TEN MOST VALUABLE IT CERTIFICATIONS OF 2012

According to the recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics the unemployment rate is still over 8%. These people are our neighbors, our friends, and our family; representing each demographic in terms of age, education and talent. There is probably only one thing that unites them all: they do not possess one of the 10 most sought after certifications in the Information Technology (IT) job market.

The ten most critical certifications that would assure Americans jobs and advancement in the IT marketplace are:

1. Project Management Professional (PMP) manages projects to a successful conclusion, on-time, on-budget, and using the resources allocated.
2. Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) certifications validate your skills in deploying, designing, and maintaining Microsoft technology such as Windows, SQL, SharePoint and Exchange.
3. CompTIA’s A+ certification indicates competency to install networks, conduct preventative maintenance, secure them and troubleshoot them.
4. Cisco Certified Network Associates (CCNA) installs, configures, runs and troubleshoots medium-sized routed and switched networks.
5. Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) cortication validate your skills on implementing and troubleshooting a particular Microsoft Server technology, such as Windows, SQL, SharePoint and Exchange.
6. CompTIA’s Network+ certification demonstrates competency to manage, maintain, troubleshoot, install and configure basic network infrastructures.
7. Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) validates the ability to plan, implement, verify and troubleshoot local and wide-area enterprise networks and work collaboratively with specialists on advanced security, voice, wireless and video solutions.
8. NetApp Certified Data Management Administrator (NCDA) have proven skills in performing in-depth support, administrative functions, and performance management for NetApp storage appliances running the Data ONTAP® operating system in NFS and Windows® (CIFS) multiprotocol environments.
9. IT Infrastructure Library certification (ITIL) demonstrates the expertise of professionals in tech management with a three tiered program of basic, intermediate and advanced certification.
10. CompTIA’s Security+ certification demonstrates knowledge of system security, network infrastructure, access control and organizational security.

Although the above certifications may not guarantee you a job (extenuating circumstances must be taken into account), they certainly improve your chances of gaining meaningful and stable employment.

Unitek Education and Quint: Perfect Pair for Progress

Unitek Education has continued to garner multiple awards and honors by IT training vendors like Microsoft and Cisco, amongst others.
Fremont, CA (PRWEB) September 22, 2011

Unitek Education has continued to garner multiple awards and honors by IT training vendors like Microsoft and Cisco, amongst others. With the growing demand for expertise in ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library®), Unitek Education is collaborating with Quint Wellington Redwood (Quint) to provide high quality IT Management courseware for individual training as well as corporate training to organizations. Popular ITIL training topics include how to manage an IT organization (e.g. ITIL), provide best practices in IT management (e.g. Cobit and ISO) and help an organization manage IT projects (e.g. Prince2).

Unitek Education will use Quint’s accredited materials and course guides to teach trainees, preferably candidates with some IT project management experience, how to design, develop and implement project management as both an organizational capability and a strategic asset. Unitek Education will use accredited Quint testing procedures to validate its proven training methods and qualify its graduates for certification.

The synthesis between Unitek Education’s award-winning IT training programs and Quint, will produce certified ITIL professionals needed to meet the increasing demand for qualified IT professionals. Unitek Education has an enviable record of successfully training and certifying IT trainees in various platforms and emerging technologies. Just as scalability is a valued characteristic of any technology aimed at a broad market, Unitek Education will offer ITIL training at a variety of levels – from basic courses which familiarize non-specialists with terminology and structure to intensive advanced ITIL training that will lead to the highest level of expertise in the field. At the end of each course, trainees will take proctored examinations leading to APMG accredited ITIL certification. As a result, Unitek Education will enhance its role as a leading vocational service provider.

ITIL training programs offered by Unitek Education will provide the necessary knowledge and expertise, as well as follow-up vocational guidance and resources to help their graduates succeed in the marketplace. Quint, a leader in its own field, develops digital and printed course materials. Recognized and accredited by APMG-International, Quint’s courseware offers the highest-quality training materials and testing standards and procedures.

