Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)

The Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) is part of a PM certification portfolio offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI). PMI is the unabashed global leader in project and program management certifications. The CAPM is geared to professionals (not just IT pros or developers) who would like to take on more challenging projects but who lack the requisite education or experience to obtain the more advanced Project Management Professional (PMP) credential. The CAPM also serves as great preparation for professionals with an eye to more advanced program or project management credentials.

To obtain the CAPM, candidates must possess a high school diploma or associate’s degree (or global equivalent), plus at least 23 hours of project management education. PMI offers an online PM Basics class which meets this requirement. Course fee is $350 for member or $400 for non-members. The course prepares candidates for the CAPM exam and focuses on understanding PM vocabulary, understanding how PM processes and concepts work together and incorporating PM principles into your projects. Once the prerequisites have been met, candidates must pass a single exam ($225/members and $300/non-members). To maintain the credential, 15 Professional Development Units (PDUs) are required every three years.

In addition to the CAPM (featured above) and the PMP, PMI offers numerous other credentials focused on program management (PgMP), portfolio management (PfMP), business analysis (PMI-PBA), risk management (PMI-RMP), scheduling (PMI-SP), PMI Project Ready, plus agile certified practitioner (PMI-ACP).

More Info: entry level comptia a+ jobs

CompTIA Security+ Certification: Explained

CompTIA Security+ certification is a highly recognized and respected accreditation. It is a global certification that validates the skills needed to perform core security functions and is generally regarded as the first security certification any IT professional should earn.

Security+ certification is ISO 17024 standards compliant, and it is also approved by the US DoD to meet directive 8140/8570.01-M requirements.

For individuals desiring to pursue a career in IT security, this certification provides financial benefits, career pathways, and instant industry recognition. The certification:
Demonstrates the skills needed to identify and address security incidents;
Verifies the IT professionals’ expertise required for executing essential security tasks; and
Incorporates best practices in real-world scenarios and hands-on trouble-shooting to build practical security problem-solving skills.

Skills you learn:
An understanding of vulnerability scanning concepts and penetration testing.
Installing and configuring identity and access services.
Installing, configuring, and deploying network components.
Implementing and summarizing risk management best practices.
Implementing secure network architecture concepts and systems design.
Installing and configuring wireless security settings and implementing the public key infrastructure.

More Info; what jobs can i get with a comptia a+ certification

CompTIA’s IT Fundamentals (ITF+)

It’s interesting to see the gaps that people have in their knowledge,” said Stanger. “They are very deep in certain areas, but not in others. And that holds companies back and holds people back in their careers. Technology is moving so fast you can’t afford to say I’m going to dive into this and I’m not going to worry about all this other stuff on the periphery. You’ve got to have a good foundation so that those things that are on the side that don’t seem relevant suddenly become relevant very quickly, tomorrow or maybe even the next hour. So, having that right foundation is important, not just to get people ramped up, but more importantly, to allow them to handle all the emerging technologies that are happening right now.”

CompTIA’s IT Fundamentals (ITF+) is one way the organization helps promote digital literacy. The primary goal of the program is help people think about how technology works. “There are consumers of IT who know how to use their mobile phone, but do they really know how it works? Do they understand how social media databases work? How the networking operates? ITF+ is one way to get started,” Stanger explained.

In expanding on CompTIA’s offerings, Plunkett shared, “we’ve developed an eight-week program where we teach an IT core skills program that incorporates ITF+ but also goes into presentation, math and reading skills and gives individuals the foundational knowledge to prepare them to go into A+ certification.”
Apprenticeships are a good way for people with various backgrounds and skills IT experience. CompTIA partners with Apprenti, as well as others, and are in discussions with many states on how to build a credible apprenticeship program including virtual, remote opportunities. “We work with states, companies and partners to set up the opportunities,” Stanger said. “While we liaise between these parties, the companies and the governments typically have to work and coordinate together.” CompTIA also provides training through its Custom Training program and through its certified training experts.

