If we take all the IT areas dominating the world stage, this area is one of the biggest and most encompassing. With so many complicated skills to learn, some specialist training is the only practical solution. Cisco & Microsoft are essentially the 2 main corporations dominating this sector. Microsoft create Network and Server software, whilst Cisco concentrate largely on the hard-ware end of Networking: Routers, data switches, controllers and so on. It's become financially and economically necessary for MS and Cisco to get into security during the last several years. Another fast growing area in this field is wireless-connectivity & related products. Although Digital Forensics and Ethical Hacking have fingers in all these areas, they are also disciplines unto themselves, and call for substantial training and experience to become thoroughly effective.

MS offer a variety of specialist areas at MCSE level, such as in Security or Messaging for all those who have a specific interest. It may be that 'CompTIA' Security+ is right for you, so that you can lead on to the 'CISSP' - 'Certified Information Systems Security Professional'. You'll find there are stringent 'experience' specifications for the CISSP, and they need talking about & understanding before you decide to take this path. Having a discussion with one of our team of industry experts will shed more light on everything for you personally.

You'll find broader alternatives in addition to Microsoft and Cisco when it comes to becoming trained in each of these disciplines. The fact is, there's a lot of accreditation that is supplied by extremely well regarded independent institutions - & this is becoming more and more important. The significance about understanding converging technologies & inter connectivity in networks is now well recognized. Networking is actually going through some major paradigm shifts at the moment; both in terms of processing & in the storage of data, with internet-based computing gaining presence & 'green I.T.' getting to be increasingly relevant. The development of 'green' I.T. addresses two essential aspects - reducing the effect on the environment is one, but perhaps of equal relevance to industry is cost. Computer systems produce less heat (and so need less cooling) if they have lower-powered processors. Fuel bills can often be considerably reduced for companies such as data centres which are large technology users.

A rudimentary idea of networks is a great first base for anyone coming into the industry. Until you're confident about just how a Computer functions and communicates with other Computers, anything else is probably nonsense. Presuming at least a basic level of IT user skills, (read the general Computer/IT Training web-pages if not,) the starting-point is almost always CompTIA A+ & 'Network+' . Examples of these are covered on the 'CompTIA' section on this web site.

Moving on from here will often take you to the MS 'MCSA'/'MCSE' or the 'Cisco' CCNA/CCNP, depending on whether you're pursuing the hardware or software side of things. However, it should be stated that a thorough understanding of Microsoft network systems is practically a necessity for most network-environments, due to MS's penetration in this market. Again, these certifications are discussed in-depth on the relevant sections within this website.

Of course you might want to enhance your Wi-Fi (wire-less) skills by taking accreditations such as the 'CWNA' and 'CWNP', or carry on down the CompTIA route with Linux+, Security+ or Server+ .

One of the more recent sectors within this subject is known as Digital Forensics. We associate forensics with TV shows such as CSI (Crime Scene Investigation). There might however be a touch more routine with the actual work than that executed by the actors on TV! Nevertheless for many, it provides a highly interesting and rewarding career within technology-based analysis. The job entails seeking & interpreting 'digital-footprints' that can be used for data recovery or legal investigations.

Sitting somewhere between Digital Forensics & Security, is the developing field of Ethical-Hacking. These are certifications offered by the EC-Council that teach more advanced students the darker principles of hacking - but with the purpose of employing these skills to safeguard and increase the security of a system, rather than harm it.

'CompTIA' (the 'Computing Technology Industry Association') is a world-wide concern that right now offers a number of the most respected vendor-neutral accreditation paths on the market. In addition there are various other establishments, including the 'ISC2' (abbreviated from the somewhat long-winded: International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium!) and CWNP (Certified Wireless Network Professional). Obviously, there is a comprehensive variety of certification tracks from Microsoft and Cisco. Largely because of the range and volume of qualification paths to be had in this sector, its a good idea to talk through this sort of change of career with an experienced advisor. You could possibly save a lot of money and time, to say nothing of stress and discouragement.

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