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The technology industry has been through some turbulent times recently, quickly expanding from a historical focus on businesses to now touch nearly every facet of our lives. Not a day goes by without a headline centered on technology, whether it’s a positive development like a new product launch or something less happy like another major security breach. Against this backdrop, CompTIA’s 2019 IT Industry Outlook looks at a technology landscape that is rapidly changing but still needs skilled workers. Here are six takeaways from the report that will shape tech careers in the year ahead. System thinking is absolutely critical. The underlying theme of the report is that there is no “next big thing,” no single technology that will change the face of IT. Instead, the trend is toward stackable technology, using different combinations to create a new result. Cloud computing will combine with edge computing and 5G networks to form a new infrastructure for economic activity. IoT and AI will be ...

To streamline the deployment of 5G’s small-cell infrastructure, the FCC has been freeing up spectrum and updating regulations to make them more accommodating to 5G. In November 2018, the FCC made spectrum in the 24 and 28 GHz bands available for private companies and is scheduled to auction off another 24 gigahertz of spectrum in March. The FCC has also been changing existing infrastructure policies that only include provisions for tall, antiquated cell towers rather than the small cell towers needed for 5G. Updating such regulations will allow 5G infrastructure to be deployed more rapidly in urban and rural areas alike. Closing the Digital Divide In addition to faster downloads on your smartphone, 5G will bring high-speed Internet service into the home a hundred times faster than 4G and at minimal costs. Already, Internet Service Providers are offering 5G home Internet options, and the federal government is adopting policies to ensure that rural areas are not excluded from the opport...

Be prepared to address how cybersecurity certifications can improve performance in your current role and address weaknesses in the organization. Extend this analysis to the security team's short-term goals to tell a compelling story. For example, if gaps in your analytical skills are a barrier to using more security metrics, training for cybersecurity certifications and getting certified could teach you how to use tools to better measure risk and performance. Back up your objective ratings with data to successfully make your case. Use tools such as CompTIA CertMaster Practice to assess your knowledge level and identify opportunities for improvement. Objective practice tools like these can also help you figure out how long you will need to prepare for an exam. If you need more guidance on understanding what showing your value means, Ellis breaks this down with a couple of questions you can ask yourself during your internship: What is your professional superpower? What problem are y...

Life can get the best of us all. My wife and I are expecting our fourth child, so it’s impossible to focus on a certification right now. But, thankfully, our family functions as a team. When you are working on a certification, be sure that your life has a support system that will encourage you on your journey. The #LabEveryday Community is a great place to go to find people that will help you get to where you want to be. In 2019 our goal in IT has to be to learn, improve and automate. This goes for IT processes and your career. Whether you are chasing certifications or building your skill set, work to create balance. That will give your career agility and resilience. Will this IT certification improve my skills? Let’s be honest. Some certification exams are a bunch of memorization questions. Once the exam is out of the way, so is the information we obtained. CompTIA performance certifications require you to not only answer questions, but to also demonstrate your skills through perform...

Achieving IT certifications offers a number of benefits, including personal fulfillment, financial growth and a boost in confidence. But most of all, they show employers that you have the ability to focus and learn and that you take your career seriously. So, what does it take to climb the ranks of IT? I spoke with a colleague of mine not too long ago, and he made an interesting point. “If you want to take your career into your own hands, you need a trifecta.” He was referring to these three things: Certifications Experience (Skills) A Degree IoT and Linux Finally, artificial intelligence (AI) is necessary to help automate the many moving pieces of IoT. AI itself is an emerging technology, and many companies are exploring the trend separately as they build out architecture that has AI as part of the stack. Combining IoT and AI might be a little advanced at this point, but CompTIA Linux+ covers scripting, which is the first step toward IT automation. With a broad ecosystem that include...

These strategies for bringing on, cultivating and keeping the right kind of skilled, reliable tech talent are being honed and proven in a tight job market. But these emerging best practices would seem to have value no matter what the labor market looks like – in a year or a decade. As for the technological needs on the horizon, these experts see some definite developments and suggest that to really thrive in 2019 and beyond, tech companies would be wise to keep them in mind. Rockoff notes that businesses will likely be looking for more data-related positions as areas like AI and machine learning continue to take off. For solution providers, bridging the gap between what clients want and what up-and-coming IT talent is interested in offering is crucial. In 2019 and moving forward, that means cybersecurity. “I think companies that offer cybersecurity services are going to be the most attractive and then everybody else has to figure out how to build that cybersecurity toolbox,” Hensley s...

Experts largely agree that automation is an important ingredient for managing cloud services and technology. Typically, this means a battery of pre-defined processes and procedures run according to a well-defined schedule and set of policies. It also means adopting a set of best practices to make sure that you stay on top of resource consumption, errors, alarms and alerts, and compliance matters. Cloud Technology Metrics In planning, designing, implementing – and, of course, managing – cloud technology, metrics are not only important, they can spell the difference between success and failure at many levels. Certain items, including the following, need to be baked into the cloud lifecycle process from initial design to its end: Bandwidth consumption* Application/webpage latency and response time, usage and visitation tracking Uptime and availability percentages Cloud resource consumption: CPU, storage, infrastructure (SDN, NFV and virtualization)* Asterisked items usually provide the b...