United Training BlogNews and resources on the latest trends in IT training and professional developmenthttps://www.newhorizons.com/resources/blog6 Hybrid Work Alternatives That Will Shape Your Organizationhttps://www.newhorizons.com/resources/blog/postid/102/6-hybrid-work-alternatives-that-will-shape-your-organizationHybrid Work,training,Work From HomeFri, 02 Jul 2021 20:50:01 GMT<p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">When the world shut down, it was hard to imagine what the future of work would look like. 2020 forced businesses to transform their business models, processes, and operations to survive. Now, as we transition into the tail end of COVID, organizations are faced with three different work models: </span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></span></span></p> <ol> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">On-premises: </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Also known as going back to the office and the way things once were. For some, this is the best option for anyone who wants to return to a work culture that their employees can lean on.  </span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Hybrid work: </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The buzzword. The model where there is a mix of employees in the office and employees working from home. Many companies have also given their employees the option of choosing which days they want to stay home and which days they want to work.</span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Remote work: </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Work from home describes work being done remotely, instead of at an office. Many organizations transitioned their employees from the office to a work-from-home model during the COVID.</span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></span></span></li> </ol> <p style="margin-bottom: 11px;"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b>Drivers and Alternatives</b></span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b></b></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Having different approaches and alternatives to your transition can aid employees and management when weighing options. COVID created an urgency for IT departments globally. Now, organizations must assess their work and make decisions based on these drivers:</span></span></span></p> <ol> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Executives’ attitudes toward virtual work: Because Executives and IT departments were informed by local governments to stay home due to the pandemic, your future workplace now depends on your senior management and their attitude towards virtual work.</span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The company’s economic condition: A company’s economic position can be an additional driver in the right or wrong direction. Is the company struggling? Does the company need less office space? Asking the correct questions can help make the decision on which model your organization should choose.</span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The company’s core product line: If the company's product line is virtual, like an IT consulting firm, there is a high chance you'll be able to move forward with remote work. If you work for a manufacturing company and need people in the physical workplace, assessing the organization can help when choosing your model.</span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Industry-specific trends: Many industries have no problem transitioning back into the office. However, there are many high-level tech companies that are beginning to see pushback from their employees. </span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Employee willingness: Finding tech talent is hard to do, especially in uncertain transitional periods like this. Accommodating the needs of your employees and finding a comfortable middle ground is essential for the organization’s future.</span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Post-COVID workplace culture: Whether your company has become a fine-tuned machine or is struggling with efficiency, assessing the last 18 months can be vital when deciding on your organization's next steps. </span></span></span></li> </ol> <p style="margin-bottom: 11px;"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Finding a middle ground to stand on could be difficult for some, but taking a step back to look at what your company has accomplished in the past year can help drive you toward success.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><strong><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Future IT Workplace</span></span></span></strong></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><strong><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></span></span></strong></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Getting everyone to work from home was no small feat. Continuing down the path of improvement will be just as difficult. So, what does this mean and how can you get ahead in this period of transition?</span></span></span></p> <ol> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Don't be a late adopter of technology: Late technology adopters will lose forward-thinking talent. Now that there is a "war on talent," making sure your team is ready and prepared for anything means organizations must take the first steps toward next-generation technology like the cloud.