More Info: jobs for a+ certification entry level

Network+ N100-007 Virtual labs with Practice exams

Nobody likes to fail but sometimes they fail the test even if they performed well in the exam because preparation wise they are good but practically they may be weak. So, it is important to practice to succeed in the exam. There are a number of resources available online to study and practice for the CompTIA Network + n10-007 test.

Certexams is one of the top vendors which provides lab simulators and exam simulators for the CompTIA Network+ certification test. The site certexams has been updated its CompTIA Network+ labs and Practice exams recently according to the latest objectives of N10-007. The labsim includes more than 50 labs are included with scenario type labs for NAT, OSPF, EIGRP, Access Lists, and others with the detailed help manuals and also includes 500+ practice questions and answers includes multiple-choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blanks, drag-n-drop, etc. that provide close to actual exam environment on Network Technologies, Network Media and Topologies, Network Devices, Network Management, Network Tools, Network Security

Certexams is one of the famed websites that offer lab simulators and practice exam simulators for the CompTIA Network+ certification test with the latest objectives. Lab simulator includes virtual lab exercises and exam simulator includes sample questions with flashcards.


More Info: comptia jobs

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Sales Cloud can create fully customized product that brings all the customer information together in an integrated platform to achieve buisness goals including marketing, lead generation, customer service, and business analytics and provides access to thousands of applications through the AppExchange. The platform is provided as Software as a Service (SaaS) for browser-based access; a mobile app is additionally available.

Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a service provider of digital marketing automation and analytics software and services. It absolutely was founded in 2000 with the name ExactTarget. ExactTarget was renamed to Salesforce Marketing Cloud in the year 2014 after the acquisition by Salesforce Inc.

Salesforce Cloud professionals can develop marketing automation and analytics software for email, mobile, social and online marketing. It also offers consulting and implementation services. The software is sold totally on a multi-year subscription basis. the value of the subscription is predicated on what features are enabled, the number of users, and the level of customer service.

More Info: comptia a+ jobs

implement cybersecurity solutions

This means you will learn how to implement cybersecurity solutions for both cloud and on-premise systems, understand asset and risk management, and be able to analyze and build cybersecurity operations within an enterprise network, among many other skills.

The huge responsibility cybersecurity engineers carry often puts them at the top of the food chain in cybersecurity teams – making a graduate degree an almost standard pre-requisite. But if you have the training and the experience, companies are willing to pay for your expertise. According to CyberSeek, the average salary for a cybersecurity engineer is $99,000 per year.

A threat intelligence analyst detects cyber threats and malware and analyzes the level of threat to inform cybersecurity business decisions. They know what risks are of most concern, what assets need to be protected and how to focus efforts.

The role of a threat intelligence analyst is generally threefold:
Technical research
Intelligence research
Communicating the findings to the proper people

This can be done via an in-house, full-time position or outsourced as a consultant.

More Info: a+ certified technician

list of CISO priorities

If you thought that data volumes were already outrageous for large organizations, the average Devo customer has more than 10 terabytes of daily data ingest. Compound that amount of data with the unknown number of indicators of compromise (IOC) that are coming into the environment during the pandemic. There’s no way to tell exactly what the security posture is of each of the places people are working today, whether they’re at home or on the road.
Automation:

Last but not least on the list of CISO priorities is one of the fastest growing areas of SOC technology: automation. CISOs say they spend a lot of time trying to determine if the technologies they have purchased for their SOCs are actually helping analysts find threats and eliminate them as quickly as possible. CISOs recognize that breaches will occur, so they ask themselves and their teams to determine if their SIEM and SOAR (security orchestration, automation, and response) solutions are tuned so most of the detection work that typically was performed by Tier-1 analysts is now being handled automatically. By automating as much routine detection work as possible, Tier-1 analysts can focus on responding to the most severe threats instead of trying to handle every threat, which overwhelms analysts and leads to alert fatigue.

