Health care providers expanding use of mobile devices and apps

Health care providers expanding use of mobile devices and apps

Mobile technology is expanding its presence in the day-to-day delivery of patient care and practice management by health care providers, according to CompTIA's Fourth Annual Healthcare IT Insights and Opportunities study. It reveals that many health care providers are on the cusp of greatly expanding their use of smart mobile devices from routine business activities, such as e-mail and scheduling to care-specific uses. One in five physicians with a mobile device already uses health- or medical-related applications on a daily basis.

Hiring, retaining IT workers a big worry for health care vendors

Hiring, retaining IT workers a big worry for health care vendors

A survey of health care firms indicates hiring and retaining IT workers is an increasing concern, with 21% of those polled worried they won't have the expertise to build e-health systems. Tech skill hiring beat out concerns about cost, product availability and user buy-in, and more than half of respondents expect to boost IT staff in the upcoming year. 

Ethernet switch growth is forecast to continue

Ethernet switch growth is forecast to continue

The growth of the Ethernet switch market will continue even amid decreased public-sector IT spending and a weak European market, Infonetics predicts. The big drivers are 10G adoption, data-center growth, server virtualization, video demand and mobility, Infonetics and IDC say. "While growth in the Ethernet switch market will largely come from 10GbE and 40GbE in the coming years, it is encouraging to note that the market for Gigabit Ethernet is holding its own, largely in campus, aggregation and network edge deployments," IDC's Rohit Mehra said in a statement.

How the tech-skills shortage may hurt economic growth

How the tech-skills shortage may hurt economic growth

Several IT recruiting experts say the ongoing tech-skills shortage will hurt U.S. economic growth and is likely to get worse before it gets better. "Unlike the fiscal cliff, where we are still peering over the edge, we careened over the 'IT skills cliff' some years ago as our economy digitized, mobilized and further 'technologized' and our IT skilled labor supply failed to keep up," wrote Bob Miano, CEO of executive-search firm Harvey Nash, in a paper on the issue.

CompTIA's IT Hall of Fame inducts three new members

CompTIA's IT Hall of Fame inducts three new members

Technology innovators who helped make wireless computing and database management possible and a pioneer in franchising for the computer reseller market are the newest members of CompTIA's IT Hall of Fame. This year's inductees are Victor Hayes, the "father of WiFi," dBase designer C. Wayne Ratliff and Jim Ciccarelli, who helped transform the IT reseller franchise model.

Cisco Changes CCNA Certification Program

Cisco Announces changes to the CCNA Program

This week Cisco announced major changes to their associate-level certifications aligning with the evolving job market and the latest Cisco technology. The changes are as follows: 

* The certification formerly known as CCNA is now CCNA Routing & Switching. The only prerequisite certification is CCENT.

* CCENT is also the only prerequisite certification for CCNA Voice, CCNA Wireless, CCNA Security and CCDA certifications.

* Updates include IOS v15, IPv6 Support, IOS Licensing, and a simplified 802.1x security implementation.

* Cisco also announced that the existing ICND1 (640-822), ICND2 (640-816) and CCNA (640-802) exams will have an end-of-life date of September 30, 2013. You can mix and match old and new exams until September 30th - ICND1 (640-822 or 100-101) INCD2 (640-816 or 200-101).

In answer to this, Cisco Press has announced new Official Cert Guides, which have been fully updated for the latest ICND1, INCD2, and CCNA exams. The guides include preparation hints and test-taking tips, which will help candidates identify areas of weakness and improve both conceptual knowledge and hands-on skills.

* Cisco CCENT / CCNA ICND1 100-101 Official Cert Guide Premium Edition eBook and Practice Test (9780133367881).

* Cisco CCNA Routing and Switching ICND2 200-101 Official Cert Guide Premium Edition eBook and Practice Test (9780133367713).

Exams and Recommended Training
Required Exam(s)

640-802 CCNA - Last day to test September 30, 2013