RSA Conference Topics Show CompTIA Communities on the Right Path

I was at the RSA Conference in San Francisco last week and was amazed to see the seemingly infinite number of vendors in the security space. Of course, all the usual companies were there, like McAfee, Symantec, Microsoft, CA, Cisco, Trend Micro, Kaspersky, Sophos and ESET, with  nonstop demonstrations and, of course, tchotchkes.  You can always use another t-shirt or keychain, right?


I had the opportunity to interact with a wide range of folks while walking the show floor, working the booth, attending vendor sessions, hosting our hospitality event, and just plain networking. The conversation was always engaging and revolved around CompTIA, whether it involved certifications such as the CompTIA Security +, accreditations like the CompTIA Security Trustmark, our newly refreshed IT Pro community for certification holders, participation in our rapidly growing Communities, or attendance and/or sponsorship at the AMM or Breakaway 2010.


With more and more technology moving to “the cloud,” it only makes sense to see vendors focusing their marketing messages on how they can bring peace of mind as well as their security expertise to the ever increasing software as a service (SaaS) delivery method. It seemed as though every booth at the show was promoting their SaaS expertise…the outlook for the security sector is certainly no longer “partly cloudy,” instead it is fast becoming a ray of sunshine and business opportunity in this economy.


The same optimistic outlook can be seen in the security marketplace as we strive to grow our IT Security Special Interest Group. We are now pulling together the final components of our next meeting agenda and it looks great. Our early morning session for IT Security will include an ongoing discussion pertaining to the code of ethics, additional development of the continued educational program, and the creation of working groups for new industry focused initiatives. The security keynote session will involve a panel moderated by Channel Insider’s Larry Walsh, with Randy Cochran (Symantec), Fernando Quintero (McAfee), Chris Doggett (Sophos), Steve Barrone (Creative Breakthroughs), and Mark Sollazo (SynerComm) as participants.


See you in Chicago on April 7-8th…….