More Info: a+ certified jobs

WHEN IT COMES TO DIGITAL BUSINESS

However, paper is not the fundamental argument against the dictionary family. Dictionaries and encyclopedias can be (and have been) published online. Rather, a war is being waged against the notion that documented knowledge should be vetted by so-called subject matter experts, peer-reviewed, or organized around domain bias. While it is difficult to pinpoint the origins of this disestablishmentarian cultural zeitgeist (please excuse the redundancy), there is no doubt of its existence. Although the practical reasons of speed and convenience dominate, there is also a notion that there is a disconnect between the “experts” and the practitioners. Indeed, everybody is an “expert” in their own minds. Isn’t there a certain wisdom in the crowd of the self-anointed? And if the whole point of language and knowledge is to improve communications and share, why rely on recognized subject matter experts? Why not let the crowd define language and knowledge for themselves, for the needs of today? Devil-may-care!

Words matter. While the word police won’t penalize you for calling a major Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation a “digital transformation,” conflating automation with digitalization is likely to confuse employees and lead to a misunderstanding of anticipated results for a digital initiative. When an executive returns from a conference and says “we all need to get on board with digital transformation” does she mean she wants to use a vendor’s cloud technology or purchase artificial-intelligence tools? Or is she talking about using technology to fundamentally change the way the organization operates? The fact is there exists no single definition of digital transformation and no single source where words associated with it are defined. The closest one can reliably come to a single source of “truth” on Digital Transformation (sometimes referred to as DX or DT) is the Digital Practitioner Body of Knowledge (DPBoK), published in 2019. And even in that ambitious and much-needed publication only seven words are actually defined in the Terminology section.

More Info: comptia certified jobs

How to Communicate with Different Personality Types

Communication is essential for the smooth running of any organization. However, most workplaces still struggle with communication, leading to misinterpretation and lack of unity among the various teams in the office.

It becomes even challenging since the workplace is a melting pot of cultures and personalities. Read on to find out the causes of poor communication in the workplace and what you can do to foster effective communication within the organization.
Why is Communication Difficult in Office Settings?

Relationships outside the office can be very different from those within. When you understand why this happens, it becomes easy to find solutions and keep productive conversations going at work. So why is it difficult for colleagues to communicate in an office setting? Below are a few factors that contribute to poor communication in the workplace.
Lack of Open Feedback

Some companies have leadership systems that tend to be rigid and intimidating, promoting top-down communication while suppression feedback from the junior staff. As such, employees are unable to share their feedback openly. When managers don’t involve employees in important discussions or ask for their opinions and ideas before taking major decisions, employees feel undervalued. They then become unwilling to share their feedback, discuss their challenges or voice their opinions.

More Info: jobs you can get with a+ certification

Strategic and Systems Thinking

Often paired with Active Listening, Emotional Intelligence relates to understanding how a person feels about something and not just how they logically think about it. Often, a customer’s or internal stakeholder’s “gut” reaction is even more important than their intellectual thoughts about it. Well-practiced emotional intelligence helps develop empathy, an essential ingredient in team development, stakeholder management, and product design.
Strategic and Systems Thinking – Strategic IT thinkers see the “big picture” of where the organization needs to go and how IT is essential to accomplishing organizational goals. To dispel any confusion, strategic thinkers are not the “big idea” people who concoct grandiose but often unrealistic ideas that have little to do with organizational goals. Instead, they understand direction in terms of realistic possibilities that help the organization achieve sustainable results. Likewise, systems thinking is about understanding the organization as a whole. It is rarely the case that success hinges on just one part of the organization or a singular technology. Systems thinkers see how different parts of the organization contribute to larger value streams. Both strategic and systems thinking contribute to a number of other practices including Portfolio Management, Financial Management, Risk Management, and Data Analytics.
Design Thinking – As previously mentioned, design thinking helps designers learn how customers actually use products and services, which is often different than how engineers and developers conceive of them. To be effective, it requires a healthy dose of humility from subject matter experts (the customer knows better) and a flexible mindset (it is natural for customers to change their minds and for products and services to evolve). Design thinking contributes to the transition from traditional “waterfall” project management to agile approaches

