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By Jim Staats
| October 28, 2011
Takeaway of the week is it’s always best to toot your own horn when it comes to highly sought value you can add to an organization, because who knows when someone else would do it for you. And don’t look now, but it’s another voice trumpeting the ‘rise of the machines,’ but could it be with an IT silver lining?
SME Branding? Toot Your Own Horn Subject matter experts shouldn’t wait around for anybody but themselves to tout that value-add expertise to the outside world, so says an executive fro ...
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By Janet Pinkerton
| October 26, 2011
THE DAY BEFORE THE EXAM 1) Know the address and phone number of the testing center, and how you will get there, and how much time it will take to reach the testing center site. 2) Get a good night’s sleep before the exam THE DAY OF THE EXAM 1) Eat a balanced breakfast, including some form of protein to give long-lasting energy. 2) Dress comfortably, in layers. 3) Give yourself plenty of travel time. 4) Bring the address of and directions to the testing site 5) Bring any needed ide ...
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By Janet Pinkerton
| October 24, 2011
1) Know your exam. Carefully read the exam description details to build your exam prep strategy. What are exam objectives or subjects covered? What question formats will be used: multiple-choice, simulated scenarios, essays or fill in the blank? How many questions will be in each exam section? How much time is given to complete the exam? How will the exam be graded? 2) Ask yourself: What kind of learner am I? How much do I know? Answering these questions can help you decide what tools to use to ...
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By Jim Staats
| October 21, 2011
This week’s takeaway is the more flexible you are in your IT abilities "toolbox," the more attractive you’ll be in an ever-changing IT landscape. More data to manage, more companies going the automated route, more quote-unquote old-school firms relying on technology than ever before. Or you could just pay a visit to North Carolina. Gartner: Big IT Skill is Big Data Wrangler Hot commodities in the IT job market could be the folks with the know-how to handle the massive influx of corporate data ...
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By Janet Pinkerton
| October 19, 2011
Since its founding via a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant in 2005, CyberWatch, the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Center headquartered at Prince George’s Community College (PGCC) in Largo, Md., has had one mission: to improve the cybersecurity workforce in both quality and quantity of workers. The NSF funded CyberWatch, along with two other ATE Centers (The Cyber Security Education Consortium in Oklahoma and the Center for System Security and Information Assurance ...
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By Jim Staats
| October 17, 2011
Privacy and security issues are said to be among the chief concerns for healthcare administrators facing new HIPPA regulations and a ramped-up electronic health record (EHR) incentive program. A new study, however, indicates that many of those executives are failing to “walk the walk.” In a report by consulting firm CSC, a HIMSS shows that fewer than half of large healthcare organizations - 47 percent - in the U.S. conduct annual security risk assessments and nearly six in ten didn’t dedicate ...
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By Jim Staats
| October 14, 2011
Take-away of the week is a weather report: More clouds are forming on the horizon in the world of IT services. Organizations big and small are having to adapt as will the technicians of today and tomorrow. Survey: IT as a Service Gaining Headwind Based on findings of a recent survey by F5 Networks, the enterprise trend toward IT services on demand, in the cloud, ITaaS or catchy name of your choosing, will continue to get a stranglehold on the industry in the next few years. Nearly 75 percent ...
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By Jim Staats
| October 10, 2011
This week’s take-away would seem to be when one gathers facts pointing to a positive trend in the IT labor market in the coming year, plan to face the flip side for the future the following week. Hence. . . The Cloud Could Rain on Tomorrow’s IT Staffing Trends An oversized, centralized IT department is a relic in this day and age of cloud computing and mobile technology, according to reports out of a recent technical conference. The IT department of 2015 will have fewer full-time staffers, mo ...
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By JIm Staats
| October 05, 2011
Hiring forecasts are typically done years, not months, in advance. How then does one factor the twists and turns of real life into the mix? By having long-range predictions and latest studies at your fingertips to make informed career decisions. Which is exactly what we’ve tried to do here. As 2011 stutter-steps to a conclusion, good news can be found on balance sheets of some of the largest and most influential IT companies in the U.S.: income and revenue remains high with signs for continued ...
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By Jim Staats
| September 30, 2011
For every phrase which begins with the words “the economy may have stalled, but...” seems to end with positive news for the IT industry. It’s a new take on an old adage: “If you don’t have anything nice to say about the economy, at least say something nice about the IT labor market.” Demand for Managed Security Services Remains High A frenzied shift to use more mobile devices and cloud computing together with an increased number of security threats worldwide means more work in the coming years ...
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