CompTIA is perhaps best known for its IT certifications and channel partner initiatives. But the IT association also sees the lines blurring between channel partners and IT professionals. With that realization in mind, CompTIA has acquired the Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP), and is launching an IT professional organization to "help foster skilled workforce."
The need to rethink IT training and career training has been a key theme for CompTIA CEO Todd Thibodeaux and CompTIA for several years now. Thibodeaux pinpointed many of the talent and training challenges -- involving social, cultural and economic issues, during the ChannelCon 2016 conference.
At the time, Thibodeaux noted that roughly 15 percent of IT job openings go unfilled because employers can't find qualified candidates for the position. The organization's new IT pro organization, like ongoing channel-oriented member services, will strive to close those gaps. AITP has roughly 4,000 members, according to CompTIA Senior Vice President, Industry Relations, Nancy Hammervik.
CompTIA IT Pro Organization: Strategy, Member Benefits
The new IT pro organization, set to launch this spring, will have an R2R focus -- helping members to maintain career success from "resume-to-retirement," Hammervik told ChannelE2E. CompTIA will automatically enroll existing AITP members into the new IT professional organization for the first year, she added.
Member benefits, according to CompTIA, will address:
- Skills: significant discounts on CompTIA’s certification and continuing education programs.
- Knowledge: access to the extensive Skillsoft library, addressing a wide range of management and networking topics.
- Career Advancement: an exclusive, customized career portal that facilitates specialized employment searches, and offers other benefits.
- Experience: participation in CompTIA’s AskIT program, for direct work experience.
CompTIA has made multiple acquisitions over the years to address various IT skills gaps. The MSP Partners buyout of 2009, for instance, helped the organization's reseller and VAR members to transform into MSPs.
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