CompTIA Blog

Members of the CompTIA EU IT Services and Support Forum gathered at the Computacenter facilities in Kerpen, Germany (near Cologne) this week for a face-to-face quarterly community meeting. Attendees came from near and far (including Azerbaijan!) to discuss the latest opportunities and challenges in the technology services industry, as well as elect members to executive council positions.As each member made their introduction, they were asked to share their reasons for attending the IT Services a ...

Hundreds of leaders in the IT channel are descending on San Antonio this August for our annual Breakaway event.  How do you capture one-on-one time with your key partners with so much going on?  Hear from Xerox and InFocus on how they support Creating Futures through its charity golf classic -- showing their support for the future IT workforce and optimizing their networking opportunities at Breakaway.  It's a win-win for all.View the video on how to jumpstart your networking at Breakaway.Ready ...

Most Solution Providers go into business because they love technology. The problem is, running a technology business is often more about managing the business than managing the technology. Human resources is a perfect illustration of this point. The average entrepreneurial solution provider doesn’t have a lot of experience in creating a job description; but you can’t get too far along in your business before you need to put one together. Once your staff is on board, they will likely have what se ...

There's true power in numbers, and the CompTIA Educational Foundation is looking to create some powerful philanthropy numbers.  Not just with fundraising as you may think, but with bringing the philathropic power players together. We're hosting a first-ever IT Philanthropy Summit with key technology foundation leaders to help set the future direction of philanthropy in the IT industry.  The peer-to-peer planning summit will be held August 12 during our annual Breakaway conference in San Antonio, ...

While Health Care Reform legislation was signed into law by President Obama earlier this year, its effect on small businesses is yet to be determined.  In fact, while the legislation has more pages than War and Peace, the regulations that will be drafted in the next few years which will define the details of the reform law will probably be in the neighborhood of 75,000 to 100,000 pages!  It is no wonder that the picture for small business remains murky when the regulatory paper blizz ...

It is no surprise that the weight of the recession caused headaches and elevated stress across the IT channel during the last 12 to 18 months. A recent survey of solution providers conducted with our partner ChannelForce reveals just how broad a blow the economic downturn struck. More than three-quarters of survey respondents reported that the recession impacted their businesses either significantly or moderately. Just 22 percent said they experienced no impact at all.But what’s most interesting ...

Note: This is the fifth of eight blog entries in which I examine managed services best practices identified in the CompTIA MSP Partners 2010 market research.I have met some very good negotiators in my day, but the very best I have encountered are children. Considering that they have almost nothing to bargain with and occupy a position of little power, kids have an innate ability to negotiate and ultimately get what they want. My teenagers are masters at working mom and dad (and if necessary, gra ...

Healthcare IT (HIT) ostensibly is moving from a vertical market to a business segment of its own. As medical practices of all sizes strive to automate their processes, digitize their records and streamline their overall operations, solution providers have a tremendous opportunity that can transform their business as well. This is not simply a “flash in the pan” occurrence, but a market changing transformation if solution providers follow the right steps.  We're developing a se ...

I have had the opportunity to speak with many leading, solution providers, security vendors and more over the coming months and one thing is clear—there is a definite need for training programs across the channel. Not just any training program will do; programs that are focused on developing and nurturing better partners are truly needed, including those that cover multiple facets of a company’s business. It only makes sense that the best channel partners are running their business with optimal ...

Cloud and SaaS computing are all the rage these days, with a steady stream of articles, forums and vendors discussing the pros and cons of this thriving software application delivery model. The basics are pretty well understood, but there are many questions around true business opportunities and challenges for solution providers and vendors. Cloud computing is more than accessing a program through the internet; it requires a different support structure than the typical software application. Deve ...

This past Saturday, my wife discovered that our town was having a recycling event, where the items accepted, at no cost, included all manner of electronic equipment, bikes, cell phones, scrap metal, and books, and eyeglasses.She saw this as a fantastic opportunity to rid ourselves of a 20 year old nonfunctioning CRT TV that easily topped 100 lbs.  In a storm of late spring cleaning, we found another 3 large bags of various cabling and equipment that no longer worked.  We loaded it all in the car ...

A major challenge for small businesses continues to be lack of access to capital.  While there are signs of improvement, especially as compared to 2008 and 2009, access to capital continues to be a hindrance to growth and innovation.   While TARP bailed out a number of larger financial institutions, it did little to spur small business lending. Credit lines remained stagnant for small businesses.  CompTIA has raised this issue on Capitol Hill and there is growing concern – but little consensus – ...

A serious discussion about the value and sequencing of a college education is long overdue.As the class of 2010 graduates into the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression, the prospects for employment are bleaker than in anytime I can remember. For high school graduates under 25 and not in college, the average unemployment rate is 22.8%, according to recent data.The solution, we are told, is to send more of these high school graduates to college, where, having spent in many cases we ...

Strata is now available within Creating Futures.  To help disadvantaged and disabled individuals open up a career in IT, GTS Learning Inc. donated 1,000 CompTIA Strata eBooks to the CompTIA Educational Foundation’s Creating Futures program. Creating Futures will provide Strata training and certificates at no costs for military veterans, individuals with disabilities, minorities, women, at-risk youth and dislocated workers. CompTIA Strata exams are not certifications, but a confirmation of an ind ...

Remember Green IT? Though the recent economic plunge has certainly had an impact on the growth of eco-friendly technology, the more recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and rising energy prices (again) have once again proven that the environment and our limited resources are never too far away from the front page (no, I don’t actually read actual newspapers but it is still a good metaphor). Though it would be nice to think that people care about Green IT just because they care about our world ...