Best Project Management Certifications

The field of Project Management is hands-down one of my favorite career paths. Project management is challenging. It pulls in elements of resource management (human and tangible), planning, scheduling, risk mitigation, scope, finances, and so much more. For individuals with an eye to detail and who love the challenge of taking a mere concept from initial planning to the final product, then project management just may be the career for you.

For IT professionals and developers, project management can be an exciting career opportunity. Project managers who possess technical skills are in high demand. A search for technical project managers on SimplyHired yielded over 90,000 job posting. Granted, this was just a snapshot in time but no matter how you look at it, that’s a lot of employers seeking project managers who possess technical skills! It’s a perfect win for employers as well as IT pros and developers.

Whether you’re a seasoned project management pro, looking to make a mid-career transition to project management, or simply exploring what project management is all about, certifications can help you achieve your career goals. There are many different project management certifications available today and selecting the right PM certification may appear daunting. How do you choose? In reviewing certifications, consider where you are in your PM career (entry level, mid-career or experienced). Has your organization adopted a specific project management methodology such as Agile, Six Sigma, or Scrum? Are you located in the US or another geography? These types of questions will help you select the cert program that is right for you.

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Gateway to Network Administration

Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) is highly-ranked certification devised by Cisco, a leader in network technology that provides an array of services for network administrators and extensive training with globally renowned credentials. To achieve CCNA certification, you must successfully complete two qualifying exams over the course of two to six months. This certification does not require any prerequisites, but the experience with networks and CompTIA Network+ certification is highly recommended.The CCNA assists working network administrators with the top-ranking credentials primarily required to start a career as a network administrator and also enables aspiring network administrators to upskill on the Cisco services, including cloud, collaboration, cyber Ops, data center, design (CCDA), routing and switching, security, service provider, and wireless.

MCSA: The Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA) consists of a wide array of specializations from Microsoft spanning from the Cloud to web applications. Network professionals intending to pursue a career in network administration should focus on the Windows Server aspect. The MCSA: Windows Server 2016 is an extensive training and certification course that aims to empower professionals with a solid technical proficiency in Microsoft Windows Server and related areas. It takes three months to a year to complete the professional-level MCSA training. With no mandatory prerequisites, this certification can be achieved easily after gaining CompTIA A+ or Microsoft Technical Associate (MTA) credentials. You must pass three exams, the 70-740, 70-741, and 70-742, to achieve the MCSA: Windows Server 2016 certification.

Gateway to Network Administration

To get into network administration, you should gain an all-encompassing knowledge of networking concepts and troubleshooting fundamentals with professional training and certification courses from an authorized training partner.

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CompTIA Shares Expertise and Advice at Jobs

Despite high unemployment, there remains strong demand for IT professionals. As the country looks to get millions of unemployed individuals back to work, reskilling displaced workers and training them for careers in IT is a solution many states and organizations are pursuing.
On the “Industry Deep Dive: Rapid Reskilling: Is Your IT Program Prepared to Train and Support Displaced Workers” session during the recent Jobs for the Future Horizons 2020 conference, two CompTIA executives shared recommendations and insights on the current landscape, what skills are in demand and the available resources to help fill the IT jobs pipeline.

James Stanger, Chief Technology Evangelist, explained that while many companies are being very cautious with spending, they do realize if they want to stay in business, they’ve got to offer the services customers expect. “One of the drivers we are seeing take place is smaller managed service providers who need to support other companies are hiring. We are also seeing larger tech companies – pure tech companies – hire AWS and Microsoft Azure expertise.”

According to Mark Plunkett, Senior Director, Training Operations & Business Development, there’s also a need for more people filling the top of the funnel. “As we look at individuals upskilling and taking some of these jobs, we need to fill the funnel because there were over a million IT occupation jobs added in Q1. In fact, prior to COVID-19, there was a massive shortage of people entering the tech industry.”

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CompTIA Network+ N10-007 macOS apps

CompTIA Network+ certification is one of the first steps you should take to develop your career in networking. This exam designed to validate the skills and knowledge of mid-level network technicians, covering key IT functions including networking concepts, infrastructure, operations, security and more.

