CompTIA Blog

Telling Congress What We Need: CompTIA’s DC Fly-InIn early November, I was part of a lobbying delegation charged with telling congressional staffers the story of small technology businesses.  CompTIA’s “DC Fly-In” took place on Capitol Hill in the various congressional office buildings.  I live in Maryland so I met with the staff of my state’s two U.S. senators, Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski, and my congressman, Chris Van Hollen. The effort was very worthwhile. Below is a picture of the delega ...

Takeaway of the week is for prospective IT job seekers to take each survey predicting alternate hiring boon and/or gloom for the coming year with a grain of salt. As mentioned before, another six to eight forecasts are likely right around the corner at this “end-of-year, let’s-predict-forward” time of year. Best one can do is pull the positives out of each prediction and build on the valued suggestions of those in the position to hire others.   Survey: 2012 IT Outlook Big on Projects, N ...

If you’ve earned the opportunity for a job interview, rejoice as you’ve cleared what is typically the biggest hurdle in the whole employment bugaboo - getting that ‘foot in the door.’ Now, it’s all up to how you present yourself in that uber-crucial meeting. No pressure. Just keep in mind the following interview tips presented by Jeremy McCarthy, CEO of VentureLoop, in a recent About.com post on interview prep for startup firms. McCarthy, a veteran of startups and venture capital firms befor ...

It seems like every couple of years the hot topic in the IT channel changes. Recently, the largest focus has been on the opportunities in cloud computing, with all eyes (and the industry attention) on enabling end-users with these services. There’s good reason for solution providers to adopt and emphasize this thriving technology delivery system: they are in a race for control of their business accounts, offering a portfolio that meets their clients’ needs before direct sales organiz ...

A look at the week of December 19 in public advocacy for the IT channel: This week, Fierce Health IT reports that health IT professionals are some of the most in-demand members of the workforce.  The Hill listed network protections as one of Congress’s top priorities for 2012.  Federal CIO Steven Van Roekel wants to break agencies’ habit of clinging to outdated technology. Demand for Health IT Professionals Continues To Rise — There is a significant demand for health ...

IT workers in mobility, network virtualization, infrastructure, security and programming are in high demand, according to Jason Hayman, market research manager at TEKsystems, a Hanover, Md.-based IT staffing solutions, human capital management and IT services company. TEKsystems’ major vertical markets include healthcare, government, financial services and communications. Hayman recently spoke with CompTIA about the IT areas seeing hiring growth. Q. What areas of IT are hiring? A. Mobility – ...

TechVoice, a grass roots partnership among CompTIA, TECNA and other interested organizations, continues to grow.  We now have ten organizations that are a part of the TechVoice community and we hope to add more in the New Year.In a sign of the importance of public policy to our TechVoice partners, recently, Donn Morrill, executive director of the New York Technology Council (NYTC), invited CompTIA staff to present to the executive board of the Council.  On December 12th, I traveled to New York C ...

Takeaway of the week is an increasing number of thumbs-up signs for IT job seekers as the calendars prepare to flip another year. While a successful job search often comes down to the right combination of experience, education and luck, it’s becoming more apparent that some roles - whether for technicians or those leading them - might have an upper hand over other roles in the new cloud-based tech world.For the Right Skills, the Tech Boom is RealAn increasing number of people in the know say tod ...

Are you selling, developing or using cloud services and solutions? Validate your cloud knowledge with the new CompTIA Cloud Essentials exam now available.The exponential growth of cloud computing is driving increased demand for IT professionals with cloud expertise. IDC estimates that public cloud IT spending alone will grow from $21.5 billion in 2010 to $72.9 billion in 2015.To certify IT professionals’ readiness for evaluating, planning and executing cloud solutions, CompTIA collaborated with ...

Are you selling, developing or using cloud services and solutions? Validate your cloud knowledge with the new CompTIA Cloud Essentials exam now available. The exponential growth of cloud computing is driving increased demand for IT professionals with cloud expertise. IDC estimates that public cloud IT spending alone will grow from $21.5 billion in 2010 to $72.9 billion in 2015. To certify IT professionals’ readiness for evaluating, planning and executing cloud solutions, CompTIA collaborate ...

The Senate Banking Committee held a hearing on December 1, to consider whether easing the procedures for raising equity capital would impact job growth.  CompTIA submitted testimony for this hearing urging Congress to increase the small issuer exemption and enact crowdfunding.Concerning the small issuer exemption, legislation that passed the House overwhelmingly on November 2 would increase the offering threshold from $5 million up to $50 million.  H.R. 1070, the “Small Company Capital Formation ...

Takeaway of the week is an increasing number of thumbs-up signs for IT job seekers as the calendars prepare to flip another year. While a successful job search often comes down to the right combination of experience, education and luck, it’s becoming more apparent that some roles - whether for technicians or those leading them - might have an upper hand over other roles in the new cloud-based tech world.   For the Right Skills, the Tech Boom is Real An increasing number of people in th ...

Last week, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence unanimously passed out of committee the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2011 (H.R. 3523). The bill would “permit cybersecurity service providers and businesses that operate their own cybersecurity systems to share information related to potential cybersecurity threats with other businesses and the federal government. Such threats include efforts to interfere with a cybersecurity network, or threats involving the the ...

With two weeks left in the 2011 sales season, most solution providers have their plans in place for the first quarter of the New Year—if not for the next twelve months. Since it’s difficult to make a hard close to December business with the holidays, many are already shifting their focus to 2012—and looking for ways to improve their organization.This time of year business is typically a little slower, allowing the management team to reflect on past success and challenges before moving into the n ...

A look at the week of December 12 in public advocacy for the IT channel: This week, members of Congress are looking at innovative ways to fund small businesses.  A cybersecurity bill is making progress in the House Homeland Security subcommittee on cybersecurity.  Federal cloud providers have new security controls from the Obama Administration.Both Parties Invest in Crowdfunding — Even as they continue to spar over taxes, deficit reduction and government regulations, members of Congress are eyei ...