New Security Certifications for the New Year

New Year, New Certs

COMPTIA PRESS RELEASE

Tags: certification, Healthcare, Healthcare IT, Security, storage

With the New Year, we're embarking on several new certification exams. Development is currently underway on two security exams (a new version of CompTIA Security+ and CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner), CompTIA Storage+ powered by SNIA, and credentials around healthcare IT.

We all know how huge security is for the industry. CompTIA Security+ is the fastest growing exam in our history and continues to see growing demand from both the public and private sectors. (There are almost 160,000 CompTIA Security+ certified professionals worldwide!) The last revision was in 2008, thus it's time for an update of the exam content. Objectives are now available for this exam scheduled for a May 2011 release.

Development also is underway on CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP), our first entry into the world of advanced certifications. CASP is still a technical exam with a hands-on focus, but is intended to follow CompTIA Security+ or equivalent experience. The majority of the demand for CASP is coming from the government market, but there is a fit in the private sector as well. There are quite a few advance security certifications in the market, but these focus more on theory and management issues rather than implementation. Job roles suited to the new certification include titles such as security architect, information assurance manager, information systems security officer and security analyst. Look for this exam Q4 2011.

CompTIA Storage+ powered by SNIA (see press release) is the latest in the line of exams developed in partnership with other associations such as CompTIA Linux+ powered by LPI and CompTIA CTP+. This exam is designed to offer a foundation of knowledge for any storage professional seeking to validate expertise in the storage networking and information management areas. With the exponential growth in network storage and the regulatory drivers that require more data storage to be retained for longer periods of time, the industry needs qualified personnel to manage this data. Target candidates will have at least six months experience. A beta release of this new exam is scheduled for Q2 in 2011 with global availability in the second half of 2011.

We just completed the exam development workshop for the CompTIA Healthcare IT for EHR credential. The security and regulatory requirements for IT technicians working in the HIT/EMR setting are very different than in other IT environments, and technicians need to understand those issues. This exam will validate these skills. Watch for more information on this new credential very soon!

Cloud Computing Certification Coming from CompTIA

 

If all goes according to plan, sometime around midyear there will be a vendor-neutral credential available for IT professionals who want to become certified cloud computing specialists. CompTIA, the IT trade association best known for its certification programs, is in the final stages of an initiative that began some 18 months ago to create a cloud computing certification.

 

The Cloud Computing Certification will be aimed at somebody who is going to help a software company architect their application for deployment through the cloud. It will look at bandwidth optimization, storage optimization, virtualization.

 

Stay tuned by joining this blog.

 

 

Jobs requiring IT certifications grow

IT Certifications Grow in Importance in Hiring Process

Greater emphasis on validated skills as companies struggle to fill IT staff openings

Downers Grove, Ill., February 7, 2011 – Employers are inclined to rely more heavily on professional certifications when hiring information technology (IT) workers. Professional certifications are already viewed by hiring managers as a high-value validation of IT skills. The CompTIA study suggests certifications will grow in importance as organizations seek to fill tech jobs.

Among IT hiring managers nearly two-thirds (64 percent) rate IT certifications as having extremely high or high value in validating skills and expertise. Eight in ten human resources (HR) professionals surveyed believe IT certifications will grow in usefulness and importance over the next two years.

But employers also expressed concerns about some aspects of using IT certifications in the hiring process. There is a perception among some hiring IT managers that the HR department does not have a solid understanding of IT certifications.

"The value of certifications can be enhanced in a numbers of ways," noted Tim Herbert, vice president, research, CompTIA. "Stronger links with education; easier methods of verification; greater understanding of what IT certifications can and cannot do; and more organizational support for certifications as part of a professional development program all would be positive steps in this direction."

86 percent of hiring managers indicate IT certifications are a high or medium priority during the candidate evaluation process.

"From the employer's perspective, top benefits of IT certification are validation of an individual's ability to understand new or complex technologies, higher productivity and more insightful problem solving," said Herbert.

The study suggests that certifications will become even more important as employers struggle to find individuals to fill job openings.

"Now more than ever there's little margin for error for making a bad hire," Herbert said. "In an environment of needing to do more with less, organizations cannot afford the time and cost of bringing on a new employee who cannot contribute immediately."

Get CompTIA, Cisco, Microsoft, Security, PMP, CISSP, CertificationToday at Training Planet

 

phone and network requirements for voip voice over IP training

Voice over IP has radically changed the office phone system from simply a voice call to a voice service that can be managed far more effectively and efficiently.

 

http://www.trainingplanet.com/html/ccvp_voip_certification_course.html

 

This VOIP training provides the core knowledge of Voice over IP (VoIP) required for implementing and supporting data and voice integration solutions at the network level. It helps you grasp the VoIP vision, and to answer three major questions most companies have about VoIP solutions:

    * Why are so many companies moving to VoIP?
    * What are the benefits of using VoIP?
    * Is VoIP right for our company?

Learn to implement Cisco VoIP solutions and you're practically guaranteed a cool, well-paying job for the next 5 or more years.

Here's why: VoIP -- Voice over IP -- has taken the telecommunications world by storm, replacing worn-out PBX phone systems with new VoIP solutions. These VoIP solutions provide more features and flexibility, and work much better as business solutions. Cisco leads the pack with more installed VoIP solutions than any other hardware manufacturer -- a Juniper Research study covering VoIP growth from 2007 to 2012 showed Cisco moving into undisputed leadership of the VoIP industry. This isn't a fly-by-night phenomenon -- the VoIP industry is set to grow from $2 billion in 2007 to $15 billion in 2012, according to the study.

Here's what that means to you: With the growth of VoIP -- especially Cisco VoIP -- organizations of all sizes will need skilled IT pros who can install and manage these solutions. By learning these skills now, you can ride the wave all the way to the top.