</span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Good news for early and mainstream technology adopters: If you were on the right side of history and were already investing in next-generation technology, then COVID accelerated your business processes and aided in your workplace's digital transformation. Digital transformations also created a more significant job pool for hybrid and virtual jobs to be filled. With no need to go into an office, companies can hire top talent from miles away. </span></span></span></li> </ol> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In the not-so-far future, organizations will have to adopt enhanced virtual communication products like Microsoft Teams to stay in touch with co-workers in and out of the office. Many organizations have embraced the shift to remote by increasing the number of employees from different areas. Opening the talent pool creates a broader range of talent that isn't limited to a physical location. As a direct result of this, companies will begin establishing continual reviews of work-from-home policies. </span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><img alt="" class="img-fluid" src="/Portals/2/blog-images/hw_percent.png" style="width: 800px; height: 200px;" /></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Hybrid work isn't a new concept; in fact, many high-level companies had specific work-from-home days in the past. As we transition into post-COVID life, surveys are finding employees ready to embrace the hybrid work model. In "The Return to the Workplace" report released in March 2021 by software vendor Envoy, 48% of the 1,000 employees surveyed wanted to work some days remotely and some days in the office. PwC’s U.S. Remote Work Survey released in January 2021 found that 55% of employees want to work remotely at least three days a week once the pandemic receded.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Creating a balance between work and home was difficult for many to achieve when lockdown began. Now that we transformed our work model, it is time to change the way leaders think. How can organizations continue to support a hybrid workplace? What are the tools, policies, and processes that need to be re-thought to accommodate a hybrid workplace? Finding balance is never easy. As executives begin to embrace leading from a distance, many will face new challenges head-on. </span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><img alt="" src="/Portals/2/blog-images/quote.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 400px;" /></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b>Related Training</b></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><a href="http://unitedtraining.com/course-outline/courseid/200012880/coursename/ms-700t00-managing-microsoft-teams?utm_source=site&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=hybridwork&utm_content=relatedtraining" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">Managing Microsoft Teams</a></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><a href="http://unitedtraining.com/course-outline/courseid/200012000/title/microsoft-teams?utm_source=site&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=hybrid&utm_content=relatedtraining" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">Microsoft Teams for End Users</a></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><a href="http://unitedtraining.com/learn-now-live-course-outline/courseid/120000009/title/effective-virtual-meetings-using-teams?utm_source=site&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=hybrid&utm_content=relatedtraining" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">Effective Virtual Meetings Using Teams</a></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><a href="http://unitedtraining.com/course-outline/courseid/100001040/coursename/managing-the-virtual-workplace?utm_source=site&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=hybrid&utm_content=relatedtraining" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">Managing the Virtual Workplace</a></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><strong><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></span></span></strong></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 11px;"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b></b></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 11px;"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></span></span></p> 102Instructor Insight – Low-Code Development Q&Ahttps://www.newhorizons.com/resources/blog/postid/96/instructor-insight-low-code-development-qaAnnouncement,Instructor Insight,Low-Code,Skills,trainingMon, 24 May 2021 09:25:00 GMT<p>To coincide with the launch of our new eBook <a href="/lp/trends-in-it-2021" target="_blank">2021: Trends and Insights for IT Pros</a> we reached out to our subject matter experts with a few questions on the trending topics for 2021.</p> <p>Tom Payne is an award-winning Technical Instructor with over 20 years of experience. He specializes in Java, JavaScript, iOS and Android development and Microsoft’s Power Platform.</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 600;">Many organizations were forced to develop and launch new apps quickly in 2020. Do you think that need helped inspire the rise of low-code platforms, or was it just a natural progression?</span></p> <p>Tom: In the 1980's computers became so affordable and powerful that businesses who rejected new technology struggled to compete with early adopters.</p> <p>A similar phenomenon occurred with the internet in the 1990's. Organizations that provide the most value thrive, while those who reject new and powerful technologies can't compete. Now it is all about the cloud.</p> <p>While cloud-based apps are naturally growing in popularity, the shock of being forced to access apps remotely during the pandemic certainly pushed the timeline forward. Covid-19 necessitated social distancing and acted as an accelerant in need of more remote web applications. How many job roles required tools that were only available on workstations connected to the intranet at work? Organizations had to adapt quickly. Low-code platforms provided the quickest way to spin up new web apps that would allow employees to perform their duties.