CompTIA Blog

“Who are the individuals that have made the most significant impact on the technology industry, or the IT channel?” I’ve asked this question of many of my IT channel friends over last several years, starting back in my days as an industry magazine editor and carrying through my current consultant role. While my reason was to highlight these individuals in blogs and articles, CompTIA intends to immortalize these “game changing individuals” permanently in their newly announced IT Hall of Fame.Off ...

Ladell is a 22-year-old native of Chicago. He and his six brothers and sisters were removed from his mother's home when he was 4. By the time he was 8, he had been bounced between six different foster families. At the age of 15, he was placed with what would be his last foster family. They forced Ladell into criminal activities, and when he eventually resisted, he was shot five times.Give an IT future to those in need this holiday season.I met Ladell a few weeks ago when I attended the ribbon-cu ...

Congressman John Kline (R-Minn.) was tapped to the new chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor.  He’s been active with regard to reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act and believes in local control for education.  What does this mean for Workforce Development and Education? Kline has indicated that under his leadership the Committee will focus on four major policy goals:  Giving employers the certainty, flexibility, and freedom to create jobs; Conducting robust oversight ...

A provision included in the health care reform legislation will impose new costly compliance requirements for all businesses beginning in 2012.  While it applies to all businesses, it has a disproportionately negative effect on small businesses. Under this new requirement, any business that pays a single vendor $600 or more for goods or services annually must issue a Form 1099-MISC to that vendor, and this form must also be filed it with IRS.  If a business hires an accounting firm to prepare it ...

Beginning in 2011, qualifying heath care providers will become entitled to payments as high as $44,000 over a five-year period as an incentive to implement meaningful use of electronic health records.  Since the Republican takeover of the House, some have expressed concern about whether funding for health information technology (HIT) is in jeopardy.  We believe these concerns are unfounded and that funding will remain intact.   HIT and health care reform are completely different ...

As they say in boxing circles, here’s the tale of the tape: Apple has sold more than 20 million iPads since they went on sale last January. Samsung is reporting more than 1 million Galaxy Tab sold in the first month on the market. And scores of vendors are racing to put their version of touch screen tablet computers on the market.If you think those numbers are impressive, consider this: Asian manufacturers are gearing up to produce more than 100 million tablets in 2011.DigiTimes reported last we ...

It’s no secret that everyone wants a piece of the cloud. Ah, but plenty of debate remains over what the cloud means to the channel, and who will eventually dominate this emerging marketplace. And that’s the buzz dominating the Channel-Lands last week.Google, Microsoft Griping for Government CloudIt seems Microsoft and Google are bound to remain locked in a pitch battle command of the federal government’s cloud business. When either one wins a deal, the rival seems duty bound to complain or – in ...

Here’s an alarming statistic: one in seven small and mid-sized businesses have no IT security protection. According to a new survey by security software vendor AVG Technologies, SMBs are particularly exposed to Internet-born threats that could disrupt growth. And, worse, they don’t have the expertise to exercise risk management. There are a couple of well-known facts reinforced by the AVG survey: SMBs are exposed to the same security threats as large enterprises. SMBs do not have the expertise a ...

This blog post courtesy of Keith Warburton of TCA, the UK Channel Community of CompTIAThe Technology Channels Association (TCA) was the not-for-profit trade body for the U.K. IT marketplace. We were in business for nearly 18 years and in that time we consistently provided a wide range of services to our members, who included vendors, distributors and of course; resellers. We always took the view that coopertition is the way forward – we all have more to gain by cooperating with others than we ha ...

Minnesota Congressman John Kline was chosen on December 8th by the House Republican Conference to serve as the Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee.  What does this mean for workforce development and education? Kline has indicated that under his leadership the Committee will focus on four major policy goals: Giving employers the certainty, flexibility, and freedom to create jobs; Conducting robust oversight of education and workforce programs across the federal government to prote ...

I recently sat down with CompTIA president and CEO Todd Thibodeaux to chat about hot tech gifts this holiday season. We’re both longtime gadget guys and tech tinkerers so it’s always fun to compare notes on product trends. Since many of the tech products that find their way under the tree also find their way into the workplace, it’s worth taking a look at the drivers behind the gift lists and the implications for the IT industry.This year will again be defined by incremental improvements and new ...

For those of you who haven’t watched the NFL this year, here is a season recap of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals. The Steelers began the year without their starting quarterback for four games and several other impactful injuries on the offense, namely on their lineman and both backup quarterbacks. With all of those problems, you might expect them to finish last in their division. But that’s not the situation. They continue to win and have been called the best team in the AFC ...

On Tuesday, December 7, the Administration released its “Fact Sheet on the Framework Agreement on Middle Class Tax Cuts and Unemployment Insurance.”  Conspicuously absent was a provision to repeal the new and onerous Form 1099 reporting requirement – which will not go into effect until 2012.The basic concepts of the agreement are as follows:Extended for 13 months: Unemployment benefits at current levelsExtended for 2 years: Existing income tax rates R&D tax credit Child Tax Credit of $1,000 ...

Spiffs, rebates, special discounts and limited promotions are tools all vendors use to tickle their customers into loosening their purse strings. Vendors surrender a little margin in favor of capturing a customer to upsell and expand the sales relationship later. But are these special incentives always worth the expense? How do they affect the partner in the sales process?This is the question Bill Leutzinger, president of telecom reseller TelecomMedic, asked in his recent blog post on Phone Plus ...

The world is moving up into the clouds, of that there is no doubt. Just how the channel will make this migration and what form will businesses take once they arrive remain in question. This week, the Channel-Lands received a reaffirmation commitment in the cloud to partners from one of the largest patrons. We also heard from the new HP chief on his plans for partners. And we’re monitoring some interesting moves by Apple.Microsoft Chief Affirms Channel Cloud CommitmentMicrosoft global channel chi ...