Training Industry Magazine - May/June 2018 - 58

CLOSING
D E A L S

COMPTIA EXTENDS IT TRAINING REACH
TO NEW PROFESSIONALS
WITH CONTENT ACQUISITIONS
BY TARYN OESCH

The quick pace of technological
innovation across industries and
countries means increased demand for
highly skilled IT professionals. However,
this demand is not being met.
"We're facing significant deficits of
skilled workers," says Todd Thibodeaux,
president and CEO of IT trade association
CompTIA (short for the Computing
Technology Industry Association). "In
2017, 125,760 tech jobs were added
to the U.S. economy, but employers
posted job openings for 2.35 million
tech occupations." In a 2017 survey of

THE MAJORITY OF IT
LEARNERS PREFER
VIRTUAL TRAINING LABS
TO TRADITIONAL IT
TRAINING MODALITIES.

IT professionals, CompTIA found that 80
percent expect they will need additional
training to develop their careers.
CompTIA's goal is to be the starting
place for IT talent, so the association is
developing "a full offering from training
to test prep to certification."
CompTIA recently made two acquisitions
that add to its IT training content
offerings: gtslearning, which develops
print and online courses and learning
materials for CompTIA certifications,
and the intellectual property of the
training content created and published
by Logical Operations, an IT training
content developer.

| 58

Prior to these acquisitions, CompTIA
had a gap in its services for "pioneers,"
or people entering the technical
workforce either as recent graduates
or as professionals transitioning from
other careers. "Before these acquisitions,"
says Thibodeaux, "we had very
little to offer them." Now, with the
content from gtslearning and Logical
Operations,
CompTIA
will
help
pioneer progress through training and
development to ultimately become
certified IT professionals.

to the learner's role - that's why, for
example, CloudTIA is increasingly using
performance-based questions based on
hands-on simulations in its certification
exams. Speaking of which, Thibodeaux
says IT certifications are becoming
increasingly valuable; in the 2017 survey,
almost 75 percent of IT managers rated
certifications "as a valuable resource
for validating skills and evaluating
job candidates." As a result, CompTIA
anticipates having its own exam delivery
platform by the end of 2018.

IT TRAINING INNOVATIONS

Cybersecurity skills are increasingly
important, and CompTIA is launching
a new certification this year called
CompTIA PenTest+, which will assess
"the
latest
penetration
testing
and vulnerability assessment and
management skills that IT professionals
need to run a successful, responsible
penetration testing program." Also on
the horizon is an adaptive competency
assessment, which uses artificial
intelligence and machine learning to
enable professionals to demonstrate
their level of competency for a job role.

"We're continuing to see more
experiential and project-based learning,
live labs and simulations coming
online" says Thibodeaux, "and we'll be
developing our own best-in-class tools."
Virtual instructor-led training (VILT) has
also evolved, he adds, and "CompTIA is
investing in a state-of-the-art studio to
bring our products to this market."
The most-preferred training methods for
IT professionals, according to CompTIA's
2017 research, are practice tests and
assessments (63 percent), labs and
simulations (60 percent), and e-learning
(55 percent). Similarly, Training Industry
research has found that the majority of
IT learners believe virtual training labs
impact job outcomes and prefer them to
traditional IT training modalities. Having
an authentic learning environment that
simulates the on-the-job experience can
improve knowledge and skills transfer
after training.
Thibodeaux
recommends
making
sure IT training is mapped directly

As technology continues to evolve,
the role of the professionals who
manage that technology will also
evolve. Certifications, virtual training
labs, simulations and assessments -
themselves supported by evolving
technology - will continue to support
and boost IT learning throughout
those changes.

Taryn Oesch is an editor at Training Industry,
Inc. Email Taryn.

https://www.trainingindustry.com/articles/compliance/training-on-the-frontline-national-cybersecurity-awareness-month/ https://www.trainingindustry.com/articles/compliance/training-on-the-frontline-national-cybersecurity-awareness-month/ https://www.trainingindustry.com/research/it-and-technical-training/virtual-it-training-labs-from-the-learners-perspective/ https://www.trainingindustry.com/research/it-and-technical-training/virtual-it-training-labs-from-the-learners-perspective/ https://www.trainingindustry.com/press-release/it-and-technical-training/comptia-sets-out-to-create-new-paradigms-in-tech-training/

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Magazine - May/June 2018