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Comparing Successsful Certification Programs

Wednesday, February 6th, 2013

When you look at today’s technology-enabled workforce, there are a huge number of certifications available. We just finished doing a study comparing some of the most successful certification programs, their role in the job market, and their importance to the training industry. We did this study because we’re hoping to convince Google to transition to an authorized training model which leverages affiliate training providers along with authorized content. We’ll keep you posted on that. In the meantime, comparing these certifications yields some interesting insight about how they impact skills and earning power.

So to establish some context for studying useful industry certifications, let’s break them into a few basic categories: Click to continue »

Posted in ASPE, Certification, Google, PMI, Tech Trends, strategy | Comments Off
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White Paper Wednesday: Security – Risks, Security Policy, and How Hackers Work

Tuesday, May 29th, 2012

by Chris Knotts, PMP – ASPE Creative Director

Security is a big deal. Just this week, news broke of the Flame virus, an incredibly sophisticated espionage virus whose complexity makes it highly likely it was a product of state engineering. Although state-sponsored hacking may not be the first security concern you think of when you get to work in the morning, the reality is that every company bears risks that are closely related.

The more connected we get, the more inherent risk there is in using technology and leveraging the computing resources available to us. In the time of a younger internet, with less connectivity, these risks already existed, but in a more limited capacity. But as time has gone by, technology expertise has disseminated across more levels of global society, including areas of the world where the rule of law doesn’t play as strong of a role as it does in our own country. At the same time, network and computing tools have gotten cheaper and more approachable, enabling unscrupulous individuals and organizations to carry out cyber crime in these areas. And global connectivity means we’re vulnerable to attacks that can originate anywhere, including places where our ability to prosecute does not reach. Therefore, prevention is the best security solution available to us.

Today’s White Paper Wednesday presents four pieces covering some vital security essentials. We have some great information on top risks for individuals, top security policy components for businesses, how hackers work, and how to consider budget issues when spending money on security solutions.

These four white papers are brought to you in conjunction with Global Knowledge.

Download all four white papers now

Click to continue »

Posted in Hacking, IT Solutions, Professional Development, Security, Tech Trends, Technology, Uncategorized, strategy | Comments Off
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5 Strategies, Tools and Tips to Prepare for Windows 7 Deployment

Friday, November 12th, 2010

Post contributed by ASPE Web Seminar Presenter Pete Zerger.

If your organization is still running Windows XP, you are likely facing a Windows 7 upgrade in the near future. This can be a daunting task, but here are a few tools and tips to ensure that when the time arrives, you are ready to meet the challenge.

1) Align upgrade efforts with hardware refresh if you can

A great way to ensure your hardware is Windows 7 compatible is to deploy new hardware in conjunction with your Windows 7 deployment. This will reduce driver compatibility issues and newer hardware will deliver better performance. If circumstances dictate that you use existing hardware, further testing with existing printer and peripheral drivers is important since those tend to be the most poorly supported.

2) Leverage Microsoft Tools to Assess Your Orgs “Windows 7 Readiness”

Once you’ve accessed readiness System Center Configuration Manager 2007 and the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 provide the features to facilitate light touch or hands free OS deployment. The Springboard Series Windows 7 IT Pro Work Template: Windows 7 Deployment Plan from Microsoft is a helpful job aid that provides milestones and other guidance Windows 7 deployment project.

3) Minimize impact to user productivity with User State Migration

Helpdesk calls will be fewer and users will be happier and more productive if their Windows 7 environment bears some resemblance to their normal XP working environment is maintained through the migration.

The Windows User State Migration Tool (USMT) 4.0 is now installed as part of the Windows Automated Installation Kit. You can use USMT 4.0 to streamline and simplify user-profile migration during large deployments of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 operating systems. USMT captures user accounts, user files, operating system settings, and application settings, and then migrates them to a new Windows installation. You can use USMT for both side-by-side and wipe-and-load migrations.

4) Assess Infrastructure Compatibility BEFORE Deployment

It’s important to ensure that IT infrastructure, such as DHCP, DNS and Active Directory, are solid so they can provide a strong foundation for Windows 7 deployment.  File server space will also need to be made available to support User State Migration.

5) Identify your application compatibility strategy for incompatible applications

While most of your applications will work fine in Windows 7, you may well run into a few that won’t. If your move to Windows 7 comes before you retire all your incompatible apps, you will need to look at some techniques you can use to run apps that aren’t compatible with Windows 7 on the new operating system. The best strategy to determine which applications will and won’t work on Windows 7 is to load them on a Windows 7 machine and test them. For those that just won’t run, you have several options for coexistence:

  • Terminal Services - One way to deal with incompatible applications is to run them in a remote virtual machine with a compatible (downlevel) OS. You can do this with a Terminal Services and placing an icon for your app on the desktop or start menu.
  • XP Virtual Machine (XP Mode)
    You could also Windows XP apps on a Windows 7 desktop by running a copy of Windows XP in a virtual machine (VM) on your Windows 7 host. Microsoft provides a feature called Windows XP Mode. This is a free download for Windows 7 that provides a virtual machine for running incompatible legacy apps.
  • Application Virtualization or VDI – Application virtualization layers replace part of the runtime environment normally provided by the operating system. Application virtualization options include Microsoft Application Virtualization, Citrix XenApp and Novell ZENworks Application Virtualization.

Remember that the Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) version 5.5 can help you inventory applications, analyze compatibility, and create compatibility fixes for applications.

Conclusion
I hope you’ve found these tips helpful. If you’d like to learn more about Windows 7 deployment, attend “Planning your Desktop Upgrade to Windows 7”, Thursday, November 18, 2010 at 12:00 pm Eastern Time. You can register for this free seminar HERE.

Pete Zerger is an IT consultant, blogger, author, speaker and Microsoft MVP focusing on MS Microsoft System Center and enterprise virtualization. He is a co-founder of systemcentercentral.com a web community dedicated to support of Microsoft System Center management technologies.

Posted in Windows, Windows 7, deployment, strategy | Comments Off