Where new technologies are developed and markets pop-up overnight, there’s an opportunity to learn a brand new skill set to transition into an alternative career.

The last five years bore witness to the rise of cloud, the boom of big data (I hate buzz words) and media coverage of cyber criminals wreaking havoc, eliciting a far greater demand for IT security professionals.

At present, the technology sector is growing faster than many other sectors and with it the demand for highly skilled professionals.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the most promising certifications which can help secure career progression and a bigger salary in 2014.

Cloud Certifications

As an IT Professional, if you’re looking to either boost your existing knowledge of cloud, or develop new expertise, then 2014 could not be a better time. Demand for cloud skills continues to outpace the existing supply of workers, with Microsoft’s cloud computing report predicting demand for 7 million additional cloud computing professionals by 2015.

Microsoft – MCSE: Private Cloud

Microsoft’s flagship MCSE certification now offers a cloud specific track, the MCSE: Private cloud. With advent of System Centre 2012, an increasing number of businesses are creating, developing and maintaining their own private cloud. Professionals who have attained the MCSE certification will be a sought after asset, demonstrating the necessary skill set to manage and implement Microsoft private cloud computing technologies.

CompTIA – Cloud Essentials

This vendor-neutral technical qualification is more of an introduction to the world of Cloud Computing. If you’re looking to get your first role, the Cloud Essentials certification will prove you have the necessary knowledge and understating of cloud computing concepts to help transition your business to the cloud.

Big Data Certifications

Heralded as the next big thing to advance global business, Big Data is the act of mining and processing petabytes’ (what now?) of data to uncover trends, behavior and efficiencies. All of which can be used to help organisation’s become more profitable. IDC’s 2014 predictions forecast a 30% increase in spend on big data technologies pushing it past the $14 billion mark. They also state that demand for big data skills continue to outstrip supply with the need for administrators and developers.

Cloudera Certified Administrator for Apache Hadoop (CCAH)

Hadoop and big data go hand in hand, for the admins among us, attaining the CCAH will provide you with the skills required to operate and manage a Hadoop cluster. This includes the installation and configuration a Hadoop clusters, and the art of load balancing said cluster.

Cloudera Certified Developer for Apache Hadoop (CCDH)

This one’s for you devious Developers, gaining the CCDH demonstrates you have the skills necessary to create robust data processing applications using Apache Hadoop. Which all a bit whizzbang if you ask me.

Cyber Security Certifications

The world is more mobile than ever, Wi-Fi has infiltrated every facet of life, it’s underground and in the air, you cannot escape it. Big Data and the combination of Cloud mean that never has such a vast amount of sensitive data been in the ether, and at risk of being stolen/compromised. Information is Beautiful created the most fantastic infographic of the “Worlds Biggest Data Breaches/Hacks” which have been covered in the media over the last few years.

Image Source: Information is Beautiful

And with Microsoft’s Cybercrime unit reporting a cost of $500 billion to the Global economy yearly, with 20% of businesses targeted by cyber criminals, it’s no surprise that Security Professionals have never been in such high demand.

EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH v8)

Boost your skill set or transition your career in the word of security with the CEH. The CEH certification helps develop the skill set necessary to scan, test, hack and secure your own systems. This cert is now in its 8^th version and has been developed by hundreds of SMEs and authors who have contributed to this fascinating course. The CEH teaches you how to hack, in order to identify and fix network weaknesses before the cyber criminals find an exploit.

Get Certifying…

So there you have it 5 certifications that will help advance your career in 2014, so what are you waiting for? It’s time get researching, learning and certifying in 2014 to fast track your way to a new career or a higher salary.

Think we’ve missed a certification? Want to find out more? Why not add a few comments and share your thoughts….

By Ed Jones

The post Certifications to progress your career in 2014 appeared first on Colocation America.

A recent survey commissioned by Firebrand Training reveals a considerable shift in opinion when it comes to the on-going debate of whether classroom training or self-study is better when preparing for exams. After compiling responses from 952 IT professionals, the survey highlights a massive 87.2% of respondents believe classroom training is the way forward.

No instructor, too much distraction and weak study material

The results from this survey will be troubling for the purveyors of self-study. The bad news doesn’t stop there, from the 818 respondents who prefer classroom training, 59.5% of the respondents reported self-study material alone is not enough to prepare for professional certification. 

Ease of distraction (75.8% of respondents) and the lack of a qualified instructor (71.5% of respondents) were also popular reasons as to why self-study is worse than classroom training. The full figures are revealed in the following graph:

Should training companies be charging for self-study?

This survey will no doubt raise some complicated questions for companies who charge thousands of dollars for self-study training material. Consider this; would you be willing to pay for self-study material if you knew resources alone were not sufficient in preparing for your exams? 

Robert Chapman, Co-Founder of Firebrand Training doesn’t think so. When asked, his response was clear:

“At Firebrand, we don’t believe that self-study alone is a viable method of learning. The compelling results from this survey show we are far from alone in this opinion. Companies should not be charging thousands of pounds for eLearning and self-study resources, while effectively setting up the student for failure.”

Self-study without the financial risk

The company has gone on to launch a free self-study platform known as Learn. The platform currently offers all the course material from their flagship PMI Project Management Professional (PMP) course, as well as a range of additional resources. 

In launching the Learn platform, students are able to experience self-study for free, without financial risk. If successful in its beta form, Firebrand plan to expand the portfolio of courses offered in early 2014 to include a range of Project Management, Security and Microsoft certifications.

Where do you stand?

We want to hear your opinion…. maybe you think self-study is dead, or you think classroom training isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Let us know in the comments section below. 

By Ed Jones.

The post Are IT professionals planning a shift away from self-study? appeared first on Colocation America.

Microsoft has dominated the enterprise technology market for over 30 years and what better way to celebrate than with a fun info-graphic. Here’s an overview of Microsoft’s product offerings from both the past and present – compliments of our friends over at Firebrand Training:

This info-graphic was submitted by guest contributor Ed Jones. Check him out on Google + to learn more about IT certifications and training courses.

The post A Brief History of Microsoft Enterprise Technology appeared first on Colocation America.