Critical Certifications Your IT Staff Should Have

Information technology is a constantly changing industry, with practices shifting all the time. As a result, anyone you have working on your company’s IT should be actively seeking out various certifications to confirm that they are keeping up to date on modern trends and standards. To help you accomplish this, we’ve put together a brief list of valuable IT certifications that your IT personnel—whether they’re in-house employees or outsourced professionals—should have.

Microsoft’s Certification Options

Microsoft provides an assortment of IT certifications, differentiated by the aspect of information technology that an IT professional may focus on, all of which are framed around the tools that Microsoft offers to businesses. These options replace the relatively more fragmented and outdated Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer Program, including options like:

• Azure Administrator Associate - This certification serves as evidence that someone is proficient with Microsoft Azure and managing the resources that the platform makes available.
• Azure Solutions Architect Expert - Likewise, this certification signifies that someone is able to create Azure tools, as well as setting up an Azure environment and implementing the tools to secure and manage it appropriately.
• Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals - This certification shows that someone is familiar with how Microsoft technologies operate in terms of protecting your business’ data.
• Modern Desktop Administrator Associate -  With this certification, one has demonstrated their proficiency in managing devices and applications in an enterprise environment, from deployment to ongoing security and everything in between.

Certified Information System Security Professional

The International Information System Security Certification Consortium created this prized certification to establish one’s expertise in planning and managing a security program for a business. This certification has some pretty stringent requirements, including an extensive certification pathway that involves training and evaluation. On the other hand, obtaining a certified membership to (ISC)² gives you access to a network of your fellow IT professionals and a library of continued educational opportunities.

CompTIA A+ Technician

As an entry-level certification, CompTIA A+ is a good certification for someone who is just starting off in their IT career as a help desk or support technician to secure, and can largely be seen as a good starting point for someone considering a career in IT. Covering the maintenance needs of various aspects of business computing, this certification requires a technician to pass two tests.

Cisco Certified Network Associate

As another entry-level certification, the CCNA certification covers how to manage enterprise-level networking equipment, like routers and switches, with specializations available in security, wireless, and voice networking. Obtaining this certification involves a written exam, and works well for a system or network administrator or a network engineer.

Network+

This certification signifies a person’s familiarity with wireless and wired networks and their capability to manage them effectively. Requiring a passed exam evaluating how well a candidate can configure these networks and the devices that connect to them, this certification is another one that IT and help desk technicians should strongly consider obtaining.

Turn to Us for Assistance from Fully Credentialed IT Professionals

While we recommend that your in-house IT team members actively work to remain as credentialed as possible, you can always lean on the assistance of our team of IT professionals and resources. Find out more about our managed services and how they could benefit your business’ operations by giving Macro Systems a call at 703-359-9211.