CompTIA Blog

  • What You Need to Know About Startup 3.0

    Feb 20, 2013, 21:33 PM by Lamar Whitman
    A new version of Startup 2.0 was introduced in both the House and Senate last week. Startup 3.0 is co-sponsored by Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Representatives Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) and Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.). Startup 3.0 continues the mission of its predecessor legislation, intending to boost our economic recovery by providing greater support for high-paying, high-skilled jobs in science, technology, engineering and math ...
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  • ChannelTrends: Telecom Advisory Council Bridges the Gap between Telecom and IT Services

    Feb 20, 2013, 19:06 PM by Brian Sherman
    To business owners, the companies that help design, implement and support their technology needs may not seem that different. Most of those organizations employ a variety of talented engineers, sales people and other operational team members who ensure their systems are properly assembled and running effectively at all times. To the user, it doesn’t matter if those individuals are supporting their company’s servers, workstations, printers or communication infrastructure; as long as e ...
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  • Get a Wrap-Up from CompTIA’s Second Annual TechVoice D.C. Fly-In

    Feb 19, 2013, 22:40 PM by Nancy Hammervik
    Last week, I was in our nation’s capital, along with 60 or so other CompTIA staff, members and TECNA partners, taking part in CompTIA’s second annual TechVoice D.C. Fly-In. While I would not consider myself politically savvy, I am politically curious. I have tremendous appreciation and respect for this country’s history and government. I never imagined I would have the opportunity to walk the halls of the Senate and Congressional offices, let alone sit down with policy makers to represent the IT ...
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  • A Day in the Life of an IT Tech: George Kalfas, Systems Engineer

    Feb 15, 2013, 21:19 PM by Janet Pinkerton
    A computer enthusiast and Japanese Anime buff as a teen, George Kalfas debated whether to pursue business or web graphics design in college. But a summer job working as an assistant to his high school's IT director piqued his interest in IT itself as a career.
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  • Panelists at Day Two of the TechVoice D.C. Fly-In Tackle Cyber Warriors, Startup 3.0 and More

    Feb 14, 2013, 22:45 PM by Lana Sansur
    This morning we kicked off day two of the TechVoice D.C. Fly-In with a Tech Summit that included exceptional panel members from the private sector and federal government diving into IT workforce, Internet governance and other important issues for the tech entrepreneur.Ernest McDuffe, lead of the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education, started the morning with discussion of an initiative called NICE, which defines a framework to improve online behavior skills to enable a safer cyberspace ...
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  • CompTIA TechVoice Fly-In Is Off to a Great Start

    Feb 14, 2013, 17:13 PM by Lana Sansur
    We heard from some great folks on a panel talk this morning at the TechVoice Fly-In in Washington, D.C., including Rep. Richard Hanna (R-NY) who discussed the importance of education and STEM including the introduction of bill called the STEM Education Opportunity Act.We also heard from Brian Forde, senior advisor to the Chief Technology Officer for The White House, who talked about the White House tech summit with the mission to broaden the STEM talent pool.Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) talked about c ...
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  • How to Upgrade Your IT Skill Set for Cloud

    Feb 12, 2013, 16:00 PM by Janet Pinkerton
    We're not moving to the cloud just to move to the cloud. The cloud is a tool to reduce cost and make collaboration easier. Brian Glick, vice president of global information services, Vandegrift Forwarding Company Cloud is becoming a mainstream platform for IT solutions. Are you ready to take advantage of the opportunity for your company and your career? Moving processes and systems to cloud-based solutions requires IT personnel to gain not only new tech expertise, but also savvy critical t ...
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  • ChannelTrends: What True Opportunities Does the Cloud Hold for Solution Providers?

    Feb 6, 2013, 00:04 AM by Brian Sherman
    Demand for cloud computing-based solutions continues to climb, with Gartner Research predicting that trend to continue for the next several years, taking an even larger share of the total IT market. Gartner expects annual revenue for the Web delivery model to top $207 billion by 2016, as detailed in CompTIA’s Third Annual Trends in Cloud Computing study, which equates to almost 10 percent of overall IT spending. While cloud experts continue to focus on the benefits from mainstreaming Web-based a ...
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  • Dell Leverages CompTIA A+ for Metrics, Morale and More

    Feb 4, 2013, 16:00 PM by Jim Staats
    With CompTIA A+, the foundation is there to know how to troubleshoot and know about all the components. What you study and everything you are taught are things that we use every day. Steven Geha, technical support manager, Dell Need your technicians to become more technical? Want your employees invested in internal career paths? Looking to please your customers and supervisors as well? Dell Support Services in Australia and New Zealand has a single solution for those time-worn workplac ...
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  • Canadian High School Program Connects Students to IT Opportunity

    Feb 1, 2013, 18:00 PM by Janet Pinkerton
    Students work through through CCNA 2 curriculum involving basic router and switch configuration at the CompTIA/Cisco Networking Academy classroom/lab at Burnaby South Secondary in Burnaby, BC, Canada. The Computer Networking Technician (CNT) program at Burnaby South Secondary School, located in a Vancouver suburb, is creating student pathways to IT-related jobs and higher education, thanks to great local partnerships, an exceptional instructor and strong district support. For Burnaby South ...
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  • CompTIA Weighs in on Expanding Unlicensed Spectrum

    Jan 29, 2013, 20:53 PM by David Valdez
    In early 2012, Congress enacted the 2012 Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act, which included a provision that authorized the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct incentive auctions to maximize the utility and efficiency of the nation’s radio spectrum frequency bands.Consequently, on October 2, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) seeking comments on several aspects of an FCC proposed “reverse auction” process aimed at incentivizing television broadcaster ...
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  • ChannelTrends: The Untethered Executive: How to Maximize Profits with Mobility

    Jan 29, 2013, 19:00 PM by Brian Sherman
    It was only a decade ago that many of my friends who owned businesses carried two cell phones and rarely travelled without a laptop weighing at least seven pounds. The inconvenience of using multiple devices, especially those without web-connectivity, was assumed to be balanced by the separation of their business and personal communications. Professional acquaintances were typically given the company phone number and email contact information, while their friends and family were granted access t ...
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  • The Year Ahead in Technology: Growth Outlook and Trends to Watch

    Jan 29, 2013, 00:23 AM by Tim Herbert
    “The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable,” cracked economist John Kenneth Galbraith. Although said in jest (sort of), Galbraith accurately captures the sometimes questionable track record of prognostications. Yes, this applies to tech sector forecasting as well – I know, hard to believe! Nonetheless, no business can avoid thinking about the future. Even if imperfect, economic and industry forecasting serves a useful purpose in fram ...
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  • How to Handle an Irate Customer

    Jan 28, 2013, 20:00 PM by Janet Pinkerton
    Let your customer vent their frustrations first, advises Sharon Nielsen, account manager at One Prospect Technologies. "Most people, once they have vented their frustrations and felt heard, calm down on their own and become more willing to listen to your suggested resolutions, or provide feedback with suggestions of their own," she says. Your customer is screaming, or worse, quietly seething. What is the best way for you to respond? Several seasoned IT professionals recently shared their best ...
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  • ChannelTrends: Selling Security is Critical to the Health of Solution Providers – and Their Customers

    Jan 23, 2013, 22:05 PM by Brian Sherman
    The human body is quite miraculous. Consider how an assortment of bones, tissues and organs can come together in a machine capable of performing such intricate operations. On top of that, the body employs its own defense systems to protect itself from pathogens and other dangers, from multiple layers of skin to a variety of protective antibodies. While not quite as miraculous as the human anatomy, a business computer system is similarly complex and also employs several layers of defense to pro ...
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