Thoughts on Ghost CompTIA Certifications

@Stephen Schneiter and I have an interesting conversation going on that relates to CompTIA certifications that are no longer available. Having obtained both the Home Technology Integration (HTI+) certification and the Healthcare IT Technician certificate, they provide "bragging rights" since I continue to hold more CompTIA designations than @Lee McWhorter has <grin..>. The business of certifications necessitates achieving that "industry-recognized" designation, and unfortunately, neither of these apparently achieved this goal. With the increase of IoT, I think some consideration should be given to revising the HTI+ certification. I point to my home network, with more than twenty devices attached and the Steve Gibson three router security solution in place, as evidence of its relevance. For those not familiar with HTI+, I detail it in a Certification Magazine article I wrote in 2004. As to those twenty-plus IOT devices on my home network, it turns out they are an income producer for me (see the draft article I'm writing).

Moving over to the Healthcare IT Technician certification, we "Steves" agree this was a certification that arrived before its time. With today's focus on security, coupled with the fact that healthcare providers are primary targets for bad actors, I suspect the certification would have the value it deserves today. As interest expands (see Futuro Health article), perhaps this certification should be revived.
 
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Stephen Schneiter

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    .... they provide "bragging rights" since I continue to hold more CompTIA designations than @Lee McWhorter has <grin..>.

    Moving over to the Healthcare IT Technician certification, we "Steves" agree this was a certification that arrived before its time. With today's focus on security, coupled with the fact that healthcare providers are primary targets for bad actors, I suspect the certification would have the value it deserves today. As interest expands (see Futuro Health article), perhaps this certification should be revived.

    I believe when we talk about holding certs, it is really talking about "Active" certs. While, yes, @Steve Linthicum, you have a lot of certs, like mine, all those certs and $2.90 will get you a regular coffee at Starbucks, no frills. All of @Lee McWhorter certs will get him a really good job. Oh wait, I see they did already. 🤣 😂

    But seriously, you have raised a great point! The problem is that certs are tied to job roles and demand for the certification. The problem with HTI+ and HIT+, is that there was not industry demand for the certs. The organizations were stomping their feet on the pavement shouting bring me HIT+ certified techs. While I still feel the value of the certs are there and important, especially when it comes to security, we have to have industry buy-in before we see a resurgence in the certs whose days have gone buy.
     
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    Recognizing, as I think we all do, that IoT devices are really just another form of computer, with the primary challenge being trying to figure out what's inside and what additional features including vulnerabilities they have. This is particularly true where we purchase that smart switch for $7.99, with almost zero documentation available. In looking at IoT, I would think that Network+ and Security+ KSAs provide sufficient background along with some ability to search the Internet. For example, most of my 20+ switching devices were manufactured by TP-Link and carry the brand name Kaza. A little research uncovered a 124-page paper written by a student in the cybersecurity masters degree program at Iowa State University, raising a number of security issues that resulted in my adoption of Steve Gibson's 3-router segmentation solution, isolating these devices from other home network devices.
     
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    I am late to the CompTIA certification path, and would love to see some of those mentioned certs brought back. The cert I most likely would take besides one of those is Storage+. Which I find would be relevant for today's Datacenters. However, some of that is being brought into Cloud+ and Server+. But still. Storage+ seems to relevantly rock.
     

    Teckkie2k

    Well-known member
    Jun 24, 2020
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    Atlanta, Ga.
    I believe when we talk about holding certs, it is really talking about "Active" certs. While, yes, @Steve Linthicum, you have a lot of certs, like mine, all those certs and $2.90 will get you a regular coffee at Starbucks, no frills. All of @Lee McWhorter certs will get him a really good job. Oh wait, I see they did already. 🤣 😂

    But seriously, you have raised a great point! The problem is that certs are tied to job roles and demand for the certification. The problem with HTI+ and HIT+, is that there was not industry demand for the certs. The organizations were stomping their feet on the pavement shouting bring me HIT+ certified techs. While I still feel the value of the certs are there and important, especially when it comes to security, we have to have industry buy-in before we see a resurgence in the certs whose days have gone buy.
    Wow $2.90 for Starbucks? What a great deal!!! I think the HTI+ was ahead of it's time!!! Now is the time to bring it back now that home automation is actually in homes, duh.