Through Unitek Education’s ITIL training, the practitioners of ITIL will learn best practices to apply in the regular performance of their service management roles. With more training, Unitek Education’s IT students can strive for the highest level ITIL certification (ITIL V3 Expert) that will qualify them to guide and implement, from start to finish, any system changes requiring expert change management. The different levels of training and certification offer the prospective ITIL candidate the opportunity enter the field from any current level of expertise. Unitek Education will train technicians to meet the needs of the employers wanting to implement or upgrade their ITIL system development and management goals.

The synergy created by Unitek Education and Quint joining forces will meet the growing demand for certified ITIL professionals. While millions of people continue to look for jobs that have disappeared and show no sign of returning, certified ITIL professionals can continue to harness the advantages of an expansive career in IT.

About Unitek Education

Unitek Education excels in providing need-based IT learning to corporate clients and certification training to IT career oriented individuals. Our strong focus on quality and customer service has been crucial to our success. This focus has helped us in expanding our client base to all 50 US states and over 40 countries worldwide. Headquartered in the heart of Silicon Valley in sunny California, Unitek Education offers IT training to thousands of clients nationwide. It is the only IT training vendor in the United States that has achieved the dual status of Microsoft Gold partner for learning solutions (Gold CPLS) and Cisco Learning Partner (CLP). Unitek Education is also an award-winning Citrix Authorized learning Center (CALC) and a Network Appliance (NetApp) Learning Partner. Microsoft and CRN have also recognized Unitek Education with Learning Partner of the Year awards. For media enquiries, please contact Rubel Khan at rubelk@unitek.com or call 1-888-825-6273 .

About Quint Wellington Redwood (Quint)

Quint Wellington Redwood is a global, independent Management Consulting firm, specialized in organizing "world class" IT Management solutions. Quint "Dares to Challenge" both themselves and their customers to maximize organizational performance. Continuously developing and using the world’s best people and best practices, Quint provides organizations with a unique "leverage based" approach to IT Management, pioneering and leading this domain for nearly 20 years. Providing both solution providers, as well as end-user organizations, with the latest and best solutions in knowledge transfer and knowledge application for strategy and governance, sourcing, performance, and service management is how Quint contributes to the worldwide advancement of IT Management. For more information, please visit http://www.quintgroup.com.

ITIL v3 Endorsed by NASA

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is fostering NASA’s alignment with recognition that information is the most important strategic resource any organization has to manage.

Using the ITIL v3 framework to champion positive changes in how NASA conducts IT business.

Linda Cureton, Nasa’s Chief Information Officer explains "Adapting these ITIL processes that have been refined and vetted thousands of times supports our goal of being the best at IT, enabling our delivery of outstanding IT services for our world- class scientists and engineers here at NASA.".

The ITIL framework has quickly become NASA’s springboard for improving service delivery, mitigating disruptions, increasing productivity and enabling achievement of IT business objectives. Additionally, ITIL addresses new guidance and reporting requirements from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Government and private industry leaders regard ITIL as the best and most cohesive approach to IT service management in existence. Spearheading our ITIL initiative on behalf of NASA’s OCIO is NASA’s Service Integration Manager Cliff Ward. This new framework is moving NASA away from the current federated management model to an industry-recognized Service Management and Service Delivery model.

"Our implementation of the ITIL v3 framework will enable us to increase our effectiveness in both management and delivery of IT services across our Agency" said Ward. "Our collaborative approach to consolidation and development of the ‘NASA-ized’ ITIL processes and procedures will result in our achieving ‘The Best of the Best IT.‘"

 

Source: www.itilnews.com

Breakthrough: ISO20000 is now required by US Government

ISO20000 is now specifically required by US Government, as a requirement for service providers who want of offer their services for government IT services. Recently, the US Air force, for their Enterprise Integration and Services Management (EISM) system, required an ISO20000 certificate from sourcing providers.

Requirements are very specific: "The prime contractor shall have evidence of ISO/IEC 20000 certification throughout the life of the contract, inclusive of options. The Government will evaluate (confirm) the offeror’s certification(s) based on the documentation provided in the proposal." This obviously requires a regular confirmation of the certified status.

