CompTIA Blog

Until recently, the cloud for solution providers was a lot like an NFL draft prospect to their future team: a lot of discussion and tremendous potential, but no tangible results. But it’s really more than just a “buzz word” bandied about by the tech community to confuse end-users and reduce channel margin. Cloud services are finally becoming a significant source of revenue and business growth for solution providers and vendors. It’s become readily apparent over the past few years that there’s a ...

A look at the week of April 23 in public advocacy for the IT channel:  This week, the House will review four cybersecurity bills, including the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA).  A new small business tax cut was approved by the House this week.  National Journal looks at the role of the House Homeland Security Committee in evaluating cyber legislation.House Boots Up 'Cyber Week'— The House is set to vote on four cybersecurity bills during what lawmakers have dubbed "cyber we ...

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to represent CompTIA at the North Carolina Technology Association’s Annual “State of Technology,” a statewide conference on tech trends and innovation by North Carolina companies and organizations, all with a focus on data storage and security.Congresswoman Ellmers (center) with Brooks Raiford, CEO of NCTA (left) and Matthew Evans of CompTIA (right)In a post conference session, CompTIA partnered with the North Carolina Technology Association (NCTA) to pr ...

Previous, I gave an overview of the key pieces of cybersecurity legislation under consideration in the House. Now let’s turn to the Senate, which favors a comprehensive approach to this issue.In the Senate there are two competing cybersecurity bills. S. 2105, Cybersecurity Act, which includes bill provisions authored by Senators Lieberman, Collins and Rockefeller, also incorporates cybersecurity recommendations for legislative reform provided by the White House.Among the key provisions: Grants n ...

This week, the House Republican Leadership plans to put up four cybersecurity bills for floor votes: CISPA,  FISMA, CEA and NITRD.In contrast to the Senate, the Republican Leadership in the House is pursuing a piecemeal approach to cybersecurity reform. In fact, Representative Thornberry issued a report last year stating that the best approach to cybersecurity reform was to allow each committee of jurisdiction to develop, vet and introduce cybersecurity legislation.Senator Reid’s preference for ...

As the technical equivalent of a gym rat, Weylin Piegorsch took on the new CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP+) certification exam for the professional challenge and came away impressed.

As the technical equivalent of a “gym rat,” Weylin Piegorsch took on the new CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP) certification exam for the professional challenge and came away impressed. Piegorsch, a network engineer for Computer Sciences Corp., said although his current job duties don’t revolve around computer security, “I expect CASP to bear great rewards for future positions, and was interested in it to increase my future marketability.” It doesn’t hurt to have the CompTIA pedigr ...

There’s nothing like spending a week meeting face-to-face with some of the brightest minds in the IT services industry to get a firmer grasp on the biggest challenges facing solution providers. Despite what some say, there is no better way to connect and share valuable information than live personal interaction. That same principle applies to clients and prospects, but due to cost and time constraints, that kind of type of contact isn’t always possible.Of course, the next best thing to an in-per ...

Today, the House voted to pass H.R. 9, the “Small Business Tax Cut Act,” by a vote of 235-173. This legislation would provide a 20-percent tax cut to companies employing 499 or fewer employees during either calendar year 2010 or 2011.  The way this works is that any business – without regard to revenues – would be given a tax deduction equal to 20 percent of that business’ net income.  For example, a business having 400 employees in 2011 with a net income of $20 million would get a deduction of ...

A look at the week of April 16 in public advocacy for the IT channel:  This week, the House announced changes to the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act in response to criticism from privacy groups.  John O. Brennan, President Obama’s senior adviser on counterterrorism and homeland security, published an op-ed warning that cyber legislation must be passed quickly.  USA Today looks at the role of community colleges in workforce retraining initiatives for careers in fast growing industri ...

By now you know the JOBS Act was signed into law by the President on April 5.  This legislation includes six pre-existing bills, packaged together into a single piece of legislation.  Each of these provisions is intended to increase access to equity capital investment for small businesses: H.R. 1070 — Small Company Capital Formation Act – Increases small business SEC exemption from $5 million to $50 million. H.R. 2167 — Private Company Flexibility and Growth Act – Raises the shareholder threshol ...

Believe it or not, some solution providers scoff at the opportunity to support their clients’ printers and copiers, seeing it as more of a distraction than a true business opportunity. In a world filled with distractions, they’d rather keep their eyes focused on the networks, computers, servers and applications with which they’re more comfortable. The print functions are a forbidden fruit that many solution providers would rather leave to the “dealers.”Of course, over the past few years that “ot ...

CompTIA’s Unified Communications Community was challenged Thursday to re-think what they think about unified communications.“Unified communications as we define it is a myth,” Lawrence Walsh, president and CEO of The 2112 Group, told the group. “We talk about it as if it’s a product, but it’s an outcome. It’s whatever the end user wants it to be, the outcome desired by the customer.”Because of that, unified communications should be viewed as a dream by IT solution providers and system integrator ...

Takeaway of the week is that apparently the Easter Bunny didn’t walk away with all the goodies in his basket last week. For those in the technical sector, more nuggets are there for the taking without much hunting, including the top spot in a new national poll of the best jobs in the U.S., good news for IT contractors and even a thumbs-up for Silicon Valley job seekers in their *gasp* 40s. Bridging the IT Skills Gap Job fillers are having trouble finding job seekers properly prepped in the late ...