</p> <p>While the convenience and cost savings would eventually bring more and more companies to low-code platforms, resistance to change is a powerful inhibiter.</p> <p>Covid-19 indeed forced many organizations to adapt more quickly.</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 600;">In our eBook, <a class="a" href="/lp/trends-in-it-2021" target="_blank">2021: Trends and Insight for IT Pros</a>, we discover that utilizing low-code platforms like Microsoft's Power Platform led to a 74% reduction in app development costs. Do you see low-code as the future of app development?</span></p> <p>Every organization exists to provide value. The winners are the ones who find ways to provide the most value to their stakeholders.</p> <p>If you try to build something without having the right tools, it makes it hard to accomplish those goals.</p> <p>To create an application would typically require someone who knows a programming language such as C#, Java, or Python. To have that application work with a database, you now must learn to talk to that database with SQL. On top of that, if you want your app accessed through the web, you have to know HTML, JavaScript, and CSS along with JSON or XML.</p> <p>You are looking at a high-priced full-stack programmer that knows all of these languages or a whole team of programmers. Add up the costs for weeks, months, and perhaps years of development it will take to deliver a final product. If the app you are creating can fulfill the exact requirements using low-code power tools that require less high-priced expertise and fewer person-hours to complete, it is a no-brainer.</p> <p>Does this mean low-code platforms will disrupt the app development world? Not entirely. For most standard types of applications, low-code works great.</p> <p>As long as applications require elements that deviate from the most fundamental norms or require more customization than the low-code platforms provide, programmers will still have a place.</p> <p style="margin-top:16px; margin-bottom:16px"><a href="https://unitedtraining.com/lp/trends-in-it-2021" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="img-fluid" src="/Portals/2/blog-images/trend_banner.png" style="width: 800px; height: 200px;" /></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 600;">Since low-code is so accessible, do you predict an increase in collaboration between business users and developers?</span></p> <p>Low-code platforms make creating new applications within the realm of possibility for computer savvy power users. To shield them from the underlying code, they are limited to the tools and components available in the platform. Those limits are not nearly as restrictive as they used to be. As low-code platforms expand their capabilities, there can also be an increased learning curve. Business users will find the limitations of their abilities, and the boundaries of the medium may lead them to seek more.</p> <p>When businesses are in need, developers have an opportunity to help produce powerful custom apps with less effort by using low-code solutions. The platform reduces the need to hand-code most functionality while also reducing errors and debugging effort. When more customization is needed, more code-heavy solutions can still be incorporated.</p> <p>Low-code solutions give business users more opportunity to create the tools they need.</p> <p>As they gain proficiency, they may never need code or developer assistance. Even with the power of low-code platforms, collaboration with developers will undoubtedly be required in situations that require a higher level of customization.</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 600;">How should someone get started?</span></p> <p>Microsoft has done an excellent job with their role-based course curriculum starting with the Fundamentals, moving on to the Associate level, and finally onto Expert. All of the information is available on our <a class="a" href="/find-training/microsoft-power-platform" target="_blank">Power Platform product </a>page.</p> <p>We thank Tom for his time and his valuable input.</p> 96Instructor Insight – Cybersecurity Q&Ahttps://www.newhorizons.com/resources/blog/postid/95/instructor-insight-cybersecurity-qaAnnouncement,CyberSecurity,Instructor Insight,trainingMon, 10 May 2021 09:24:00 GMT <p> To coincide with the launch of our new eBook <a href="/lp/trends-in-it-2021"> 2021: Trends and Insights for IT Pros</a> , we reached out to our subject matter experts with a few questions on the trending topics for 2021. </p> <p> George Pauwels is a veteran Technical Instructor with over 30 years of experience it the IT industry. He holds several vendor certifications in cybersecurity, and also specializes in Cisco technology. </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 600;">Many companies have seen the benefit of remote work and will be adopting a hybrid work-from-home model in the future. How can businesses prepare for this sweeping change?