More Info: comptia a+ jobs near me

outside the control of IT

Unfortunately, a VPN can degrade performance, especially if the company wasn’t prepared to scale to hundreds of VPN points. And certainly, using some network and storage intensive operations over a home DSL is nearly impossible. There’s been a lot of hard lessons learned within the security architecture community. IT in general got a huge shakeup,” said Thornton-Trump.

It’s also probably a little too hopeful to expect that all employees actually use a VPN every day, said Aladenusi, who added that COVID-19 is forcing many companies to rapidly accelerate their IT plans, which may have included more remote usage and VPNs five or even 10 years from now.

“We are being forced to bring the future to the present and there’s not time to go through a design process. We just had to get access to people. Some used VPN, some used multi-factor authentication, but some just looked for a way to connect,” Aladenusi said. “Another issue was getting secure devices to employees. Many have been forced to use their own personal computers that likely weren’t aligned with the company’s security policies.

Many newly remote workers don't have have updated software in terms of OS and antivirus, increasing the risk and widening the corporate network that is outside the control of IT, Aladenusi said. “It became a serious issue. Accessing the system and doing the work was the priority at the time, but this exposed many organizations to security risks.”

More Info: a+ certification jobs with no experience

IT or cybersecurity experience

Yes, you can, however we recommend a minimum amount of hands-on experience before taking any of our certifications. (Each one has different recommendations, found in the Exam Details section of the certification webpage.)

But hands-on experience doesn’t have to be on-the-job experience. It could mean any hands-on work, including practical experience gained while taking a class or through self-study, like with official CompTIA learning and training products. CompTIA develops these solutions from the ground up and rigorously evaluates them to ensure in-depth coverage of the exam objectives. Then, take what you’ve learned to the next level by helping friends, family or local nonprofits with their IT and cybersecurity issues.

CompTIA certifications mirror the current job roles of IT professionals, so it makes sense to earn these certifications to validate the knowledge and hands-on skills currently being used in the workforce, whether you have job experience or not.

More Info: comptia cloud essentials salary

Are you Teleworking Now

While currently experiencing very uncertain times, one thing that has remained certain is the use of internet. Now, more than ever, people all over the world are depending on the web for essential everyday duties. Some employers have been able to keep their doors open by transitioning to working online. However, there is a downfall to this alternative. The recent spike in online activity has led to an increase in cyber security attacks.

There is no question that there is a serious need for cyber security education right now. Learning about cyber security can help protect your information and prevent your company from facing major consequences in the future. Phoenix TS offers courses that can help you do just that. Their online Cyber Security Awareness course provides a general overview of cybersecurity and how to protect systems while teleworking. The course tackles how to recognize cyber attacks and the correct actions to take when an attack has occurred. Those who participate in the course will learn about different types of cyber attackers, who they attack and their motivations for attacking. After that, students will be introduced to common cyber-attacks for teleworkers. For instance, the students will be able to view real life examples of phishing, watering holes, and man in the middle attacks. These real-life examples will demonstrate ways to identify these different attacks so that teleworkers know what it is that they are looking for. Finally, the students will learn about defenses for teleworkers and incident response.

More Info: a+ network+ security+ salary

network administrator certification

After completing the A+, Network+, and Security+ certifications you have a decision to make. Do you want to pursue a Cisco path or a Microsoft path? Both paths are proprietary and there isn't much crossover between the two so it will be very difficult if you decide to pursue both at the same time.