You’re looking to get CompTIA Network+ n10-007 certification in the next couple of days or weeks and trying to determine some good resources to study for the network+ n10-007 certification here we have simulationexams.com one of the top vendors providing practice simulators for network+ and some other certifications. Simulationexams has recently released its practice test engine macOS apps for network+ certification includes the practice simulation questions with answers. This application is an exam simulator that provides 450+ practice questions for learning, practice and test your preparation for network+ n10-007 certification.
Main features of the application:
Include 450+ highly relevant questions.
The simulator can be run in learn mode with correct answers and flashcards for each question or in Exam mode simulates exam environment along with time restrictions.
Supports various question types like multiple-choice single/multiple answers, performance-based, drag/drop and exhibit type.
At the end of each exam a detailed report is provided along with category wise scoring.
All the exam results can be saved and reviewed in the future.

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Block Phishing in IoT Devices

Since we all use the web regularly, the most common medium we use to access it is an internet browser. And cybercrooks, due to their malicious nature, have found several mechanisms to deceive the innocent and unsuspecting users into providing sensitive information through phishing. This method works when a cyber crook makes a fake SMS, video, phone call, or shopping site that offers goods, products, or services at very unbelievable prices. But when a user enters their personal information, like credit card or other payment information, it goes straight into the hands of web-hackers who then use this for their very own personal usage. Then the innocent buyer never receives anything that they ordered. However, cyber professionals have deemed artificial intelligence as a countermeasure for this hacking method.

Data leaks and identity theft nowadays are on the rise, as the passing time has very much revealed the shocking fact that the number of such cyber-attacks is only increasing over time. As humans, we are not perfect, and we also keep forgetting very important things in our lives. The same goes for when it comes to the protection of data/information like our passwords for our different accounts, including social media, bank accounts, and so on. Since we keep the usage of the same passwords for too long that the chances of it being break/cracked by cyber-crooks increase. Or simply sometimes we keep a device logged-in with our info, and someone else physically takes the device and can see our private information. But with the use and implementation of AI, this problem is hugely reduced as Artificial Intelligence automatically determines that a password of an account is being used for too long, and it is time to change, keeping the user reminding that changing-passcodes regularly is vital for information-safeguarding. Similarly, if an account is open and someone tries to change, edit or modify info/data the Artificial Intelligence parameters are automatically triggered that asks the users to re-verify their passcodes, hence protecting the user from ID/data theft.

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CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+) Jobs

Before we dig deep into these job roles, let’s take a high-level view of how CompTIA CySA+ prepares IT pros for these positions. Right off the bat, it’s important to note that CompTIA exams are developed through an intensive process that includes workshops where IT pros come together and discuss what knowledge, skills and abilities are required to perform certain job roles. So, you can be sure the topics covered by CompTIA CySA+ match the knowledge, skills and abilities cybersecurity pros need today.

For example, to be successful in any of the above listed cybersecurity jobs, an individual should be able to do the following:
Leverage intelligence and threat detection techniques
Analyze and interpret data
Identify and address vulnerabilities
Suggest preventative measures
Effectively respond to and recover from incidents

It’s no coincidence that these skills are exactly what CompTIA CySA+ covers. (Check out the exam objectives for yourself – they’re free!) Companies are looking to hire qualified IT pros that can confidently handle these tasks to bring new techniques for combating threats inside and outside of the security operations center (SOC) – and the median salaries for these position back that up.

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Today’s Security Transformation

Industry research firm Gartner asked cybersecurity thought leaders to submit a video of themselves answering the question “What are your customers’ top security priorities?” for the Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit, a virtual event for the EMEA region held this month. Julian Waits, general manager of cybersecurity for Devo, was among those to whom Gartner posed the question. His video is below, and this blog post offers an expanded version of his response.

I regularly speak with CISOs and other security leaders who are Devo customers and ask them about their priorities. Three topics consistently appear at the top of their lists: people, visibility, and automation.
People:
CISOs and other enterprise security leaders know that security operations center (SOC) analysts have one of the most challenging jobs in cybersecurity: keeping their organizations safe from a vast array of cyberthreats. The biggest challenge for SOC analysts—and those who manage them—is fatigue. SOCs must run 24 hours a day/7 days a week. With so many people working from home due to the pandemic, new threat vectors are appearing daily. The number of alerts is immeasurable. That’s why SOC analysts must be at the top of their game—every day.