</span> </p> <p>George: One of the most prominent challenges organizations face is that security issues are addressed on an ad hoc basis without acquiring a complete understanding of what threatens the achievement of their business objectives. </p> <p>For organizations that have developed a formalized risk assessment function, the next step in addressing the risks associated with remote access would be to adopt a standardized industry framework similar to the National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-46: Guide to Enterprise Telework, Remote Access, and Bring Your Own Device Security documentation. Documentation of this format will guide the best, industry-standard approaches to address the risks associated with remote access. </p> <p>Without a formalized risk assessment function, organizations will have no idea what threats exist to achieve their business objectives. Addressing this one, not well understood, the perceived threat will have the same result as patching a single hole in a sieve of security vulnerabilities. </p> <p> <span style="font-weight: 600;"> Anyone can be the target of a security breach. What are your recommendations for companies to properly inform their end-users of potential security risks and preventative best practices? </span> </p> <p> There are three activities every organization should engage in to ensure its employees are equipped with the knowledge necessary to address security threats. Those three activities include awareness campaigns, formalized corporate training, and industry-associated education. </p> <p> Awareness campaigns focus on providing constant subtle reminders of what threats exist for the organization and what the employee can do when recognizing those threats in the wild. Awareness campaigns usually follow formalized corporate training. </p> <p> Formalized corporate training is an activity where subject matter experts engage the organization's employees in instruction and discussion of the current corporate threat landscape. Training comes after industry-associated education. </p> <p> Industry-associated education involves a more role-specific evaluation and understanding of security concepts, and for some, the proper operation of security controls to provide adequate protection of company assets. </p> <p> One of the popular misconceptions is that information security is a "Set it and forget it" activity. It is important to remember that people need constant reminders and updates on the importance of protecting corporate information assets. </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 600;"> In our eBook, <a href="/lp/trends-in-it-2021"> 2021: Trends and Insight for IT Pros</a>, we refer to cybersecurity as a "team sport." What do you recommend as a winning IT security strategy for most organizations?</span> </p> <p> Corporate culture is one of the most common reasons an organization's security-related goals are successful and/or are not. If the team members do not have a winning attitude, it is doubtful that they will be successful. Shaping the corporate culture comes from the top. Upper management must create an inclusive environment that is conducive to success. If upper management does not display, encourage, and endorse a winning attitude, the team will flounder if they are distant, non-transparent, and inconsistent. To coin a well-worn quote that some attribute to Mahatma Gandhi, is it vital that they "Be the change they want to see in the world." </p> <p style="margin-top:16px; margin-bottom:16px"><a href="https://unitedtraining.com/lp/trends-in-it-2021"><img alt="" class="img-fluid" src="/Portals/2/blog-images/trend_banner.png" style="width: 800px; height: 200px;" /></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 600;"> What are some next steps for those individuals who are not in the IT department or focused on security? What level of security training do you think is necessary?</span> </p> <p> Certainly, for end-users the best choice <a href="/course-outline/courseid/200007702/coursename/cybersafe-extended-edition-2019"> CyberSAFE Extended Edition</a>. It really helps drive security awareness and provides best practices that they can immediately implement. It is also only a half-day in length which is convenient. </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 600;"> And how about for those more advanced that are currently in the IT field? </span></p> <p> Too many to name here since United Training offers a wide variety of security related courses but I can certainly highlight a few. Microsoft recently introduced a new set of courses focused on identity management. You can get those details on our <a href="/find-training/microsoft-security"> Microsoft Security page </a>. CompTIA maintains a cybersecurity certification pathway which is a great option for those a bit more advanced. For experienced cybersecurity professionals I would direct them to the <a href="/course-outline/courseid/200002333/coursename/certified-information-security-systems-professional-cissp"> Certified Information Security Systems Professional (CISSP)</a> course or several courses titles from EC-Council such as <a href="/course-outline/courseid/200002498/coursename/ec-council-certified-ethical-hacker-ceh-v11"> Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)</a> or <a href="/course-outline/courseid/200002738/coursename/ec-council-computer-hacking-forensics-investigator-chfi-v9-0"> EC-Council Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator (CHFI)</a> . Should also mention <a href="/search/keyword/cisco%20security"> Cisco security</a> as well. So a lot of different options based on your experience option and vendor of choice. </p> <p> Thanks to George for his valuable insight. </p>95Instructor Insight – Cloud Q&Ahttps://www.newhorizons.com/resources/blog/postid/94/instructor-insight-cloud-qaAnnouncement,Cloud,Instructor Insight,Skills,trainingMon, 26 Apr 2021 21:38:00 GMT<p>To coincide with the launch of our new eBook <a href="/lp/trends-in-it-2021">2021: Trends and Insights for IT Pros</a>, we reached out to our subject matter experts with a few questions on the trending topics for 2021.</p> <!--paragraph 2--> <p>Norm Kennedy is an award-winning Technical Instructor with over 20 years of experience. He specializes in Microsoft and Google Cloud architecture.</p> <!--paragraph 3--> <p><span style="font-weight: 600;"> Cloud computing has been a standard feature for most IT departments for over a decade. What challenges do you still see customers struggling with?</span></p> <!