CompTIA Blog

A look at the week of May 29 in public advocacy for the IT channel:  With the celebration of Memorial Day weekend, The Washington Post renewed its focus on how to educate and train our nation’s returning veterans.  White House Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel testified before a congressional committee, defending the federal government’s efforts to take advantage of the latest technology. On the small business front, Small Business Administration Head Karen Mills s ...

Ask any solution provider to describe the amount of information collateral their vendor partners send their way and quite often the first response you’ll get is a groan.Think about it: Daily (or more) email newsletter blasts, social media feeds, frequent partner portal updates with strategic information on product roadmaps, pricing, sales promotions and technical updates. That’s not to mention the collateral on discounts, rebates and MDF that changes regularly, along with the constant flow of in ...

IT certifications can help a veteran land a job, but veterans need to understand how much work earning the credentials will require and the salary the resulting IT job will command, says Army veteran Ryan McCauley. Since October 2011, McCauley has used funding from the Post 9/11 GI Bill to earn CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+ and other industry certifications at New Horizons Learning Center in Durham, N.C., while working a full-time job. It's been hard, attending 12 hours of class at New Horizo ...

IT certifications can help a veteran land a job, but veterans need to understand how much work earning the credentials will require and the salary the resulting IT job will command, says Army veteran Ryan McCauley. Since October 2011, McCauley has used funding from the Post 9/11 GI Bill to earn CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+ and other industry certifications at New Horizons Learning Center in Durham, N.C., while working a full-time job. It's been hard, attending 12 hours of class at New Horizo ...

According to a CompTIA research report released a couple months ago, business executives have become increasingly concerned with protecting access to their companies’ information systems and the data they contain. Whether driven by new rules and regulations, or well-publicized news of critical breaches and their repercussions on organizations and their clients, a majority of decision-makers are taking note of the value of an effective IT security program.And the awareness level is escalating rap ...

Takeaway of the week is a clarion call for the IT pro who never sleeps on what he or she knows amid an always changing technical landscape - and that goes all the way to the CIO. Who knows, show your tech skills and you could even end up in the White House. Constant Learning Curve for IT Pros Given the ever-expanding reach of technology, the smart IT professional will seek out ways to expand skill sets in comparable measures, says one industry veteran. While the IT job market is doing some ...

When her post-retirement career didn't work out as planned, Navy veteran Mellisa Stroman trained with New Horizons of Southern California to earn IT certifications and get the IT instructor job she really wanted.

Mellisa Stroman When her post-retirement career didn't work out as planned, Navy veteran Mellisa Stroman trained with New Horizons of Southern California to earn IT certifications and get the IT instructor job she really wanted. Stroman worked in IT nearly her entire Navy career while raising two children with her husband, also a Navy sailor. "I just always wanted to go into the computer field," she says. From 1985 through 2005, Stroman's Navy rotations included maintaining an I ...

We’ve heard so much about cloud computing, and Dan Shapero, technical marketing executive of ClikCloud and CompTIA board member, is no stranger to the subject. Shapero co-founded ClikCloud in 2011 to offer cloud-based marketing support to small businesses, including website and social media management, email marketing and website analytics.“The cloud has created a frictionless market for us to deliver high value services at an affordable price point,” Shapero said. “Economies of scale afforded b ...

The President recently signed into law the JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) Act, which among its provisions would allow for crowdfunding for small businesses. Under the new law, companies can raise up to $1 million during a 12-month period under streamlined Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reporting requirements.While businesses in high-growth geographic areas, such as Silicon Valley or Cambridge/Kendall Square have exposure to a variety of fast-growth organizations and leaders, th ...

Generally, employers are required to file Form 941 on a quarterly basis to report and pay over federal income tax withholdings, social security and Medicare tax. They also must file a Form 940 annually to report federal unemployment taxes.  However, there are some exceptions.Household employers are allowed to replace the four quarterly Form 941 filings and the annual Form 940 filing with a single annual return, Schedule H, which is filed as part of the payer’s annual individual income tax filing ...

As a small business owner with eight employees, MJ Shoer, president and virtual chief technology officer of Jenaly Technology Group Inc., sees first-hand the costs and staff time associated with tax compliance.“It seems like an unnecessary distraction that saps resources, time and money,” Shoer noted.  “For example, why do we need to file quarterly payroll tax returns?  It would save me a lot of time and money if I could file a single annual return.”MJ ShoerLike many other small business owners, ...

Wendy Frank, founder of Accell Security, Inc. and Accell Technology Inc., became active in advocating for a change in the Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Federal contracting program after finding it an obstacle to her efforts to grow her business. By partnering with CompTIA’s public advocacy team, Frank is making her voice heard in the corridors of Congress.Wendy FrankFrank has been immersed in technology since her childhood, literally growing up around computers and studying Accounting and Co ...

For the second year running, we are leveraging our IT communities to promote technology-related philanthropic organizations around the world. With grants around $5,000, the news is definitely worth sharing.The CompTIA IT Services and Support Community kicked off the 2012 philanthropy effort with donations of $5,000 each to the National Cristina Foundation and Per Scholas. If you haven’t heard about these amazing organizations, here you go: The National Cristina Foundation provides solutions to h ...

Just 10 short years ago, the vast majority of solution providers followed the traditional reseller business model. As their client base grew, the number of employees and resources needed to support the new business grew just as quickly, since repairs and maintenance typically required sending personnel onsite to accomplish each task.Help desk and emergency service calls often required lengthy calls, providing step-by-step instructions to collaborate with end-users to fix issues before rolling a ...