In many cases, an employer lets you know what is valuable to the company and this is often the deciding factor. In other cases, people just enjoy working with operating systems more than networking devices or vice versa (by the time you finish the CompTIA certifications you should know your preference). As the old saying goes, ’Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.’
Foundation certifications: These CompTIA certifications are vendor-neutral and provide a solid knowledge base for any path to becoming a network administrator.
Cisco certifications: These credentials are valuable for administrators that manage Cisco’s widely-used network devices, such as routers and switches.
Microsoft certifications: These certificates are key for administrators that provide network administration services at both the desktop and server level.

People commonly want to know how long it’ll take to complete these certifications so I've given some common study time estimates. These guidelines assume you have a job but you’re still able to study regularly to master the concepts. Someone that is unemployed and spending 12 hours a day studying can complete these certifications much quicker. In contrast, someone with a full time job that regularly requires overtime might need more time.

More Info: jobs you can get with an a+ certification

Certification Validity Period and Procedure

It is a large trade organization that consists of resellers, manufacturers and distributors. It is tasked with developing voluntary guidelines dealing with professionalism and business ethics, and take part in many issues like warranty claims, product returns as well as price protection.
Certification Validity Period and Procedure of Re-Certifying

In the past, A+ certification was a lifetime certificate, but from 2011, the certificate must be renewed every three years by retaking the A+ test. The certificate holders are required to pay the Continuing Education Units (CEU) fee for maintaining the certificate.

CompTIA A+ certification exam has traditional, situational as well as identification type of questions. All of which are multiple choice with one correct answer. A+ certification exam can be accessed by anyone, although it is meant to be conducted by individuals with a minimum of several months’ job experience as service technicians.

This certification is the only vendor specific hardware certification that is available for IBM-compatible computer systems. Progressively, numerous help desk positions and service centers need A+ certification or experience as a basis of hiring. In case you hold more than one CompTIA certifications, you are required to meet the demands for your highest certification. In most, cases, you can login to your certification account and submit your completed activities and receive CUEs.

More Info; comptia a+ careers

CompTIA Security+ SYO-501

CompTIA Security+ certification is a fundamental certification that validates the baseline skills and equips candidates with the core knowledge essential for any cybersecurity role. It is one of the most sought out credentials among IT professionals. The certification is compliant with ISO 17024 standards and approved by the US Department of Defense (DoD) to meet directive 8140/8570.01-M requirements. CompTIA updates the exam version every three years. The current Security+ SYO-501 is going to be retired in 2021. The new Security+ SYO-601 is going to release in November 2020.

To earn the Security+ certification, candidates have to pass the SYO-501 exam. The certification focuses more on hands-on practical knowledge, which is tested through performance-based questions in the examination.

Candidates have to attempt 90 multiple-choice and performance-based questions (MCQs) in 90 minutes and score 750 to pass the CompTIA Security+ exam successfully.

The current CompTIA Security+ SYO-501 exam covers six domains, whereas the new SYO-601 exam covers only five domains focusing on skillsets required for the current industry roles.

More Info: comptia a+ requirements

entry-level IT certification

CompTIA’s A+ certification originally debuted in 1993 and since that time more than one million IT professionals have earned their A+ certification. To maintain its relevancy in the market place, CompTIA introduces major revisions with updated course content every 3 years. In doing so, A+ continues to offer the fundamental knowledge that many aspiring IT professionals require to advance in their careers.

For those unfamiliar, CompTIA’s A+ is an entry-level IT certification for PC technicians and Service Desk employees. We had an opportunity to discuss the recently released version of A+ with CompTIA Product Manager, Teresa Sears.

Tell us a bit about what you do every day.

As a Product Manager, I manage the lifecycle of our certifications. CompTIA A+ is updated every three years so my focus changes from year to year. For example, in January we launched the CompTIA A+ Core Series -- our eighth refresh since its initial introduction. So, this year my focus has been on ensuring a successful exam launch. Next year the product management emphasis will shift to researching how the next version of A+ should be modified. And in 2021, we’ll collaborate with the exam development team to build the next update to A+, coming full circle to another launch year in early 2022.