Also: "This certification must be held at the organizational level of the legal entity performing the contract." Which means that a service provider cannot get this status cheap, by certifying just one team or just one service against the ISO20000 requirements (which is a common trick amongst providers, ever since the introduction of ISO standards).

Another RFP by US Dept of Defense, to be published in February, will be requiring the ISO 20000 certification. Also, NIST seems to be going to require ISO 20000 for an upcoming proposal, as well as the US Veteran’s Affairs has indicated a preference for ISO 20000 certificate for upcoming Help Desk proposals. These findings confirm the uptake of ISO20000 in the US.

Source: http://www.itsmportal.com/news/breakthrough-iso20000-now-required-us-government

ISO/IEC20000 Auditor Training and Certification – Nov 15 & 16 (Miami, FL/Live Online)

The ISO/IEC20000 Auditor course provides an effective learning environment for anyone interested in learning how to conduct the ISO/IEC20000 process audit. The course introduces both theoretical and practical knowledge to course participants. They will learn how to conduct ISO/IEC20000 process audits on their own IT organization as well as provide knowledge support within their own IT organization. An interactive approach is used combining lecture, discussion and exercises.

Course Objectives:

• Recognize and understand the key concepts of ISO/IEC20000
• Prepare participants for the itSMF ISO/IEC20000 Auditor exam
• Understand the working of the ISO/IEC20000 processes and the potential benefits
• Identify bottlenecks on process control and provide positive remedial action

Date: November 15 – 16 2010
Location: Miami, FL / Live-Online

Who should attend:
IT Professionals that have an interest or play a role in ISO/IEC20000, regardless of certification of their organization, or that request their service provider to be ISO/IEC20000 certified.

Exam & Certification:
ISO/IEC20000 Auditor

Delivery:
Instructor-led classroom or virtual classroom (Live Online)

Duration:
2 Days

PMI PDUs:
Earn 14 PDUs

Prerequisites:

Eligibility criteria The Auditor training course is suitable for candidates who meet the following minimum criteria.
An employee (or contractor) of an RCB organization who is:
• a certified ISO 9000, BS 7799 or Tickit auditor. [It is the responsibility of the training provider to ensure that the candidates hold one of these certificates before they take the training course.]
• an IT auditor with at least three years’ general IT auditing experience
• able to communicate effectively with managers, subordinates, colleagues, users and customers
or
an employee of any organization who is:
• a certified internal auditor. [It is the responsibility of the training provider to ensure that the candidates hold a certificate before they take the training course.]
• an IT auditor with at least three years’ general IT auditing experience
• able to communicate effectively with managers, subordinates, colleagues, users and customers. Note: Although it is not a prerequisite, candidates who hold the ITIL Service Management Foundation Certificate will be at an advantage.

About Quint Wellington Redwood: Quint Wellington Redwood is a leading global independent consulting and training firm dedicated to resolving IT-related organizational challenges and IT Management Services. Operating in more than 49 countries and across four continents, Quint provides strategy, sourcing and service management to leading organizations, creating and implementing best practices worldwide. The firm’s portfolio of services includes education, consulting and measurement, integrated across the domains of business and IT.

Quint Education Solutions offers a complete portfolio of education services ranging from material licensing to full service onsite training around IT best practices such as ITIL, ISO20000 and CobiT. Our content is developed by Subject Matter Experts for Subject Matter Experts and tried and tested globally. With over 100,000 students trained via both classroom and virtual delivery options Quint offers the experience and flexibility to give your IT Best Practices education program a boost.

Register online: http://enroll.quintgroup.com/product/?tag=632&branch=US 

or

Let me know if you are interested or if you have any question. 

