CompTIA (Computing Technology Industry Association) is a non-profit organisation formed in 1982. They have developed step by step and now lead the world in IT accreditations that are vendor neutral. This basically means they're absolutely free to independently develop & monitor exams and qualifications that are required by the I.T. industry, irrespective of a specific business' commercial interests. Because systems regularly 'converge' & inter connect in industry, this provides the IT trainee with a much more rounded knowledge and grasp of cross-platform integration. Each time a new examination is being developed (or a previous one up-dated), CompTIA discusses the content with leading associates of the commercial and educational world to create well balanced and very relevant material.

New starters in the I.T. industry can turn to 'CompTIA' for quite a number of their preliminary study courses. Wherever an individual chooses to work in I.T., there are various 'CompTIA' accreditations that will increase their skills. People who are specifically thinking about Networks, Security, Systems, Support, Communications & Servers are particularly well served. CompTIA are now also marketing STRATA accreditations : these are not specifically for people employed in the I.T. market, but for people whose careers require a basic understanding of computing.

As for the '2009' version of the 'Network+' - N10-004 is now the examination reference number. A bigger emphasis is placed upon Security in the 2009 N+ exam, along with network-design & wireless networking. This of course is as well as the primary aspects of network-management & infrastructure.

Usual learning time for these exams are considered to be in the region of 100-150 hours for the 'A+' , & 75-100 hours for the N+ . This makes accomplishing both of them in 6 months part time study very likely, providing superior multi-media training products are used, along with decent examination preparation-software.

By far the most renowned of all of the CompTIA qualifications are without doubt the A+ and Network+. An exceptionally beneficial pair considered as a bundle, they are the starting point for many successful career paths. The CompTIA A+ qualification goes over the fundamentals of computer maintenance, security, installation, support, fault-finding & repair. In addition , it addresses several personal and communication skill-sets required to get into IT. The 'CompTIA' Network+ certification stretches this awareness to a wider grasp of networking, servers & routers, and how they communicate. Both 'Security' & 'Wi-Fi' are covered to some degree. Both qualifications go with each other nicely, & collectively provide a very good start-up platform for other exam programs, or a solid career in I.T. support.

Any of the career roles that follow are all appropriate for the applicant holding a CompTIA 'A+' accreditation: Depot Technician, Call Centre Technician, Remote Support Technician, Field Service Technician, Help Desk Technician, PC Technician and IT Administrator. Career opportunities open up to include Network Administrators, Technicians and Installers when you hold the CompTIA Network+ as well.

Both examinations have fairly recently undergone a 2009 'facelift' in line with the company's work towards 'ISO' standardisation. Internationally the 2006-2007 versions of 'A+' (those with the exam prefix 600) will be phased-out within the coming twelve months. After August 31st '10 they will no longer be accessible in the United Kingdom. Because both the '600', & the recently released '700' examinations at the moment are available to sit in 'prometric' & 'Vue' test-centres, it seems sensible to study the '700' examinations now, and not have to re-certify later on. 'A+' 2009 is currently offered as '220/701' CompTIA 'A+' Essentials and '220-702' 'CompTIA' 'A+' Practical Application. In addition to some extra information on newer technology, there are now two examinations which cover elements of all four of the past examinations. Although the older 'A+' had four exams within the complete program, only 2 were necessary for the qualification. During the last four years, the industry has evolved to the stage where all 4 exams are actually regarded as necessary - hence the reformatting into 2 essential examinations. An upgrade exam has been created by CompTIA for anybody with the older certification. BR/003 is the exam number. This could almost certainly require extra learning, although less so if you covered information on all of the previous exams, as opposed to only the two that were required. The newly created topics will of course involve some fresh studying.

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