CompTIA EMEA Conference 2013
Terry Erdle kicks off the #EMEA13 conference
This week, I attended my fourth consecutive CompTIA EMEA conference. The conference focus has changed over the years but the format is the same with a first day specialist sessions with the second day as the main conference day. It’s always a good opportunity to catch up and network with people with shared interests and this conference was no exception.
In addition to the networking opportunities, there was a whole slew of interesting sessions. CompTIA conferences tend to focus on the hot topics of the day and this year was no exception with sessions on Big Data, Mobile Marketing and creating a Social Media culture. There were also sessions on topics of certification including funding of UK qualifications (which could include CompTIA certs), establishing a differentiation as a Training Provider and of course an annual update of CompTIA certs.
It was such a packed agenda and I had to make some harsh choices with which sessions to attend and networking. So this is one conference where I am definitely looking forward to playing back the recordings and the slides!
One question that was playing at the back of my mind throughout the conference is the relevance of CompTIA certifications in a world where people are obsessed by particular eco-systems (iOS, Windows, Android etc.) I am a big fan of vendor neutral but it is hard to avoid the reality that CompTIA certs are no longer counted in the MCSA and other vendor certification pathways. There is also a bigger emphasis on “just-in-time” learning which is on-demand and on all devices. At that point people are not looking for “generally” this could be a “potential” solution or reason for a problem. They want to know exactly how to fix their issues on a particular device or software. It would be interesting to see the certification landscape in 12 months time.