Rubel Khan
VP of Business Development
Quint Wellington Redwood
www.quintgroup.com  
1-305-333-4863 (Phone)
Email: r.khan@quintgroup.com

ITIL v3 Certification Roadmap

ITIL v3 Foundation Certificate (2 credits)

· ITIL® v3: Achieving Foundation Certification

Lifecycle Modules (3 credits each)

· ITIL® v3 Intermediate Qualification: Service Strategy

· ITIL® v3 Intermediate Qualification: Service Operation

· ITIL® v3 Intermediate Qualification: Service Transition

· ITIL® v3 Intermediate Qualification: Service Design

· ITIL® v3 Intermediate Qualification: Continual Service Improvement

Capability Modules (4 credits each)

· ITIL® v3 Intermediate Qualification: Operational Support and Analysis

· ITIL® v3 Intermediate Qualification: Release, Control and Validation

· ITIL® v3 Intermediate Qualification: Planning, Protection and Optimization

· ITIL® v3 Intermediate Qualification: Service Offerings and Agreements

Managing Across the Lifecycle (5 credits)

· ITIL® v3 Intermediate Qualification: Managing Across the Lifecycle
  17 credits are required to take the Managing Across the Lifecycle Examination

itSMF Fusion 10 – Louisville, KY

I will be attending itSMF Fusion this year. If you are interested in joining contact me for $200 off in registration fee. See you there.

More information about the event: Next September, the most significant event in Service Management will bring you world-class speakers and content you have come to expect from the itSMF USA convention. That means you’ll benefit from greater networking opportunities, additional educational content, and much more. The Kentucky International Convention Center is the the perfect venue to hold an event as important as itSMF USA Fusion 10 .

Get ready to make the most of your time in Louisville by rounding up more Service Management knowledge than ever before. This year’s national convention provides the opportunity to discover the strategies and solutions that will help your organization realize a greater ROI on its Service Management investment by reducing costs and increasing efficiency. With the guidance and expertise of itSMF USA backing the convention, IT and business professionals will come together to help unify the ever-evolving industry of Service Management. Don’t miss your chance to be a part of this monumental event. For more information and to register, visit www.itsmfusion.com.

Download White Papers related to IT Best Practices (ITIL, ISO 20000, Sourcing etc.)

 Information technology managers, company executives, IT staff and business users – now you can easily keep abreast of industry news, trends and developments through White Papers. Quint Wellington Redwood is proud to bring you this valuable collection of White Papers related to IT Best Practices (ITIL, ISO 20000, Sourcing etc.) 

Download, Read, & Learn. Enjoy!

ITIL® V3 Update, what are the benefits?

When talking about service management we can’t ignore ITIL®. Despite its deficiencies, there is no doubt that ITIL® is the de facto framework most organisations are using. During its 20 year existence, ITIL® has proven its value to many organisations.

In 2007 we got what was originally called the ITIL® refresh and eventually became ITIL® V3. To many it seemed like a huge
“refresh”, but strictly speaking there was not so much that was new. Especially if you look at the processes, most of them can be found in the 10 books in the ITIL® V2 library. Gradually, the idea of a service lifecycle and the use of the service portfolio as the central controlling element gained acceptance.

So what is the ITIL® V3 Update? Is ITIL® V4 already under way at a time when we hardly are mastering V3? It isn’t, but what is it then?

Was ITIL® V3 born prematurely?

There is no doubt that there are a number of inaccuracies, inconsistencies and errors in the ITIL® V3 core books. Examples of this are many such as circular references, lack of roles and inconsistent process descriptions with varying degree of detail. One example is proactive problem management, which in the Service Operation book has a reference to the CSI book. In the CSI book, the reference is in the opposite direction.

Despite an extensive review in connection with the release of ITIL® V3, there is no doubt that the quality of the end product would have benefited from additional time. This didn’t happen because of the desire to release the books on the pre announced date. This has been seen before in other contexts. We have all made compromises in IT projects and made a solution live before it was quite ready. The usual compromise between time, quality and cost.

To read the full guidance please click here and download

Source: http://www.itsmfi.org/

5 big IT outsourcing challenges

More enterprises are looking to outsource tech infrastructure efforts, and in-house IT infrastructure is predicted to dip from 82% this year to 49% by 2020, according to a report from Vanson Bourne. The report notes several challenges remain in taking the outsourcing path. Read full article