--paragraph 4--> <p>Norm: For most businesses, the challenge of the cloud comes down to training. Many IT departments are asked to "go to the cloud" from people above that are not sure what that means. For long- entrenched IT staff who have been doing things on-premises, the notion of cloud feels like a loss of control and security. In truth, in some instances, it gives them more control and security. Getting IT staff trained on how to leverage cloud resources will help reduce stress and increase productivity.</p> <!--paragraph 5--> <p><span style="font-weight: 600;"> In our eBook, <a href="/lp/trends-in-it-2021">2021: Trends and Insight for IT Pros</a>, we discover that 72% of enterprises describe their cloud strategy as hybrid-first. What are the advantages that make the hybrid cloud model the clear favorite? </span></p> <!--paragraph 6--> <p>Hybrid approaches to cloud enable companies to maintain complete control over data and services are not ready to turn over to a service provider. At the same time, the cloud offers massive vertical and horizontal scalability. Companies want to take advantage of moving those non-mission-critical services and resources to the cloud while keeping control over data they wish to stay on-prem. A classic example is leveraging the cloud for a fully scalable front-end stateless web app that accesses data housed entirely in an on-premises database service.</p> <p style="margin-top:16px; margin-bottom:16px"><a href="https://unitedtraining.com/lp/trends-in-it-2021?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=instructor-insight-cloud-qa&utm_content=click_here_to_download&utm_term=var_b"><img alt="" class="img-fluid" src="/Portals/2/blog-images/trend_banner.png" style="width: 800px; height: 200px;" /></a></p> <!--paragraph 7--> <p><span style="font-weight: 600;">2020 fast-tracked the digital transformation plans for many organizations. Now that many have adopted the cloud somehow, how do you recommend they continue to evolve with it? </span></p> <!--paragraph 8--> <p>Often companies approach the cloud with a lift and shift mentality. Simply put, taking virtual machines running on-premises and moving them to the cloud as hosted VMs. While this is a significant first step, the IT staff still has to manage the entire stack from the Operating System up. Once comfortable with this type of Infrastructure as Service (IaaS) migration, companies should then begin to look at ways to offload some administrative overhead by leveraging both Platform and Software as a Service offering (PaaS & SaaS). For example, instead of deploying VMs and installing a hosting platform such as IIS and then deploying the code to the web app in an IaaS model (thus managing the OS/IIS application/Code and all patching.) Instead, they could deploy a PaaS web app allowing the provider to manage the OS and application tier while simply focusing on code.</p> <!--paragraph 9--> <p><span style="font-weight: 600;"> I know you have primarily been focused on Microsoft technology for most of your career. What are some next steps that you can recommend to our readers who are either new to Cloud or more advanced? </span></p> <!--paragraph 9--> <p>United Training offers cloud solutions from all of the big players in the cloud space. You can find all of Azure solutions on our <a href="/find-training/microsoft-azure">Azure product page</a>. If you need training in AWS we offer <a href="/course-outline/courseid/200010594/coursename/fundamentals-of-aws">Fundamentals of AWS</a>, and <a href="/course-outline/courseid/200010122/coursename/aws-solutions-architect">AWS Solutions Architect</a> among others. We also have several options for Citrix cloud training such as <a href="/course-outline/courseid/300020008/coursename/cws-215-citrix-virtual-apps-and-desktops-7-administration-on-premises-and-in-citrix-cloud">CWS-215 Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 7 Administration On-Premises and in Citrix Cloud</a>, <a href="/course-outline/courseid/300020016/coursename/cxd-250-moving-to-the-citrix-virtual-apps-and-desktops-service-on-citrix-cloud">CXD-250 Moving to the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Service on Citrix Cloud</a>, and <a href="/course-outline/courseid/300020017/coursename/cxd-252-moving-to-the-citrix-virtual-apps-and-desktops-service-on-citrix-cloud-with-microsoft-azure">CXD-252 Moving to the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Service on Citrix Cloud with Microsoft Azure.</a></p> <p>We thank Norm for his valuable input.</p> 94Top 3 Corporate Training Topics Your Company Needs Todayhttps://www.newhorizons.com/resources/blog/postid/91/top-3-corporate-training-topics-your-company-needs-todayGeneral,Skills,trainingMon, 01 Mar 2021 06:29:03 GMT<p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="color:#333333">If 2020 taught us anything, it was how to quickly adapt and learn new skills.  Executives, directors, and employees alike had to embrace and accept the digital transformation that was happening right before their eyes... Because of this, we have begun to see an increase in online training and learning. </span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="color:#333333">The need for upgrading skillsets to stay relevant is a crucial ingredient to success. Firms and organizations that manage to thrive will be investing in their employees to expand their knowledge and embrace emerging tech. Progress and determination can fuel revolutionary developments that, in turn, make fields and industries stronger than ever before.