CompTIA Blog

Emerging technology trends are causing disruption in all areas of IT, including channel firms. Vendors, resellers and managed service providers (MSPs) are adjusting their offerings to provide the products and services that are in demand as businesses adjust the way they procure and use technology. For MSPs, four of the top issues impacting their business are mobility, Big Data, security and communications. In CompTIA’s Director of Technology Analysis and Market Research Seth Robinson&rsquo ...

ChannelCon 2013 attendees were urged by CompTIA President and CEO Todd Thibodeaux to embrace the future and all the opportunities it will offer, but also ask themselves tough and thoughtful questions about their business. During his keynote speech Tuesday, Thibodeaux used clips from several Hollywood blockbuster movies – A Few Good Men, Jaws, Dead Poets Society and Rudy – to illustrate his challenges to the business owners and executives in attendance. Can you handle the truth about ...

Laura Steward Atchison, CEO, Wisdom Learned LLC, gave ChannelCon attendees a tutorial on how to ask the right questions that will give you the answers you need to take your business and life where you want to be – faster.

The centerpiece of the CompTIA Mobility Community Meeting on day one of ChannelCon was billed as the “Rumble in the Mobile Jungle” and it was as combative as that sounds. With Ryan Morris, principal consultant at MMP Inc. serving as referee, Michael Toto, director of strategic global alliances and alternate channels at Verizon, Kyp Walls, director of product management at Panasonic, and Scott Barlow, vice president of worldwide sales at Reflexion Networks, sq ...

You don’t know what you don’t know. That’s one of the scariest elements of business. You know your business and do a great job at it, but how do you prep for what you don’t know? And, even scarier, can you prove in court that you do a great job and are prepped for the unknown? Mike Semel, president of Semel Consulting, addressed one of those big unknowns for managed services and managed print providers in presenting on “New HIPAA Changes and How They Affect Your MPS ...

Unrealistic expectations about what cloud computing can deliver often derail relationships between technology vendors and their channel partners, as well as between partners and their customers. The CompTIA Cloud / SaaS community debated how to overcome those obstacles during its meeting Monday at ChannelCon 2013, the premier education and training event for the IT channel. Attendees agreed that setting realistic expectations that are understood and agreed to by both parties – whether vend ...

New regulations and technologies are creating new challenges and concerns for companies delivering IT services and support. A panel of experts delivered this sobering message on the state of cybersecurity to attendees at Monday’s meeting of the CompTIA IT Services and Support community. The session took place on the opening day of CompTIA ChannelCon 2013, the premier education and partnering event for the IT channel. The panel noted that according to a recent survey, the number one issue k ...

Due to changes in the IT skills marketplace, CompTIA will retire the CompTIA IT for Sales and CompTIA Green IT specialty certification exams at the end of this year.

We applaud Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and John Thune (R-SD) for introducing “the Cybersecurity Act of 2013” this month. The act covers several important policy elements of the cybersecurity ecosystem. For instance, among the bill’s provisions are sections on public-private collaborations on cybersecurity; cybersecurity research and development, education and workforce development; and cybersecurity awareness and preparedness. An important component of the proposed legislat ...

Just 10 years ago, all an experienced IT professional needed to start his or her own services business was a hearty desire to succeed, a solid work ethic and an accountant to keep track of the influx of cash. Skill was, and continues to be, an essential ingredient in the success of solution provider companies, but over time, the organizational fundamentals have also grown in importance. Successful IT solution providers have to work effectively on both sides of the house today, with a firm grasp ...

CompTIA certified professionals now have a few new options to highlight their certified status. Credentialing service Blue Ribbon Techs and professional talent database Brainhunter.com now provide CompTIA certification validation on online profiles. So instead of confirming your certified status to multiple potential employers, you can do it once and apply to multiple contracting jobs.

On Friday, July 19, the House of Representatives passed “the Student Success Act,” which reforms and re-authorizes “the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA),” also known as “No Child Left Behind.” The law as it stands today has been due for reauthorization since 2007 and parties on both sides of the aisle agree that reform was needed to meet the needs and demands of today’s students. The bill passed the House on a mainly party line vote of 221 t ...

CompTIA ChannelCon is referred to as the “big tent” event because it’s the only place where solution providers, vendors, distributors, analysts, media, tech associations and other channel organizations come together in one place to learn from each other and take the IT industry to the next level. A large part of ChannelCon is the Technology Vendor Fair – where more than 130 vendors are expected to exhibit this year. Many ChannelCon vendors are launching new products and d ...

Earlier today, CompTIA’s own Chief Legal Officer Dan Liutikas testified during the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade hearing titled “Reporting Data Breaches: Is Federal Legislation Needed to Protect Consumers?” Serving on the panel with Liutikas were other distinguished IT policy experts such as Debbie Matties, vice president of privacy for CTIA, Jeff Greene, senior policy counsel, cybersecurity and identity at the Symantec Corporation, Kevin Richards, sen ...

What’s the single, most important component of our advocacy efforts? You! You are the tech creators and entrepreneurs that form a critical backbone to support our economy and job creation. Yet despite that essential role, many SMBs find themselves searching for strategies that lead to growth and success in an environment of lessened resources and challenging policy and regulatory efforts. You need a voice. The first step to finding that voice is soaking up all you can at ChannelCon, July 2 ...