CompTIA Blog

The Advancing Women in IT Community celebrated its first official dinner at a CompTIA event, finally moving out of the early morning breakfast slot for meetings, as it has grown steadily each year since its founding. The group is focused on three main initiatives: Evangelism: Create a cadre of IT professionals who are willing to go out into the community to communicate the scope and availability of career opportunities in IT. Career resource platform: Provide an online resource center for anyon ...

Consultation and creative problem solving are important keys to success in the marketplace for cloud-based solutions. That message was delivered Tuesday by top executives from three leading IT distributors who participated in a Power Panel Discussion at CompTIA ChannelCon 2013. The market for cloud solutions is big and getting bigger, the panelists agreed. Jason Bystrak, director of cloud services at Ingram Micro, cited data that shows 70 percent of new customers were driven to a purchase decisi ...

Ideas stolen from other industries helped grow the Geek Squad from a one-man operation with a bicycle, phone and $200 into an IT repair service behemoth with 25,000 employees and thousands of iconic black-and-white Geekmobiles, the company’s founder proudly admitted Tuesday. “Every problem you face in your business has been solved,” said Robert Stephens, Geek Squad founder and former CTO of Best Buy. Stephens delivered a keynote speech at CompTIA ChannelCon 2013, the premier ed ...

Emerging technology trends are causing disruption in all areas of IT, including channel firms. Vendors, resellers and managed service providers (MSPs) are adjusting their offerings to provide the products and services that are in demand as businesses adjust the way they procure and use technology. For MSPs, four of the top issues impacting their business are mobility, Big Data, security and communications. In CompTIA’s Director of Technology Analysis and Market Research Seth Robinson&rsquo ...

ChannelCon 2013 attendees were urged by CompTIA President and CEO Todd Thibodeaux to embrace the future and all the opportunities it will offer, but also ask themselves tough and thoughtful questions about their business. During his keynote speech Tuesday, Thibodeaux used clips from several Hollywood blockbuster movies – A Few Good Men, Jaws, Dead Poets Society and Rudy – to illustrate his challenges to the business owners and executives in attendance. Can you handle the truth about ...

Laura Steward Atchison, CEO, Wisdom Learned LLC, gave ChannelCon attendees a tutorial on how to ask the right questions that will give you the answers you need to take your business and life where you want to be – faster.

The centerpiece of the CompTIA Mobility Community Meeting on day one of ChannelCon was billed as the “Rumble in the Mobile Jungle” and it was as combative as that sounds. With Ryan Morris, principal consultant at MMP Inc. serving as referee, Michael Toto, director of strategic global alliances and alternate channels at Verizon, Kyp Walls, director of product management at Panasonic, and Scott Barlow, vice president of worldwide sales at Reflexion Networks, sq ...

You don’t know what you don’t know. That’s one of the scariest elements of business. You know your business and do a great job at it, but how do you prep for what you don’t know? And, even scarier, can you prove in court that you do a great job and are prepped for the unknown? Mike Semel, president of Semel Consulting, addressed one of those big unknowns for managed services and managed print providers in presenting on “New HIPAA Changes and How They Affect Your MPS ...

Unrealistic expectations about what cloud computing can deliver often derail relationships between technology vendors and their channel partners, as well as between partners and their customers. The CompTIA Cloud / SaaS community debated how to overcome those obstacles during its meeting Monday at ChannelCon 2013, the premier education and training event for the IT channel. Attendees agreed that setting realistic expectations that are understood and agreed to by both parties – whether vend ...

New regulations and technologies are creating new challenges and concerns for companies delivering IT services and support. A panel of experts delivered this sobering message on the state of cybersecurity to attendees at Monday’s meeting of the CompTIA IT Services and Support community. The session took place on the opening day of CompTIA ChannelCon 2013, the premier education and partnering event for the IT channel. The panel noted that according to a recent survey, the number one issue k ...

Due to changes in the IT skills marketplace, CompTIA will retire the CompTIA IT for Sales and CompTIA Green IT specialty certification exams at the end of this year.

We applaud Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and John Thune (R-SD) for introducing “the Cybersecurity Act of 2013” this month. The act covers several important policy elements of the cybersecurity ecosystem. For instance, among the bill’s provisions are sections on public-private collaborations on cybersecurity; cybersecurity research and development, education and workforce development; and cybersecurity awareness and preparedness. An important component of the proposed legislat ...

Just 10 years ago, all an experienced IT professional needed to start his or her own services business was a hearty desire to succeed, a solid work ethic and an accountant to keep track of the influx of cash. Skill was, and continues to be, an essential ingredient in the success of solution provider companies, but over time, the organizational fundamentals have also grown in importance. Successful IT solution providers have to work effectively on both sides of the house today, with a firm grasp ...

CompTIA certified professionals now have a few new options to highlight their certified status. Credentialing service Blue Ribbon Techs and professional talent database Brainhunter.com now provide CompTIA certification validation on online profiles. So instead of confirming your certified status to multiple potential employers, you can do it once and apply to multiple contracting jobs.

On Friday, July 19, the House of Representatives passed “the Student Success Act,” which reforms and re-authorizes “the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA),” also known as “No Child Left Behind.” The law as it stands today has been due for reauthorization since 2007 and parties on both sides of the aisle agree that reform was needed to meet the needs and demands of today’s students. The bill passed the House on a mainly party line vote of 221 t ...