</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="color:#333333">Here are the top three types of corporate training your company should consider implementing today for the future of your workforce: </span></span></span></span></p> <ol> <li style="margin-bottom:11px; margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"></span></span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><span style="color:#333333">Cybersecurity Fundamentals</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li> </ol> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="color:#333333">The rise of two-factor authentication and setting strong passwords has happened for a reason. Cyber threats of any kind can be detrimental to the infrastructure of an organization. Once a gate has been breached, it can be hard to rebuild after an attack. Taking the time to train your employees on cybersecurity guidelines could potentially save your company from a costly attack in the future. To protect your company, every employee should have a basic knowledge of:</span></span></span></span></p> <ul> <li style="margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Symbol"></span><span style="color:#333333">How to identify malware</span></span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Symbol"></span><span style="color:#333333">How to spot a phishing scam</span></span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Symbol"></span><span style="color:#333333">How to protect and use wireless devices securely</span></span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Symbol"></span><span style="color:#333333">How to set a secure passwords</span></span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-bottom:11px; margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Symbol"></span><span style="color:#333333">How to safely browse the web and use social networks</span></span></span></span></li> </ul> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="color:#333333">Learn more about </span><a href="https://unitedtraining.com/course-outline/courseid/200007702/title/cybersafe-extended-edition-2019" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">CyberSafe team training</a><span style="color:#333333"> and how a half day could save your company time and resources!</span></span></span></span></p> <ol start="2"> <li style="margin-bottom:11px; margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"></span></span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><span style="color:#333333">Leadership and Development</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li> </ol> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="color:#333333">When you nurture and inspire your team, you give them the confidence to do their jobs well. You want to provide guidance and motivation while showing integrity and modeling the behaviors you want to see in your team. To continue down the pathway of advancement, organizations must provide employees training opportunities to learn fundamental leadership principles like:</span></span></span></span></p> <ul> <li style="margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Symbol"></span><span style="color:#333333">Differentiating leadership from management</span></span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Symbol"></span><span style="color:#333333">Improving your leadership skills by focusing on self-awareness, authenticity, and empathy</span></span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Symbol"></span><span style="color:#333333">Enhancing your leadership communication</span></span></span></span></li> </ul> <p style="margin-left:48px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="color:#333333"></span></span></span></span></p> <ol start="3"> <li style="margin-bottom:11px; margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"></span></span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><span style="color:#333333">Workplace Diversity and Inclusion</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li> </ol> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="color:#333333">People have the unique ability to come together, collaborate, share experiences, and learn. This instinctive drive to form teams may be our most effective evolutionary trait, allowing us to achieve continuous improvements in the face of change. The modern workplace has a diverse collection of individuals who can bring talent and worldwide experience. Providing communication techniques to bring together teams from anywhere can help:</span></span></span></span></p> <ul> <li style="margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Symbol"></span><span style="color:#333333">Build workplace relationships based on mutual trust and respect</span></span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Symbol"></span><span style="color:#333333">Teams overcome cross-culture and virtual barriers</span></span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Symbol"></span><span style="color:#333333">Collaborate effectively through influence and persuasion</span></span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Symbol"></span><span style="color:#333333">Use terms that are politically correct and avoid those which are not</span></span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Symbol"></span><span style="color:#333333">Identify ways of sharing thoughts and opinions constructively</span></span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-bottom:11px; margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Symbol"></span><span style="color:#333333">Enhance interpersonal relationships</span></span></span></span></li> </ul> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="color:#333333">Finding the right training for your team can be easy when backed by professionals who have experience in making upskilling seamless. Talk to a training expert today to discuss what goals you have for your teams and how we can achieve them.