CompTIA Blog

"Get the right education. Keep learning. Reinvest your skills. Influence others and make your presence known. Mentor those people who can benefit from your insights." Ginger Moore, senior staffing consultant, Unisys Building an IT career requires focus, hard work and sometimes creativity, but the opportunities are vast, even for those who don't currently hold a four-year computer science degree or aren't currently in the IT workforce. That was the message of the Nov. 7 webinar "IT Careers ...

With the re-election of President Obama, a net one seat pick-up for Senate Democrats, and with Republicans maintaining control of the House, we can expect to see some of the same IT issues emerge during the lame duck and the 2013 legislative session that we saw in the last Congress.  First, the issue of cybersecurity reform emerged as a post election lame duck issue.  There is a distinct possibility that the White House may issue an Executive Order on Cybersecurity that would mandate owners and ...

CompTIA’s 10th Annual Information Security Trends study comes at a time of dramatic change in the IT industry. Cloud computing, mobility and Big Data are altering the landscape and ingraining technology in business operations like never before. Yet security remains a high priority, even among these more trendy topics. Four out of five companies place a higher priority on security today than they did two years ago, and PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates that global cybersecurity spending hit $60 bi ...

Those who can walk the walk typically close more sales than those who can only talk the talk – a point that tends to get lost in the shuffle of a growing business. If an organization can’t deliver on the promises it makes to its customers and prospects, its chances for long-term success are greatly diminished.No ethical entrepreneur opens a business without a desire to provide high-quality products or services to his or her customers. Best intentions and goals rarely change over time, but each o ...

Takeaway of the week is a fun mismash of this and that, starting with the increased amounts of money awaiting certain skilled IT pros in the coming year, a biz-minded admonishment for those in-demand IT security folks and, lastly, an honest-to-God thumbs up for video gaming. Salaries get Mobilized Upward Next Year IT roles in mobile and wireless sectors, among others, will see hefty pay hikes in 2013, says a well-known industry staffing service. The money news to come out of Robert Half Tech ...

Heading into this Veterans Day weekend, we’d like to take a second to emphasize how important it is to support our nation’s veterans as they return home from war. The U.S. continues to suffer from high unemployment overall and veterans are no exception; as many as 850,000 veterans are currently out of work and a million more will be seeking employment in the next five years. This is unfortunate, as veterans know what hard work is and frequently enter (or re-enter) the workforce wit ...

Learn what Phil Norton does as a systems analyst.

Many small business owners have put off plans to hire and expand amid uncertainty around what they will face when several Bush-era tax cuts expire at year’s end, said USA Today. Although tax hikes appear to be a likely outcome, there are several legislative scenarios that could alter, minimize or even delay the tax hikes set to kick in this January.After warning that U.S. financial institutions will continue to be under constant cyber attack, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said tha ...

For a time, businesses’ print processes were a no-man’s land for managed services providers; they were considered the domain of companies selling printers and related equipment. But managed print services have grown and evolved in recent years, with MSPs making definite in-roads working with manufacturers, vendors and VARs to add print management capabilities to their portfolios.So, to reinforce and assist the growth of managed print, CompTIA today launched its new Managed Print Trustmark, a bus ...

It’s a challenge to build a successful company into a viable long-term entity. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, more than 50 percent of small businesses fail in their first five years, while two-thirds of organizations close their doors before celebrating a ten-year anniversary. The reasons are numerous; from cash flow issues or the departure of a key employee to planned obsolescence and mergers.These challenges are felt by IT services businesses, especially given the complex ...

Passing of new cybersecurity legislation may have to wait until next year. Tech and telecom companies stepped up networking efforts at both national conventions. Obama plans to appoint a secretary of business.The passing of new cybersecurity legislation to protect our nation’s critical infrastructure may have to wait until next year, said The Hill. Even though Defense Secretary Leon Panetta urged Congress to act swiftly and Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he is planning to bring the issue to the ...

CompTIA is looking for digital information management professionals to participate in a beta exam of the updated CompTIA CDIA+ certification. IT professionals can take the test for free — and will be certified if they pass — but will not get their scores until the new exam version is released in 2013. Beta testing is one of the final steps in the CompTIA exam development process. Beta testers take a version of the exam with more questions than will be on the final exam. CompTIA uses beta tester ...

You don’t need to hold an MBA or be a CPA to run an IT channel organization, though either probably helps. Few solution providers have a formal education in business, human resources or finance, yet many manage dozens – perhaps even hundreds or thousands – of highly skilled employees. Acquiring office skills and insight isn’t easy for many tech-oriented individuals, just as gaining computer and network technology expertise would likely be no simple task for most executives.Not to underestimate a ...

Takeaway of the week is another bit of reinforcement that skillsets in the mobile arena are a hot commodity if applied properly. Demand in this sector is only going to increase in the coming months while firms learn how to properly evaluate candidates. Some might apply the "Moneyball" mantra while others may throw piles of money. What's Hot? Mobile Skills Roles within the mobile space are in demand for firms on both sides of "the pond" with steady increases expected, new research shows. Feedbac ...

This year has been the tipping point for cloud. For the last four to five years, we heard that cloud – basically, Internet-delivered solutions – was about to go mainstream. But in 2012 it’s gone beyond hype; with real user benefits driving adoption.People are not just looking for cloud-based solutions for the sake of doing so; instead, they are finding solutions to real problems via cloud. Meanwhile, some users are unknowingly using a cloud-based solution already – either in business or their pe ...