CompTIA Volley

Carolyn and Seth sit down with Nancy Hammervik, CompTIA's Executive Vice President of Membership. Nancy describes the 2019 strategies that came out of the recent membership planning meeting, where CompTIA's volunteer leaders set a course to improve the adoption of technology and the customer experience.

Carolyn and Seth take a look at the technology landscape through the lens of the upcoming holidays. We talk about one thing that scares us about the current tech scene, one thing that we're thankful for, and one thing that we have on our wish list.

Carolyn and Seth talk about CompTIA's latest research report, which focuses on how companies are forming teams focused on cybersecurity. Improving skills and defining metrics are two key parts of creating effective teams, which often mix internal and external resources depending on the size and technical capabilities of an organization. 2018 Trends in Cybersecurity report: https://www.comptia.org/resources/cybersecurity-trends-research Slideshare: https://www.slideshare.net/comptia/2018-trends-in-cybersecurity-building-effective-security-teams

Carolyn and Seth talk with Charles Eaton, Executive VP of Social Innovation for CompTIA and CEO of the Creating IT Futures Foundation. Charles talks about CompTIA's philanthropic efforts, including a partnership with the Tech Students Association, work with employers around non-traditional career paths, and the IT Ready program from Creating IT Futures that provides an on-ramp for adults seeking a new career in technology. Creating IT Futures: https://www.creatingitfutures.org/ Technology Student Association: http://tsaweb.org/ Charles's book, How to Launch Your Teen's Career in Technology: https://www.amazon.com/Launch-Your-Teens-Career-Technology/dp/1643168894/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1535374165&sr=8-10

Carolyn and Seth give a preview of CompTIA's upcoming research study on the state of the IT channel. Emerging technology and vertical specialization are driving new dynamics among traditional channel firms, and a wide range of companies providing technology enablement are creating a more diverse environment. The new study will be available on comptia.org the week of September 18. Previous research on SaaS firms: https://www.comptia.org/resources/why-software-as-a-service-benefits-advantages-of-saas-trends-report CompTIA podcast landing page: https://www.comptia.org/events/podcasts

Carolyn and Seth welcome their daughters Olivia and Kate to the podcast. As the girls head off to college, we have a discussion about technology usage and viewpoints.

Carolyn and Seth welcome Bryn McCoy, founder of LuxLab, to talk about incorporating human values into technology design. As AI and IoT create new and more complicated interfaces for technology interaction, it is becoming more important than ever to consider the impact and usability of the technology products being created.

Carolyn and Seth give a preview of CompTIA's ChannelCon event, taking place July 31-August 3 in Washington, DC. Catch a sneak peek of sessions covering IoT, operational efficiency, emerging technology, and diversity. There is much more happening onsite and online! ChannelCon main site: www.comptia.org/channelcon (https://exit.sc/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.comptia.org%2Fchannelcon) ChannelCon online registration: www.comptia.org/channelcon/agenda…channelcon-online (https://exit.sc/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.comptia.org%2Fchannelcon%2Fagenda%2Fchannelcon-online)

Carolyn and Seth interview CompTIA's Patrick Lane about the new certification coming at the end of the month. PenTest+ certifies skills that are used to proactively test internal networks for vulnerabilities. The cert is a companion to CySA+, which performs network analytics in order to detect vulnerabilities.

Carolyn and Seth chat with Tim Fitzgerald, VP of Cloud Channel Sales at Ingram, about the evolution of the distributor in the modern IT industry. As actual distribution of products becomes a less critical part of the ecosystem, distributors still play a role in aggregating solutions, simplifying complexity, and assisting technology firms as they meet the needs of end users.

Carolyn and Seth welcome Gail Holmberg, area managing partner at Fortium Partners, to discuss the shift companies are taking towards strategic IT. CompTIA's most recent whitepaper explores this topic, and Gail shares her experiences in working with clients and seeing the hurdles they encounter as they pursue digital transformation. CompTIA's Using Strategic IT for Competitive Advantage whitepaper: www.comptia.org/resources/using-s…etitive-advantage (https://exit.sc/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.comptia.org%2Fresources%2Fusing-strategic-it-for-competitive-advantage)

Carolyn and Seth welcome Randy Gross, CompTIA's C…