More Info: comptia a+ jobs salary

Workforce Trends: Tracking Your Organisation

Let’s face it, most technology only works as well as the people deploying it, using it, and supporting it. And as tech solutions continue to evolve, so must the skills required to be successful with them. This session explores the shifts in the labour market, particularly around IT and cybersecurity careers. Learn how some employees are reskilling their current workforce to meet their changing needs, and why recruiting new tech talent is as important as it’s ever been.
Cybersecurity: What Did COVID-19 Teach Us?

A panel of leading cyber experts will discuss the latest cyber trends and threats exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. One report found that ransomware attacks soared nearly 25% early in the coronavirus spread, and the threats have only gotten more complex and more creative since then. Cybersecurity isn’t a technology issue anymore, it’s a business issue. Tune in for best practices and how to mitigate risks from the growing remote workforce.

EMEA Conference Virtual Happy Hour

Virtual or not, there’s no better way to wind down an event than by grabbing a drink with old friends and new. Network with your peers and other industry leaders in an online pub and help toast all the event’s award winners as well.

More Info: jobs you can get with a comptia a+ certification

Google certifications that are ruling the marketplace

This certification is designed for professionals having experience of using G Suite and gives the ability of an individual to use fundamental collaboration tools. That is why Google certified professionals recommend you must hold experience in the operation of G suite.

Intended for people that may deploy applications, monitor operations, and manage enterprise solutions. Individuals display the capability to use the Google Cloud Console and the command-line interface to perform basic platform-based tasks to keep up one or more deployed solutions that leverage Google-managed or self-managed services on Google Cloud. Moreover, the professionals can line up a cloud solution environment, plan and configure a cloud solution, deploy and implement a cloud solution, ensure successful operation of a cloud solution, and configure access and security.
Professional Cloud Architect

This training is specially designed for professionals in cloud architecture who enable organizations to leverage Google Cloud technologies and skills. After the completion of Google Cloud Practitioner -cloud architect training individuals can design, develop, and manage secure, scalable, and highly available solutions that help in achieving business objectives. Moreover, one can style and plan for cloud solution architecture, manage and provision the cloud solution infrastructure, design for security and compliance, analyze and optimize technical and business processes, manage implementations in cloud architecture, and ensure the troubleshoot solutions and operations reliability.

More Info: net+ certification salary

CompTIA Network+ Boot camp Programs

CompTIA Network+ Boot camps are conducted by different CompTIA Learning partners to prepare the delegates for the CompTIA Network+ Certification. This certification enables the the participant to troubleshoot and configure basic network infrastructure.

Through this program, the delegate will be prepared for the certification exam and will also be learning about the functionalities and functions of networking components. Along with that, the participant will possess the skill sets and knowledge needed to install, configure and troubleshoot basic networking protocols, hardware and services.

Networks are an integral part of business operations and keep your employees and customers connected. Proper configuration and troubleshooting will minimize downtime and help ensure successful network performance. CompTIA Network+ certification demonstrates knowledge of networking features and functions, including virtual networking, networking security and in depth knowledge of OSI and TCP/IP models. The CompTIA Network+ exam is the leading vendor neutral certification for networking professionals.

More Info: a+ jobs near me

CompTIA Net+ The OSI model

Network Layer defines device addressing, routing, and path determination. Network layer acts as a boundary between the host and the subnet. It deals with routing issues, deadlock and conjestion issues caused by increased number of packet data transfer and decreasing the performance etc.

NFS uses Internetwork Protocol (IP) as its network layer interface. IP is responsible for routing, directing datagrams from one network to another. Even though IP packets are addressed using IP addresses, hardware addresses must be used to actually transport data from one host to another. The Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) is used to map the IP address to the hardware address.
Layer 4 – Transport

Transport layer is responsible for getting the entire message across, establishes and terminates connections between two computers and keeping track of fragmentation and out-of-order packets. Used for flow control and data recovery.
Two transport protocols, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP), sits at the transport layer.

More Info: comptia a+ job