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WE INNOVATE WITHOUT A LARGE BUDGET

The great news is that any organization can innovate without spending a lot of money. Providing mock-ups or prototypes of a potential innovation at the start of any process can help promote discussions both internally and externally to refine and expand upon requirements, allow teams to rapidly iterate, and improve upon the products and services in development. The sooner we can provide a prototype or beta version that people can review, the sooner we can figure out whether our idea has market viability. If it doesn’t, it’s better to learn that lesson at the outset and avoid wasting further time, money, and energy trying to bring it to market.

To add to the idea of not needing a large budget (or hire and train lots of internal staff), we don’t need to stick to the bounds of our own organization for ideas. Plenty of organizations use experts and research outside of their organizations to come up with ideas – what’s termed open or crowd-sourced innovation. Bill Joy, former chief scientist at Sun Microsystems, says, “No matter how many smart people you have, most of the smartest people are never in your own company.” The more ideas we come up with and investigate, regardless of whether they originate within our own organization (or even our own industry), the better. Proctor & Gamble, for example, has 7,500 R&D researchers on staff and developed a “Connect and Develop” program that enlists the help of 1.5 million (non-employee) scientists globally to solve customer needs and come up with innovative solutions. It’s been so successful that, today, nearly half of P&G’s product development portfolio and products on the market have come from their C&D program. So, knowing that we don’t have to spend a ton of money or hire a huge team of people, how can we improve our organization’s ability to innovate? We will look at that topic next.

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What kind of preparation does an employee need

Employees can prepare for Cisco CCNA Collaboration certification in a number of ways. However, professional training is a great way to equip them with the knowledge and skills to accomplish your goals.

Other than reading online materials and books online, they will need lab practice. In the world of networking, you can’t learn anything effectively without practicing it in the lab. For every topic and concept they learn, do it in a lab and repeat. Additionally, you could help administer attempt mock tests and see how your team is performing before you enroll them for the real Cisco CCNA certification test.

Robust Network Support: Network managers reported reduced support costs by about 30 percent after hiring Cisco certified staff. Having a certified in-house employee with adequate tech knowledge and skills to maintain network infrastructures means substantial savings when things go south.

Reduced Down Time and Improved Customer Satisfaction: The additional benefit of companies having in-house certified talent is that it reduces network downtime by up to 37 percent. This enhances company efficiency and saves costs. More importantly, customer satisfaction is significantly improved. Managers actually reported a 37 percent improvement in customer satisfaction with Cisco certified employees.

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DIGITAL BUSINESS HAS DIFFERENT NEEDS

What makes a digital business and its requirements from IT so different? For starters, an unexpected department within the business may be running the digital transformation initiative. For example, the digital transformation initiatives of several of our clients are run by the Marketing department. In these cases, Marketing is not only in charge of the business aspects of the initiative, they are also spearheading product development, which includes managing third-party software development of the customer-facing digital product and contractor stand-up of a cloud-based data analytics platform.

Why Marketing? Because fundamentally digital business is about more than just using the latest technologies . . . it’s about leveraging digital technologies in a way that fundamentally changes the way the business operates, the way it interacts with and learns from its customers, and the way it maneuvers competitors into undesirable positions of playing catch-up. Accomplishing any of these is dependent upon a speed of execution not commonly found in IT. Indeed, a common business accusation is that “IT Is Too Slow.” By the time many IT departments configure a system, code new software, or build a website, the original need for the software or system has changed. Customers are fickle, and in the digital era incrementally rolling out small functionality improvements and “good enough” features trumps completeness and long-term product roadmaps. The cousin of speed is flexibility, and this is also a pre-requisite for a digital business to be successful. What is popular with customers this quarter may be largely forgotten in six months, so excessive effort creating something new or undue attachment to what worked in the past often gets in the way of profitable innovation.

