CompTIA Updates 2021-2022: What’s There for You?

Being a leading IT provider that issues vendor-neutral certifications, CompTIA offers a wide range of designations for candidates with various skill sets, from newbies and IT professionals wanting to launch a career in IT or change their current jobs to qualified specialists wishing to upgrade their skills and increase their paychecks. Since the vendor’s aim is to educate its candidates and help them solve the current issues at their workplaces with new technologies, CompTIA carefully monitors the exam objectives as well as the current skills that are highly valued on the IT market.

So, what are the planned changes in the CompTIA certifications and exams in 2021 and upcoming 2022? Let’s find out.

The number one trending topic is the updating of the Network+ certification in September 2021, by launching a new exam coded N10-008. Speaking of the new additions to the exam, more attention is given to network security, network architecture, and emerging wireless standards. The previous version of the exam known as N10-007 is still valid, and can be taken as well till February 2022.

The second change refers to the Cloud+ designation which has been updated in June, 2021. Its current exam CV0-002 is going to retire in Jan, 2022, while the new exam version CV0-003 has already been launched. The new exam is focused on security, high availability, and enhances candidate’s skills in securing the cloud.

The Server+ certification was refreshed in May, 2021 by introducing a new exam version – SK0-005. This exam includes topics, that are grouped in 4 exam domains. The main changes include the emphasis on cloud computing concepts, automation, virtualization, and scripting, hybrid and on-premises server environments, server troubleshooting and administration of remote and on-premises servers. Also, the exam includes the added performance-based questions, to evaluate the candidate’s practical skills. The previous exam version will be retired on Jan. 7, 2022.

The next certification that affects changes in 2021, is the CASP+ accreditation. The new exam CAS-004 was launched in October, 2021 and is focused on cybersecurity engineering and architecture, zero trust methods and endpoint security, governance, risk, and compliance skills, and it testifies an enterprise’s cybersecurity readiness. In addition, the emphasis is put on how to lead teams to create, troubleshoot, and apply cybersecurity solutions within the enterprise environment. The CAS-003 exam will be discontinued in April, 2022.

And the changes made concern the PenTest+ certification. The new PT0-002 exam will be launched on Oct. 28, 2021 and will cover the usage of the latest techniques for pen testing broadened attack surface, the performance of the ethical hacking mindset in various scenarios, the completion of practical tasks to demonstrate vulnerability management skills, and the code analysis abilities that are highly valued in penetration testing nowadays. The previous exam version, PT0-001 will be retired in April, 2022.

Looking at this long list of updates, it should be mentioned, that CompTIA goes further. Since the vendor keeps pace with the new trends on the market, a new certification Data+ will be launched in Feb., 2022. Considering the skills IT professionals should possess in 2021, data analytics is on the list. No matter in which sphere the organization works, every day it deals with the plethora of data, which should be collected, transformed, analyzed, and presented in the readable format to make appropriate decisions to run business effectively. Thus, data analytics skills are essential for any organization, and specialists working with data should be highly qualified.

So, what’s the Data+ designation about?

First of all, this accreditation is entry-level and vendor-neutral as it’s aimed at candidates interested in obtaining data analytics skills. Having the basic data analytics skills certified specialists will be able to find a job in any company they will choose. So the certificate’s rating would be quite high.

Secondly, this CompTIA certification will make candidates real professionals able to push forward data-driven business decisions. To be more precise, certified candidates will be proficient in mining, manipulating, visualizing, and reporting data, implementing the appropriate statistical methods, and analyzing complex datasets.

Thirdly, candidates will have to pass the DA0-001 qualifying exam that will assess their abilities to work with data and datasets quickly and effectively. The exam will contain 90 multiple choice and performance-based questions, that are to be completed within 90 minutes. And the success in the exam is estimated by scoring at least 675 points.

Fourthly, having the CompTIA Data+ certification you can apply for such job roles as data analyst, business data analyst, marketing analyst, reporting analyst, or business intelligence analyst to name a few, and be hired in PayPal, Cars.com companies or Rogers corporation.

Fifthly, the Data+ accreditation can bring you an average salary of $63,076 and $78,110 for beginner and intermediate level data specialists to $90,652 for advanced data analysts yearly, according to the Burning Glass Technologies statistics. And these figures show that everything changes. With good motivation, you can make an effort, widen your horizons, and boost your career as well, cause moving is living. So, grow in your career in 2021-2022.

And to add more, the CompTIA Data+ certification can compete with the Microsoft Certified: Data Analyst Associate designation, and the latter one will lag behind as it’s vendor-specific, offers no performance-based questions, and is focused mainly on the Microsoft Power BI business analytics service. Though, it’s always a matter of your choice and interest, so think it over to make the right decision.

To sum up, being aware of which skills are in demand on the IT market is a good habit to stay relevant and update your skills beforehand. It’s time to revise your goals, wishes, and dreams to make your life interesting and comfortable. You are free to choose any released CompTIA certification exam to upgrade your skills and widen career opportunities. Being a qualified specialist means to be on top of this life and enjoy it to the fullest. So, grab this chance to flourish.