</span></span></span></span></p> 91United Training Chosen as Official Tableau Authorized Training Providerhttps://www.newhorizons.com/resources/blog/postid/89/united-training-chosen-as-official-tableau-authorized-training-providerAnnouncement,General,trainingFri, 26 Feb 2021 08:00:00 GMT<div class="WordSection1"><span style="page:WordSection1"></span> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color:#000000;"><span style="page:WordSection1"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" ui=""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="background:white"><span calibri="">United Training has been selected by Tableau to be an official Tableau Authorized Training Provider.  </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span calibri="">As an authorized partner, United Training can offer the same learning experiences provided directly from Tableau, including classes taught by certified instructors teaching from official Tableau courseware. </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="page:WordSection1"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" ui=""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="background:white"><span calibri=""><span style="color:#171717"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="page:WordSection1"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" ui=""><a name="_Hlk49267374"><span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span calibri="">“<span style="background:white">Data-driven decision-making is a huge priority for our customers,” </span>United Training founder and President Jamie Fiely explains<span style="background:white">. “Tableau is one of the leading business intelligence platforms on the market, and this partnership allows us to provide the most relevant training as data analytics continuously evolves.</span></span></span></span></a></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="page:WordSection1"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" ui=""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="background:white"><span calibri=""><span style="color:#000000;">As a Tableau </span><a><span style="color:#000000;">Authorized Training Partner</span></a></span></span></span><span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="background:white"><span calibri="">, United Training instructors have met stringent technical instructor certification requirements and continuously learn and maintain their qualifications.  This means United Training is always up to date on the latest Tableau releases to offer valuable, current knowledge.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><span style="color:#000000;"></span> <p class="x"><span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="page:WordSection1"><span style="font-size:11pt"><i></i></span></span></span></span></p> <p class="x"><span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="page:WordSection1"><span style="font-size:11pt">Starting March 1<sup>st</sup>, United Training will offer ten authorized Tableau courses from fundamentals to advanced data analytics.</span></span></span></span></p> <p class="x"><span style="page:WordSection1"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> <i></i></span></span></span></p> <p class="x"><span style="page:WordSection1"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></span></span></p> </div> <p><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif"></span></span></p> <div class="WordSection2"><span style="page:WordSection2"></span> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="page:WordSection2"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><a href="https://unitedtraining.com/course-outline/courseid/300120002/coursename/tableau-desktop-i-fundamentals" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Tableau Desktop I: Fundamentals</a>                                             <span style="page:WordSection2"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><a href="https://unitedtraining.com/course-outline/courseid/300120005/coursename/tableau-visual-analytics" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Tableau Visual Analytics</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="page:WordSection2"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><a href="https://unitedtraining.com/course-outline/courseid/200012105/title/tableau-desktop-part-2" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Tableau Desktop II: Intermediate</a>                                              <span style="page:WordSection2"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><a href="https://unitedtraining.com/course-outline/courseid/300120000/coursename/tableau-analyst-bootcamp" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Tableau Analyst Bootcamp</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="page:WordSection2"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><a href="https://unitedtraining.com/course-outline/courseid/300120001/coursename/tableau-desktop-i-ii-accelerated" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Tableau Desktop I & II: Accelerated</a>                                         <span style="page:WordSection2"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><a href="https://unitedtraining.com/course-outline/courseid/300120007/coursename/tableau-server-administration" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Tableau Server Administration</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="page:WordSection2"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><a href="https://unitedtraining.com/course-outline/courseid/300120004/coursename/tableau-desktop-iii-advanced" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Tableau Desktop III: Advanced</a>                                                   <span style="page:WordSection2"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><a href="https://unitedtraining.com/course-outline/courseid/300120008/coursename/tableau-server-architecture" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Tableau Server Architecture</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="page:WordSection2"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><a