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Social Engineering Comes Front and Center

For one, COVID-19 has shed new light on the social engineering abilities of cybercriminals, who are taking advantage of the staying power of the pandemic in news cycles. Employees and consumers are still apt to click on a malicious link that purports to offer new information or insight into the coronavirus, said David Emm, principal security researcher at Kaspersky.

“Social engineering has always been one of the key attack vectors. What COVID-19 provides is a more persistent topic [than] Black Friday or the Olympics. Plus, you have a huge pool of potential victims [impacted by COVID-19], so it’s the perfect storm,” Emm said. “Criminals’ approach has pretty much been the same, but a lot of people have been forced to work from home. Here in the UK, it’s about 48%. That’s a lot of people who don’t have the protective ring of a corporate network around them.”

For example, phishers have pretended to be the World Health Organization offering information on the virus, or a delivery company with status on an order, or an agency giving out assistance to people—all of which can cause people to become curious and open malicious links.

Merium Khalid, senior cybersecurity analyst at SKOUT Cybersecurity, noted a marked increase in the number of legitimate documents and software platforms and websites that have PDFs embedded with malicious links—noting that it’s also estimated that 18 million COVID-19 phishing emails are being blocked each day.

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Advanced-Level Cybersecurity Certification

IT pros can pursue CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP+) to prove their mastery of cybersecurity skills required at the 5- to 10-year experience level. CASP+ is the pinnacle of cybersecurity certifications and includes performance-based questions.

It is intended for those who wish to remain immersed in hands-on enterprise security, incident response and architecture, for example, as opposed to strictly managing cybersecurity policy and frameworks.

The primary related job roles are security engineers and security architects, but CompTIA CASP+ can also help validate skill sets necessary for digital forensics analysts and network enterprise architects.

For instance, a digital forensic analyst must be able to support the development of organizational forensics policies, analyze the security implications of forensics results and implement analysis of compromised systems, which are covered by CASP+.

Likewise, a network enterprise architect has to be able to analyze existing networks and determine the security components, concepts and architectures needed to make it more secure to meet regulatory cybersecurity compliance requirements. CompTIA CASP+ assesses this knowledge.

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Achieving CCNA certification

Cisco has recently launched their new certification: CCNA 200 -301. The new exam requirements have been in effect since February 24, 2020. To earn the new CCNA exam certification, you will only need to pass one exam: Cisco 200 -301 also known as Cisco Certified Network Associate. This exam is a 120-minute proctored exam provided by Cisco that is anticipated to include the following subject areas:
Network Fundamentals
Network Access
IP connectivity
IP services
Security Fundamentals
Automatization and Programmability

After passing the exam, the certification is valid for three years.

Previously, there were multiple CCNA certifications that focused on different topics. Individuals would choose the CCNA certification that best aligned with their learning objectives. Whether it was CCNA Cloud, CCNA Routing and Switching or CCNA Service provider, there were multiple exams and multiple learning paths (New CCNA exam – 200-301) However, with the CCNA 200-301, Cisco created one exam in place of all the retired types. Below you will find a list of all the certifications the new CCNA will replace:
CCNA Cloud
CCNA Collaboration
CCNA Data Center
CCDA
CCNA Industrial
CCNA Routing and Switching
CCNA Security
CCNA Service Provider
CCNA Wireless

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there bundles of the new CompTIA A+

Almost everyone loves the bundles because they cut down costs that one would spend under normal circumstances. As for the new series, one should also expect them. Though bundles vary from one selection to another, let’s mention a few components. Expect retake vouchers, and training materials vouchers. The latter usually include the official study guide, labs and practice. As of now, the cheapest will go for $300.
12. Does the new CompTIA A+ 220-902make the rest of the certifications invalid?
It would really be frustrating if that were the case. Fortunately, your old certification will not expire simply because of the new CompTIA A+. Remember that you need to renew your certification every three years. Nevertheless, you have to ensure that you meet all the continuing education requirements. If you heed the advice, your certification will remain valid. Some training tools can help. Search the online reliable platforms that offer training materials, along with training tools that will ace your skills and would serve you as the best way to update your certification. With a proper preparation for the exams you will be able to get the certification easily.

