troll, demanding payment for a mute featur ...

This month, Jay Larsen, president and founder of the Idaho Technology Council, discussed with TechVoice legislation he and his organization have championed to grow Idaho’s technology ecosystem. Read how the council’s advocacy efforts influenced those bills, the lessons Larsen learned along the way and how the Idaho Technology Council’s partnership with TechVoice has helped in these efforts. I understand you’ve been very active at the state level with several bills around ...

Software engineer Joseph Cole took advantage of the partnership between Western Governors University and CompTIA to earn IT certifications while completing his bachelor’s degree in IT – all without going into debt. And if he was enrolling today, Cole would be the perfect candidate for a new WGU scholarship for CompTIA certification holders.

Nellie Scott is at the top of her game with Lenovo, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of personal computers. She serves as director of sales support & enablement, supporting the sellers and companies that sell Lenovo products and services. As someone who has advanced her career without a four-year degree, she's living proof you can beat the odds.

Society and technology are evolving faster than our ability to adapt. That point was strongly emphasized by Bob Humphreys in his presentation that helped kick off the recent CompTIA IT Services and Support Community meeting in Woodbridge, Ontario, just north of Toronto. The leader of Demand Programs and Digital Strategy for IBM Canada underscored how technology has become the most important external force that impacts today’s businesses. Back in the day, most businesses used IT for process ...

As a wireless internet service provider (WISP) in a rural, sawmill region of Oregon, IV Data Center is the last frontier when it comes to serving areas other ISPs can’t or won’t serve. We help bridge the digital divide for the most underserved customers in the country. Our company, also known as Illinois Valley Data Center, serves Josephine County, Ore., which consistently ranks as the second poorest county in the state. The small lumber mill region has seen its industry decimated o ...

Recently, CompTIA filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission on FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s proposal for new net neutrality rules. CompTIA believes that transparency, no-blocking and nondiscrimination rules are essential to protect and promote the interests of small businesses operating online. Without such rules, broadband Internet service providers (ISPs) could charge any business operating online for access, or prioritized access, to an ISP’s customers. Small busines ...

Building a solid foundation with your channel partners will help your business go down countless avenues in the future. For a vendor, finding the right channels to sell cloud services can play a key role in expanding business and reaching new, untapped markets. Local markets and others formerly out-of-reach for a cloud provider can open up with the right partnership. But the prospect of forging partner relationships can be intimidating. PartnerPath has created a helpful three-step process that d ...

Last week, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade held a hearing titled “Trolling for a Solution: Ending Abusive Patent Demand Letters.” The hearing focused on the regulation of demand letters sent in bad faith to businesses by patent trolls or patent assertion entities (PAEs). There has been an upswing in the number of issued demand letters, which many times are vague, misleading and deceptive. The recipients, who are often smal ...

As you dust off your bookshelves and open the windows for a fresh breath of spring air, don’t forget the cobwebs trailing into your professional life. It’s time to give your resume a clean sweep.

What value does your company add? It’s a perennial business question, one that channel firms face each and every day in interactions with customers, vendors and other partners. In this era of cloud computing and ongoing business model upheaval, everyone is looking for a way to stand out, especially to the customer. If you can’t answer the fundamental question – Why do we matter? – your business is at a disadvantage. The managed services model is one example of a channel b ...

Nineteen-year IT professional Emad Ahmed struggled for years to figure out how he could continue his education while balancing work, life and home, and found a solution through an online program that gave him the flexibility to complete a bachelor’s degree and move on quickly to a master’s.