IT professionals who can balance network security challenges with the productivity benefits of mobile device users connecting to company networks now have a new option to validate their knowledge and skills: CompTIA Mobility+ certification.
The vendor-neutral certification, now available worldwide, is ideal for mobile device management administrators, mobility engineers, mobility architects, help desk employees, email administrators, network administrators and security administrators. There are no prerequisites, but CompTIA recommends that candidates have 18 months of experience in a mobile environment. CompTIA Network+ certification and 12 months of networking experience is strongly encouraged.
The 100-question, 90-minute CompTIA Mobility+ exam is available worldwide in English, priced at $261. A Japanese version is slated to become available in early 2014. The Mobility+ certification has a three-year expiration, requiring certified professionals to pursue continuing education to remain current.
Earning CompTIA Mobility+ will show that certified individuals know how to understand and research capabilities of mobile devices and features of over-the-air technologies. The exam covers how to deploy, integrate, support and manage a mobile environment ensuring proper security measures are implemented for devices and platforms while maintaining usability.
“CompTIA’s introduction of the Mobility+ exam is a pure reflection of what’s happening in the market,” said Terry Erdle, CompTIA executive vice president. Sixty-four percent of companies allow or mandate employees to bring their own mobile devices into the workplace, according to CompTIA research.
The Mobility+ exam objectives focus on over-the-air technologies, network infrastructure, mobile device management, security and troubleshooting. Candidates will be asked to compare and contrast mobile technologies; install, configure and implement mobile solutions and encryption methods; interpret and explain technology, disaster recovery methods, principles and policies, risks and mitigations; and also execute best practices and remediation strategies.
Courseware, Training at Launch
CompTIA Authorized Learning Content Partner Logical Operations will make Mobility+ courseware available through the CompTIA store and Logical Operations’ e-commerce store. The courseware’s instructor and student editions support a 32-hour, expert-facilitated class that could be taught in varying periods of time—in five days or over five weeks, for example. Online assessments and an e-book version of the student manual are available through Logical Operation’s CHOICE learning platform.
The Logical Operations Mobility+ course “can be taught completely using device simulators running on the student’s development computer instead of requiring mobile devices for each student,” said the company’s Senior Instructional Designer Brian Wilson. “The classroom doesn’t need to be equipped with a lot of real phones and tablets. Of course, real devices can be used if they’re available.”
Separately, CompTIA Authorized Learning Content Partner Mobile Comply will also make Mobility+ courseware available through the CompTIA Marketplace and Mobile Comply's store.
Mobile Comply, headquartered in Pontiac, Mich., will offer “Mobility+ for the IT Professional: CompTIA Mobility+ Certification Training,” both as an instructor-led offering and as a 14-day or 5-day online training. The courses are geared towards candidates working in networking and mobile environments. The company also plans a “Mobility+ for Students” course targeting university and college programs seeking to add mobile networking to their IT programs.
By mid-November, Mobile Comply will offer a print version of its Mobility+ for IT Professionals curricula. Mobile Comply will offer Mobility+ training at its offices in Pontiac and Austin, Texas; at the location of channel partners and also on-site for clients seeking to train a cohort of students.
CompTIA’s New Mobile Credentials
CompTIA Mobility+ is the second of two new mobile-device-centric certifications recently introduced by CompTIA. The first, CompTIA Mobile App Security+ (released last month), validates that mobile application developers have the skills to securely create a native iOS or Android mobile app while also ensuring secure network communications and back-end web services. Now CompTIA Mobility+ certifies the skills and knowledge IT professionals need when balancing network security challenges with the productivity benefits of mobile device users connecting to their networks.
Sharon Tierney, senior product manager at CompTIA, explained the differences, saying, “Mobility+ is for IT professionals working to ensure that the mobile devices brought into the workplace work securely with existing network infrastructure, despite the multiple mobile device types, a wide range of apps and user behavior. Available in iOS and Android editions, Mobile App Security+ is for software developers who know how to secure the app as they are developing it from the very start.”
