CompTIA Blog

Today, there are more than 600,000 open IT jobs in the United States, making IT training and education as critical as ever in building a strong workforce. The current economic environment has nurtured continuing developments in the IT industry. As new technologies emerge, the industry is looking to organizations to develop and drive new talent to fill those open jobs.The common theme for driving this talent is collaboration. It will be the collaboration of agencies, public and private organizati ...

While the United States government is faced with a potential shut down this week, when a new budget in eventually passed, small businesses can profit from knowing how to navigate their way through the red tape. That task sounds daunting, but a basic understanding of the shortcuts will allow VARs and MSPs to cultivate business from a number of agencies in the federal government. Our Small Business Owners Community members were given an educational primer on how to accomplish that in their CompTIA ...

During today’s CompTIA Annual Member Meeting in Chicago, Tim Herbert, VP, market research, CompTIA, addressed our relatively new Unified Communications (UC) Community and delved into the latest study data concerning customer and service provider perspectives on the market.CompTIA’s research looked at which UC technologies are customers using, what the customers want to do with the technologies and what is driving their decisions.  For the service providers at the meeting, Herbert also spoke on h ...

A look at the week of April 4 in public advocacy for the IT channel   Cybersecurity experts are beginning to feel that attackers have an edge on the government and are stressing the importance or collaborating with the private sector in fending them off.  H-1B visa reform is being pressed by tech companies, despite the persistently high US unemployment rate.  This week, the VA is taking steps to transfer its leading EMR system to an open source format. Cyber Attackers Have ...

On March 25, the Office of National Coordinator at the Department of Health and Human Services announced the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan, which was last updated in 2008.  The plan is being updated in order to reflect the impact of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act and the Affordable Care Act.  The plan focuses on implementing key healthcare IT policies over the next five years through coordination between government agencies, ...

It was back at the tail end of 2009 that I first became aware of CompTIA and its presence in the U.K. Like many people working within the IT industry, I was familiar with CompTIA primarily through their certifications. I’d passed my own CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+ and other similar exams at the start of my career and know many colleagues who have worked toward these qualifications too.But it wasn’t until I sat down with Matthew Poyadigi and William Linard of CompTIA UK that I became aware of Co ...

While it’s not really news to most, the CompTIA Annual Member Meeting (AMM) kicks off next week (April 6-7) at the Swissôtel in downtown Chicago. This second annual event is packed with educational sessions, collaborative community meetings and a lot of peer networking. For vendors, associations and solutions providers, these types of events have become critical to their long term goals, between the complexity of new business models and the rapid advancements in technology.Without the collaborat ...

CompTIA has fielded an annual security study for eight years. In the most recent study, 49 percent of firms rate security as a top priority, a significant jump from 35 percent of firms in 2008. Other CompTIA studies focusing on industry verticals or technology trends show that security concerns are a common thread through all markets. The IT industry has been talking about security for a long time, and the impacts are well known.For all the focus, ‘though, security breaches are still common and ...

A look at the week of March 28 in public advocacy for the IT channel   The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has released a strategic plan to carry out mandates in the HITECH Act.  The Pentagon has revised its cyber budget and is now asking for an extra billion dollars to protect its networks.  Sen. Robert Menendez has sponsored an amendment asking the Obama Administration to study the 1099 repeal. Healthcare IT Strategic Plan Unveiled — A draft of the ...

In a recent Wall Street Journal article, the head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), Karen Mills, discussed the importance of international markets and the types of hurdles small and medium size businesses (SMBs) face when exporting products or services.The export topic gets some “ink” periodically, but relative to other SMB topics, not much. Somewhat puzzling considering: 76 percent of global economic activity occurs outside of the United States. Granted, the U.S. economy is still ...

Our most involved and dedicated members head to Chicago next week for our Annual Member Meeting (AMM).  It’s our second year of bringing our members together and providing a forum for networking, education and community meetings.Members and non-members can attend, however members benefit with free online registration until March 29th.  Yes, that’s today, folks.  Haven’t registered yet?  Save yourself a few bucks and do so now!Once you register, take advantage of MyAMM.  It’s AMM’s own online com ...

The creator of a tool that made it easier to send and receive large volumes of data; a leader in bringing racial diversity to the IT industry; and the team that developed a credential that’s helped hundreds of thousands of people embark on careers in high-tech are the newest members of the IT Hall of Fame, administered by CompTIA.The IT Hall of Fame Class of 2011 includes the late Phil Katz, creator of the .ZIP file format, and Earl Pace, founder of Black Data Processing Associates. Both men wer ...

Winston Churchill once said, “There is nothing wrong with change, if it’s in the right direction.” How prophetic a statement that was, and continues to be in today’s IT channel. Almost every week an announcement touts a major acquisition or merger and, while some of these deals may seem inconsequential, the sum total of all these changes is altering the channel landscape significantly. Many of these corporate unions bring benefits for solution providers, such as more comprehensive solution and s ...

Our Annual Member Meeting, now in its second year, provides a forum for networking, educational sessions and member community meetings.  Attendees will brainstorm and problem-solve shared issues. Members and non-members can attend, however members benefit with free online registration until March 29th.What can you expect to see at AMM this year?  Community meetings and presentations across a full slate of verticals – from healthcare IT to cloud to unified communications.  Plus learn about our ne ...

Employment in the U.K. IT and telecom industry is set to grow at 5 times the national average over the next decade, playing a vital role in underpinning economic recovery.The research, Technology Insights 2011 by eSkills in January 2011, shows that demand for IT professionals has increased over the last year. 1.5 million people are currently employed in the IT workforce – equivalent to 1 in every 20 people employed in the U.K. This year alone, the IT and telecom workforce will require 110,000 ne ...