ABCD later changed its name to the Computing Technology Industry Association. The new name clearly reflected the association’s evolving role in the computer industry and in the U.S. business landscape at large. The nineties were a period of extensive growth for the association as it broadened the scope of its activities to address the needs of the ever‐expanding computer industry. Its initiatives increased to include the networking, UNIX, imaging, mobile computing, and multimedia arenas. In an effort to monitor and take positions on public policy issues, the association added a full‐time Director of Public Policy position.

Currently, it is known as a provider of professional certifications for the information technology (IT) industry. CompTIA chairs and manages the Initiative for Software Choice.

CompTIA A+

The A+ certification demonstrates competency as a computer technician. Officially, CompTIA A+ certification is a vendor neutral certification, that covers numerous technologies and operating systems from such vendors as Microsoft, Apple Inc., Novel and some of the Linux variations. Wikibooks has a book on the topic of
A+ Certification

The CompTIA A+ certification exam was developed in 1993. There have been three versions of the A+ exam, the 1993 objectives, the 2003 objectives and the 2006 objectives, which are both broken down into two separate exams; however, the 2003 objectives exam was retired on June 30, 2007. The 2003 objectives contained the A+ Core Hardware Exam and the A+ Core Operating System Technologies Exam. The 2006 objectives require that a candidate successfully pass the A+ Essentials and one elective: IT technician, remote support technician, or depot technician.

The A+ exam is intended for information technology professionals who have the equivalent of 500 hours of hands on experience. The exams are computer based and composed of multiple choice questions, of which there may be more than one correct answer. Over 800,000 people have earned the A+ credential worldwide, to date.

Topics of the Core examination include IRQs, direct memory access, and practical computer repair, including the installation and repair of hard drives, modems, network cards, CPUs, power supplies, printers, and so forth. The focus of the exam is not theory, but practice. Sometimes graphics are used in exam questions. Topics included in the Operating Systems Exam include memory management, configuration files, and historical operating environments rather than newer, cutting edge technologies.

In September 2006, the CompTIA A+ test online a+ course was updated so that the test taker must take the CompTIA A+ Essentials (220-601) test along with one of three other tests (220-602, 220-603, or 220-604). Each of these elective exams offers the candidate the opportunity to specialize their A+ certification to match their desired career path.

With the introduction of the 2006 A+ exam, candidates were offered a grace period whereby both the 2003 and 2006 versions were available. As of June 2007, the 2003 version of exams is no longer available in the United States. In some countries, the grace period was extended to December 2007. The 2003 version was also extended in cases where the A+ certification exam was included in a course of study. Also, most legacy support questions have been excluded.

The A+ certification may be used to qualify as an elective for Microsoft’s MCSA and MCSE certification.

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Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (or MCSE) was the best-known and premiere Microsoft certification for Windows Server 2003. It qualifies an individual as being able to analyze the business requirements for information systems solutions, and design and implement the infrastructure required. Certification is available for the Windows Server 2003 technology, and was previously offered in Windows Server 2000 and Windows NT 4.0.

For the MCSE 2003, candidates must pass six core design exams (Four networking exams, one client operating system and one design exam) and one elective exam, for a total of seven exams. For the MCSE 2000, a candidate needed to pass five Core Exams (Four operating system exams, one design exam) and two electives. Most of these exams have been retired. For the MCSE NT 4.0 (retired), a candidate needed to pass four Core Exams (Networking Essentials, Windows NT Workstation, Windows NT Server and Windows NT Server in the Enterprise) and two electives. These exams have been retired.

The topic of these exams include network security, computer networking infrastructure, Active Directory, Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft SQL Server, and other topics of both general networking interest as well as specific Microsoft products.

There are also specializations available for the MCSE’s along different tracks. For 2003 these tracks were MCSE Security, and Messaging. To obtain these specializations it was required that you do an associated Elective, design and then an extra core exam. The denotation that is usually used for these on resumes etc is MCSE:Security, and MCSE:Messaging.

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 is generating demand all over the world for skilled IT professionals who can support this new and exciting operating system, and those who want this certification are recommended to undergo some sort of Windows 2008 training. IDC, a global analyst firm, estimates that there will be more than 3.5 million deployments of Windows Server 2008 in its first year. If you want to be one of those professionals in charge of the deployment for your company, then get the training you need in our Windows 2008 certification training courses.

Make sure that hiring managers and project leads notice you-with a Microsoft MCTS/MCITP certification that you can get after taking our Windows Server 2008 windows 2008 cbt courses. Combined with experience, certification is an excellent way to demonstrate your understanding of new features-new Web tools, virtualization technologies, security enhancements, and management utilities-and inspire confidence in your readiness to evaluate, design, maintain, and troubleshoot Windows Server 2008, which is what our Windows Server 2008 CBT courses will teach you.

Our MS Windows 2008 CBT training videos are taught by certified professionals in the field that have created an excellent curriculum for the course. You will learn from discussions, demos, presentations and much more. The best part about our self-paced Windows 2008 computer based training CDs is that you are in total control or your own learning journey. You have the freedom to learn Windows 2008 at your own convenience and make your own learning schedule. Our program is the best self-study Windows Server 2008 training courses for busy professionals with hectic schedules since it allows them the opportunity to learn without having to change around their schedule for learning.

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