With a growing need for IT professionals with experience and skills related to converged voice and data solutions, CompTIA is launching a new convergence technology professional certification in collaboration with Certification Partners.
The adoption of converged communications technology is creating a
skills gap that makes it difficult to find skilled converged technology
specialists, and the new CompTIA Convergence Technology Professional +
(CTP+) certification was designed to validate the skills connected to
the deployment and maintenance of converged infrastructures. It will
help employers and channel partners’ clients to identify the skills
necessary to handling converged infrastructures.
“Converged technologies are huge. We’re seeing very, very rapid
adoption now,” said Terry Erdle, executive vice president of skills
certification at CompTIA. “We use it ourselves. We use voice over IP.
We have all of our communications and networking stuff completed
merged. The challenge is you have to get it working well, and if one
piece goes down, you’re feeling it all over the place.”
Converged technology certifications are the most requested along
with security and CompTIA A+ certifications, Erdle said. The
proliferation of edge devices along with the adoption of VoIP and video
on IP networks is creating a more complex computing environment that
needs skilled IT professionals to manage and maintain them. That’s
where the CTP+ certification comes in.
“It’s really pointed at people who are working in small, medium or
even large businesses. This isn’t the kind of certification you get to
hang around your house and work on VoIP in the study. It’s really aimed
at people who are focused on integrating the various IP-based services
in a business,” Erdle said.
This isn’t the first time CompTIA has offered a converged technology
certification. Its Convergence+ certification has been available for
the past few years and was only discontinued in October 2010. Erdle
said Convergence+ wasn’t one of CompTIA’s hottest-selling
certifications, so when the association looked into updating it, the
team came into contact with Certification Partners’ CTP certification,
which he described as a “leading converged technology credential.”
Working with Certification Partners, CompTIA is updating the
credential to CTP+ and will be offering it to the association’s
membership.
“Our whole purpose is to help define for the industry the
appropriate career path for the workforce to follow. That’s not just
for the individuals, but for the companies that hire those individuals
and for the government entities that specify these career paths,” Erdle
said.
CompTIA expects the new CTP+ certification to be very popular, he
noted. There’s a need for people who are skilled at designing and
optimizing converged technology infrastructures.
“It’s just computing in the 21st Century. It’s totally integrated,
it’s global, it’s highly integrated with various functionalities and
customized functionalities that different groups want,” Erdle said.
The CTP+ exam will cover the planning of IP networks, wireless
networking, and voice and telephony services, functions and
technologies. Although not a prerequisite, CompTIA recommends that IT
professionals first attain the CompTIA Network+ certification or have
18 to 24 months of experience in data networking, telephony and other
convergence technologies before pursuing CTP+.