As the clock counts down to MMS, attendees are getting excited about taking the brand new Private Cloud exams. If you are attending MMS or intend to take any Cloud/Virtualisation exams, then you need to check out the Microsoft Cloud Training portal.
The site has FREE resources as well as Courses and Exam codes that will help you establish yourself as a Cloud Expert. Visit the site today!
On the 14th of March, the Yorkshire IT User Group is holding a special evening event in Bradford, West Yorkshire in order to celebrate the launch of Windows 8. The venue is at the Zenos Training Centre – conveniently located next to the Interchange.
The event kicks off at 6PM and will end at 8.30PM. In addition to the Windows 8 content, you will be able to find out more about the benefits of IT Apprentices and will be able to enjoy an Indian buffet.
It is a completely FREE event, but you need to register beforehand at: https://zenos.eventbrite.co.uk/
Hope to see you there!
On 6 March 2012, CompTIA UK held a launch event for the Cloud Essentials exam. It’s been a long time since CompTIA (or any other vendor) has promoted a singular exam – so this had to be something special.
The Cloud Essentials exam signifies how CompTIA have repositioned their certifications to follow a track. Previously, the IT industry saw the CompTIA exams as a vendor neutral starting place from which you could specialise into Microsoft, Cisco, VMWare, HP etc.
The new CompTIA strategy is to develop an IT Professional through certifications with the following track:
Foundation (Strata IT Fundamentals) > Speciality Series (Cloud, Green IT, Healthcare, Sales) > Professional (A+, Network+, Security+ etc.) > Master (CASP and more coming soon!)
The Cloud Essentials Exam fits into the speciality series and will be followed by the Virtualization Essentials exam later this year. The Cloud/Virtualization track will also introduce new Master exams for Cloud Consultants / Virtualization Experts. This is most likely to be introduced in 2013 as the industry are still developing their cloud offerings and platforms.
The Cloud Essentials exam is supposed to be “non-technical” and is aimed at all levels of IT Professionals i.e. technicians, Administrators, IT Managers/Decision Makers. This is quite a bold stance that CompTIA have taken as there is no clear definition for whom the exam is for – and may be its biggest challenge in order to galvanise the IT Professional community to take this exam.
The Objective Domains for the exam demonstrate the range of acronyms that have emerged through the introduction of Cloud technology within the IT industry and has a robust set of criteria that a Candidate should know in order to successfully take and pass the exam.
ITPrenuers and Skillsoft were the two major forces behind the development of the exam. ITPreneurs took the lead in the development as the course came about due to a Dutch Bank asking them to deliver a vendor-neutral Cloud course. As there were none in the industry at the time, they created their own in conjunction with subject matter experts from leading IT companies. In order to certify the individuals, CompTIA worked in conjunction with a larger pool of IT companies to develop the exam. Hence, even though the exam may be non-technical it is definitely in demand by the industry expecting the current and future generations of the IT workforce to have a strong understanding of Cloud Technology.
Name: CompTIA Cloud Essentials
Exam Code: CLO-001
Number of questions: 50
Passing score: 720/900
Standard Retail Price: £128
Exam Delivery Vendor: Pearson Vue / Prometric (only until the end of June as Pearson Vue is now the exclusive delivery vendor for CompTIA exams)