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Why is it Important to Have CASP Certified IT Workers?

It is a well-known fact that businesses now must take cyber security very seriously. Every business must institute policies and practices that protect its critical assets from cyber-attacks. However, this is a rapidly evolving concern for every business and without good understanding of what the business is dealing with, costs can quickly rack up and defeat the business case for cyber security measures.

As businesses continue to seek new solutions for cyber threats and seek new talents to help them implement these solutions, they must do so with a plan. Devoid of this, businesses would rack up costs on redundant solutions while leaving themselves exposed by missing the bigger picture.

CASP validates all the technical skills and knowledge required to develop, design and implement solutions across various complex business environments. The course then goes a step further to help the leader use critical thinking and judgment skills across a broad range of IT security disciplines. With this training, your IT professionals should be in a position to develop and implement cyber security solutions that not only map enterprise drivers but also manage risk.

On top of that, the course is vendor neutral. Therefore, your employees can work with software and hardware from various sources as need be. It is also compliant under the Federal Information Security Act which is almost a requirement for a business that works with the government.


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What’s new in the Security+ SYO-601 Exam?

The CompTIA is going to release the new Security + SYO-601 version in November 2020. It includes the trends and technologies that were not adopted by the industry back in 2017 when SYO-501 was released. The certification hones the core technical skills of candidates in assessing and managing risk, incident response, forensics, enterprise networks, security controls, and cloud operations. The Security+ SYO-601 exam validates a candidate’s skills on the following grounds:
It validates a candidate’s skills to analyze the security posture of an organization and establish necessary security measures.
It Showcases the ability of a candidate to monitor and protect hybrid environments such as cloud, mobile, and IoT (internet of things).
It approves the candidate’s knowledge of all the applicable laws, policies about governance, compliance, and risks.
It also validates that candidates can respond to events and incidents related to cybersecurity.

Nature of Modifications in exam content?

The recent years have noted a surge in the distributed denial of services (DDOS) attacks, ransomware, and various social engineering attacks. These attacks cost millions to organizations. The growing trend of modern technologies such as IoT (Internet of things) and the adoption of cloud-based services has raised security-related concerns. Organizations require cybersecurity professionals who are well-versed in identifying and mitigating these sophisticated cyber attacks. Keeping the current circumstances into consideration, CompTIA has added the following topics:
Implementing secure network architecture
Practices regarding risk management
Different types of threats, attacks & vulnerabilities
Identity & access management
Configuring wireless security settings and public key infrastructure (PKI)

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SQL Querying Fundamental

Outlook is the standard industry application for email, calendar, and contact management. We currently have training available for versions 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Outlook for Office 365. Throughout the 1 day course, students will learn how to send, receive, and manage email messages, manage contact information, schedule appointments and meetings, and more. Those with Skype for Business will also learn how Outlook has capabilities to immediately schedule and start meetings in Skype from Outlook. This class will also help teach organizing mail, adding attachments, responding to meeting invitations.
Project 2016 – Part 1

This course is designed to get students familiar with the basic features and functions of Microsoft Project Professional 2016. Project is a management software that can help project leaders assign tasks, track progress, manage budgets, analyze workloads, and more. Versions 2010 and 2013 are also available. During the 1 day of class, students will learn how to identify project management concepts, navigate the Project 2016 environment, create and define new project plans, manage resources, and more. This class is the introductory level of three courses, with the intermediate and advanced following.
SQL Querying

SQL Querying offers two courses specifically for teaching students about querying and getting the most out of SQL. The introductory course, SQL Querying Fundamentals, aims to help students compose SQL queries and feel more confident retrieving information in a database. The advanced course, SQL Querying Advanced, Both courses take 1 day to complete. Students will learn how to connect to the SQL Server database and execute queries there, organize data obtained from a query, retrieve data from tables, and more.

