Gary Chalmers, founder of Training Connection, is back in the training field as international marketing and sales director of CompTIA, The Computing Technology Industry Association.
Headquartered in Lombard, Illinois, CompTIA is best known as the creator of the vendor-neutral A+ certification. The association has been going for over 17 years and represents nearly 8 000 computer hardware and software manufacturers, but has only 16 members outside North America.
As an international director, Chalmers is responsible for the UK, Africa, Australia and New Zealand, and will drive CompTIA`s membership and certification expansion outside North America.
He notes that A+ has become the fastest growing certification in the world. Outside North America, SA leads the way in A+ certifications, outstripping the whole of the UK or most European countries combined.
But CompTIA is about more than just A+. The association has also developed Network+ and Certified Document Imaging Architecture certification programmes, and most recently i-Net+.
Chalmers says that prior to Network+, the industry lacked a non-vendor specific networking certification. Players that participated in its development include such industry leaders as Compaq, Digital, Lotus, Microsoft, Novell, 3Com and Wave Technologies.
i-Net+, to be released in January 2000, will cover a range of technical Internet, intranet and extranet topics, independent of specific Internet-related career roles. Net+ was introduced in SA in May. Chalmers says Net+ and i-Net+ interlock just above the A+ level to create a technical platform for the whole networking industry.
But Chalmers believes the local training market is ripe for a new player. "Training is a personal, one-on-one exercise," he says. "Big companies lack that personal relationship, while small players are often in for a quick buck." He predicts a new entry within the next three months, "small enough to maintain a personal touch and yet big enough to have technology leadership and vision".
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