CompTIA Blog

The days leading up to the December holidays are usually filled with closing end-of-the-year sales, cleaning up the financial ledgers and office parties. It’s typically not the time of year when key channel leaders are moving around or changing jobs. But this holiday season seems to be the exception.On Monday, Lenovo SMB channel chief Jay McBain surprised the industry by announcing his resignation from the PC vendor. His destination isn’t exactly a closely guarded secret, but it’s not public as ...

A look at the week of December 21, 2010, in public advocacy for the IT channelUncertainty surrounding healthcare legislation makes investors wary about IT forecasts in the coming year.  As the government increases its use of cloud computing, the Department of Commerce is calling for a users’ “Bill of Rights” for cloud computing.  New legislation would make the U.S. a more attractive destination for foreign entrepreneurs.Legislative Uncertainty Worries IT Investors – Venture capitalists are bulli ...

Microsoft snuck out a second version of its Security Essential 2.0 application over the weekend, adding linkage to the embedded Windows Firewall. The early indications are Microsoft is moving to make MSE a more complete software security suite for home and small business users. The ultimate result could be more channel security opportunities.Microsoft has made no bones about its intentions to become a major player in the security marketplace. Through product development and acquisitions over the ...

Is any partner ever really satisfied with their vendor? Perhaps it’s an unfair question, since partner sentiment is shifted by events and circumstances. But a growing chorus of channel partners is raising its voice of discontent with Hewlett-Packard, calling into question new CEO Leo Apotheker’s channel commitment. And that’s just part of what’s happening across the Channel-Lands this week. We’re also watching the rise of Chinese competition, the setting of business goals in 2011, and a big chan ...

Charles Dickens’ seasonal classic, “A Christmas Carol”, endures not because it blends so well with our own celebrations, but because of the truth it instills in our souls at this hectic and indulgent time of year. Far from the glitz and excess that has come to characterize the Christmas season, the story focuses on one man’s life journey. As those of you familiar with the story know, while he has material wealth beyond imagination, Ebenezer Scrooge is emotionally impoverished and heading to cert ...

A look at the week of December 13, 2010, in public advocacy for the IT channel This week, questions about medical safety arise as electronic medical records (EMRs) gain traction.  Legislation was introduced in the Senate requiring minimum cybersecurity standards for all government and private sector devices that connect to the Internet.  The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has proposed a list of IT reforms as well as policies to encourage and expedite the adoption of cloud comp ...

The Obama administration is pumping $19 billion into the healthcare industry to help defray the costs of digitizing medical records and enable collaboration amongst medical providers. Electronic medical records promise greater efficiency and productivity, but healthcare providers are worried about their liability resulting from software errors. Those concerns could create a barrier to sales for solution providers. These liability concerns are keeping many physicians from investing in EMR syste ...

“Who are the individuals that have made the most significant impact on the technology industry, or the IT channel?” I’ve asked this question of many of my IT channel friends over last several years, starting back in my days as an industry magazine editor and carrying through my current consultant role. While my reason was to highlight these individuals in blogs and articles, CompTIA intends to immortalize these “game changing individuals” permanently in their newly announced IT Hall of Fame.Off ...

Ladell is a 22-year-old native of Chicago. He and his six brothers and sisters were removed from his mother's home when he was 4. By the time he was 8, he had been bounced between six different foster families. At the age of 15, he was placed with what would be his last foster family. They forced Ladell into criminal activities, and when he eventually resisted, he was shot five times.Give an IT future to those in need this holiday season.I met Ladell a few weeks ago when I attended the ribbon-cu ...

Congressman John Kline (R-Minn.) was tapped to the new chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor.  He’s been active with regard to reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act and believes in local control for education.  What does this mean for Workforce Development and Education? Kline has indicated that under his leadership the Committee will focus on four major policy goals:  Giving employers the certainty, flexibility, and freedom to create jobs; Conducting robust oversight ...

A provision included in the health care reform legislation will impose new costly compliance requirements for all businesses beginning in 2012.  While it applies to all businesses, it has a disproportionately negative effect on small businesses. Under this new requirement, any business that pays a single vendor $600 or more for goods or services annually must issue a Form 1099-MISC to that vendor, and this form must also be filed it with IRS.  If a business hires an accounting firm to prepare it ...

Beginning in 2011, qualifying heath care providers will become entitled to payments as high as $44,000 over a five-year period as an incentive to implement meaningful use of electronic health records.  Since the Republican takeover of the House, some have expressed concern about whether funding for health information technology (HIT) is in jeopardy.  We believe these concerns are unfounded and that funding will remain intact.   HIT and health care reform are completely different ...

As they say in boxing circles, here’s the tale of the tape: Apple has sold more than 20 million iPads since they went on sale last January. Samsung is reporting more than 1 million Galaxy Tab sold in the first month on the market. And scores of vendors are racing to put their version of touch screen tablet computers on the market.If you think those numbers are impressive, consider this: Asian manufacturers are gearing up to produce more than 100 million tablets in 2011.DigiTimes reported last we ...

It’s no secret that everyone wants a piece of the cloud. Ah, but plenty of debate remains over what the cloud means to the channel, and who will eventually dominate this emerging marketplace. And that’s the buzz dominating the Channel-Lands last week.Google, Microsoft Griping for Government CloudIt seems Microsoft and Google are bound to remain locked in a pitch battle command of the federal government’s cloud business. When either one wins a deal, the rival seems duty bound to complain or – in ...

Here’s an alarming statistic: one in seven small and mid-sized businesses have no IT security protection. According to a new survey by security software vendor AVG Technologies, SMBs are particularly exposed to Internet-born threats that could disrupt growth. And, worse, they don’t have the expertise to exercise risk management. There are a couple of well-known facts reinforced by the AVG survey: SMBs are exposed to the same security threats as large enterprises. SMBs do not have the expertise a ...