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Skills Needed for Cybersecurity Jobs

It’s easy to assume that a top skill set recommended for any of these job titles would contain the word “security.” But what about the less obvious skills? As with IT certifications, we’ve filtered through the most popular skills on the job postings.
Linux: If you have an Android phone or a security system running at your house, they very well could be running on Linux. Because of its versatility and broad use, it can only help you in a cybersecurity career. CompTIA Linux+ will validate your Linux skills, showing employers that you have what it takes to work on a wide variety of operating systems and devices.
Project Management: IT professionals need to manage many projects at once, and strengthening this soft skill can give you a leg up. Consider CompTIA’s project management certification, CompTIA Project+. CompTIA Project+ goes beyond one specific methodology or framework, covering essential project management concepts. Added bonus: CompTIA Project+ is one of the top-paying IT certifications, according to Global Knowledge.
Information Systems: An information system is an organized system for the collection, organization and storage of data. Having a knowledge of information systems is essential to a successful career in cybersecurity.

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How CompTIA Security + certification can help your career?

The CompTIA Security + certification consists of the best security practice on risk identification and mitigation. The skills candidates will build through this certification will not only help them to clear the certification exam but also focus on the key areas like security analytics. Still not convinced to pursue this CompTIA Certification course? Let’s find more about it to change your opinion.

The CompTIA security certification can put your resume under the spotlight. There are employers who acknowledge the value of security certification and often make it a necessary basis for different cybersecurity positions. With the new update on the CompTIA SY0-501, the growing requirements of the cybersecurity can be met. This has increased the demand for security certification in the market.

You will be recognized as an expert

Most of the employers consider hiring professionals who can demonstrate that they are qualified to perform the given tasks. The CompTIA certification you will obtain will serve as an authentic prove, you have the knowledge and skills required to perform the task. This will enhance your value in the eye of the employers.

Becoming a certified security expert is not an easy task and it will surely take some time. You cannot become a security expert in a single day. However, the main fact is earning CompTIA Security + certification worth all the efforts. There is never the right time to pursue the Security + certification, you have to make it right by enrolling into the CompTIA Security + training and certification course at ProICT Training.

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after CompTIA Network+ Certification

The CompTIA Network+ Certification exam is done; result is out and YES, you’re certified now! With this certification under your belt, the next question is – which profile would I fit in now and most importantly, which ones?

It is important for any certified Network+ technician to be willing to get engrossed in the dynamics of different types of networks at a fundamental level. The reason being the certification focused on the broad and common aspects of networking. Due to its validity and acceptance globally, and being vendor-neutral, having this certification opens up a plethora of career prospects across different networking platforms on account of being a certified Network+ technician.

The following are some of the many profiles one can work in after getting CompTIA Network+ certified:

a) Administrator

A networking administrator is accountable for dealing with daily networking problems and resolving the same as per agreed parameters of the business, quality being one of the most important aspects. CCNA, MCSA/MCSE, MCITP, MCDBA, GIAC GCWN etc are some of the certifications for IT administration. Becoming a certified Networking professional towards networking issues can also don the hat of a Network Administrator.

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Network+ Certification Background

CompTIA has been offering industry standard certification for over 20 years, and has granted 2 million IT certifications in that time. The Network+ certification was created by CompTIA and accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in 2008. When granted the Network+ certification, it is good for 3 years. After 3 years, there is a recertification requirement to take the latest exam in order to stay up-to-date. CompTIA describes Network+ as an entry-level certification, which is partially true. I would not pick up the book, read it and feel like you could take the test and be certified. I believe it is good to have at least some familiarity with networking and the different kinds of equipment before you take this on; it will definitely help with keeping pace with your training.

Training Available
There is an abundance of training available for the Network+ certification. At ASM, we offer a bundle of Network+ / A+ or A+/Network+/Security+. As a Network+ certified professional, you will demonstrate proficiency in the following areas:
Design and implement functional networks
Configure, manage, and maintain essential network devices
Use devices such as switches and routers to segment network traffic and create resilient networks
Identify benefits and drawbacks of existing network configurations
Implement network security, standards, and protocols
Troubleshoot network problems
Support the creation of virtualized networks

It is imperative that you find a good training course led by a qualified training instructor. At ASM we provide many training options and course formats including Virtual ILT classrooms (WebEx) and live in person classroom.

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