CompTIA Blog

Leadership is defined as a function, act or role in guiding groups or individuals, but those who attended last week's CompTIA Breakaway conference know that description doesn't do it justice. The members who step up to head each of the association's 11 peer communities aren't paid for their efforts, and most spend hundreds of hours each year to accomplish all of their group's ambitious industry-enhancing goals. Much of their work happens behind the scenes, from organizing calls and planning upco ...

Takeaway of the week is a bit of reinforcements of items previously mentioned in this space. Yes, politicians wrangle over cybersecurity legislation, but the end result could mean more money and perks for those with cyber skills. Yup, the looming cloud could spell doom for some traditional IT roles, but there might be a silver lining. And it's looking like Tony Bennett isn't the only one whose heart is in San Francisco. Security Pros, Your Country Wants - To Pay - You As politicians metaphoric ...

Legislation has been voted out of the Senate Finance Committee that would extend a number of popular tax provisions, including small business expensing, 100 percent exclusion on gain of small business stock, and the research and experimentation (R&E) tax credit.  The small business expensing provision would allow small businesses to immediately expense many asset purchases on their current-year tax return, as opposed to depreciating the purchase over a period of years.  This accelerates futu ...

Veterans and transitioning military members interested in building a career in IT after their service in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars can use their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to pay for IT training and certification. Since October 2011, the benefits can be used to pay for IT training via non-college degree training programs, as well as graduate and undergraduate degree programs. Here's how to do it. A veteran's best source of information about the Post 9/11 GI Bill is the U.S. Department of ...

CompTIA will add performance-based questions to its CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+ and CompTIA Security+ certification exams in the coming months. Performance-based questions require exam candidates to perform a task or solve a problem within a simulated IT environment to demonstrate specific knowledge or skills. Currently, the three exams employ only multiple-choice questions. The CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP) exam, introduced in September 2011, was the first CompTIA exam to ...

So you are aiming for an entry-level IT job. Do you know what that entails? An IT Help Desk or Tech Support role can be very different depending on the size, structure and culture of the company. Below is a snapshot of three opportunities on the market. Tier 1 Help Desk/Desktop Support Contract worker employed by Randstad Technologies (IT staffing and recruitment agency) at an enterprise-sized client company with 1,000 or more employees. Required skill-set, work experience and/or credentials: ...

Takeaway of the week is some outside-the-box thinking when it comes to job search in the IT industry, be it that professional personality coach in your corner or some helpful reminders on the importance of communication. Oh, and cybersecurity professionals prepping to see how that big federal bill sure to shape your world pans out? Your time is almost here. Find Me A Job, Coach World-class athletes seek them out. Why not high-class IT professionals looking for that extra edge in a crowded, co ...

In an educational session on the last day of CompTIA’s Breakaway 2012, Keith Eades, CEO at Sales Performance International, sent attendees home with six pointers for better selling: Adopt a customer- and solution-centric philosophy – i.e., answer the customer’s problem. Use a buyer-aligned sales process – i.e., know more about how buyers buy than how your organization sells. Align sales and marketing – messaging, tools and conversations. Use management systems and disciplines that foster and sus ...

At one point in her long IT career, Nellie Scott's superiors didn't want to train her female staff because they thought women were more likely to leave the company, particularly as they approached motherhood. Scott, now a manager at Lenovo, gave a winning argument back, ending with, "What if you don't train them and they stay?" That line finally got her superiors on the ball with training her entire staff. How to get more women in IT and how women in the industry can use different resources t ...

No business is too small to engage in strategic business planning. So says Scott Goemmel, business advisor with 4-Profit, who led a workshop on business strategy planning today at Breakaway 2012.“Most companies spend less than two percent of their leadership’s time on strategy, yet we’re the fastest changing industry,” said Goemmel. “That’s not nearly enough to take your company and move it forward.”In the IT industry especially, Goemmel said very successful technical people will start and grow ...

At one point in her long IT career, Nellie Scott’s superiors didn’t want to train her female staff because they thought women were more likely to leave the company, particularly as they approached motherhood.  Scott, now a manager at Lenovo, gave a winning argument back, ending with, “What if you don’t train them and they stay?” That line finally got her superiors on the ball with training her entire staff.How to get more women in IT and how women in the industry can use different resources to s ...

Steve Potts, director accountable for Growth at Transmentum Ltd., based in Nottingham, U.K., assured me the Dutch have a sense of humor.  But he still doesn’t advise tech vendors to use jokes when trying to break into the Dutch market.“You see, we salespeople paint word pictures.  And while many Dutch business people speak excellent English, they just don’t have the same frame of reference,” Potts explained.I ran into Potts in the hallway after he served on a panel discussion during the “Busines ...

The concept of vendors syndicating content to channel partners is not new.  But integrating the syndicated content into marketing automation is an idea starting to take hold.“Channel partners have been using vendor content for three main purposes: training and education for staff and customers, leveraging powerful product brands and sometimes just because they don’t have the experience and time to market their own services,” said Tony Serino, president and founder of Serino Channel Services.Tony ...

Maybe you’re looking at five years to grow your company organically to where you want it to be.  But five years is a long time in the IT industry.  Instead, you’re looking at mergers and acquisitions to get bigger quicker.During Breakaway today, presenters Samuel Attias, managing partner, Technology Capital Investors, and Rick Murphy, managing partner, Cogent Growth Partners, gave attendees an insider’s perspective on what really goes on behind the curtain when buyers are considering purchasing ...

IT channel companies coping with a changing marketplace marked by cloud computing, mobility and recurring revenue models don’t need to go it alone. Instead, they can rely more heavily on their distributor partners for support.“We owe it to you to help you change and transform your business, and we have the capabilities to do that,” Joe Quaglia, senior vice president, U.S. marketing, Tech Data Corp., said Wednesday during the Distributor Power Panel session at Breakaway 2012.Distributors can “ins ...