href="https://unitedtraining.com/course-outline/courseid/300120006/title/tableau-prep-i" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Tableau Prep I</a>                                                                                         <span style="page:WordSection2"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><a href="https://unitedtraining.com/course-outline/courseid/300120009/coursename/tableau-site-administration" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Tableau Site Administration</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> </div> <p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"></span></span></p> <div style="page-break-after: always"><span style="display: none;"> </span></div> <p class="x"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></span></p> <p class="x"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="color:#000000;">T</span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color:#000000;">hese courses align with Tableau certification pathways for Specialist, Associate, and Professional certifications. To learn more, </span><a href="http://unitedtraining.com/find-training/tableau-training/tableau-certification"><span style="color:#3498db;">visit the Tableau Certifications webpage. </span></a><span style="color:#000000;"> </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></p> <p class="x"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" ui=""><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span calibri="">About United Training</span></span></b> </span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" ui=""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span calibri=""><span style="color:#000000;">United Training unites our customers with the training solutions they need, how they need them at just the right time. <span style="background:white">United Training was founded by a team of industry experts who believe it is critical to developing innovative solutions to train professionals for future skills. Our training and learning solutions are designed to help individuals and organizations do what they do best- only better. </span>With over 100 expert instructors, we can quickly create a custom & professional curriculum on almost any topic imaginable. Learn more about United Training at</span> </span></span><a href="http://www.unitedtraining.com"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span calibri="">www.unitedtraining.com</span></span></a><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span calibri="">.</span></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" ui=""><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span calibri="">About Tableau</span></span></b></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span calibri="" style="font-family:"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" ui=""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span calibri=""><span style="color:#000000;">Tableau helps people see and understand data. Tableau's self-service analytics platform empowers people of any skill level to work with data. From individuals and non-profits to government agencies and Fortune 500, tens of thousands of customers around the world use Tableau to get rapid insights and make impactful data-driven decisions. See how Tableau can help you by downloading the free trial at</span> <a href="https://www.tableau.com/products/trial">www.tableau.com/trial</a>.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <div> <div> <div class="msocomtxt" id="_com_1" language="JavaScript" onmouseout="msoCommentHide('_com_1')" onmouseover="msoCommentShow('_anchor_1','_com_1')"> <p class="MsoCommentText" style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><span style="font-size:8.0pt"></span></span></span></p> </div> </div> </div> 89Realizing the Benefits and ROI of IT Traininghttps://www.newhorizons.com/resources/blog/postid/73/realizing-the-benefits-and-roi-of-it-trainingGeneral,Skills,trainingTue, 02 Feb 2021 08:00:00 GMT<p>Training your IT workforce prepares your organization to implement technologies that drive efficiency and ensure your employees can effectively use current technologies already in place. It has been shown that employees value employers who invest in their development. Investing in learning and development programs increases employee retention, engagement, efficiencies, and productivity, resulting in cost savings to the business.</p> <p>The benefits of ongoing employee development are indisputable, especially in the ever-changing world of IT. However, finding ways to measure and then effectively communicate IT Training's business impact is not easy when technical projects tend to unfold behind-the-scenes where decision-makers may not see it.</p> <p>According to McKinsey's <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/building-organizational-capabilities-mckinsey-global-survey-results" target="_blank">study</a>, only <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/putting-a-value-on-training">8 percent of companies</a> track the return on investment of their training programs. As a result, training programs often lose funding or do not receive the budget they deserve due to their training programs' unclear value. Let’s dive into some ways to help mitigate the challenge of demonstrating why training is the right choice for your business, its customers, and its employees. </p> <p><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Understanding the Benefits of IT Training</strong></span></p> <p>IT departments are no longer just focused on technology. Those in IT must also align with and support the overall business strategy. IT must service and support at a much higher level than ever before; therefore, the need for IT training has increased to transfer the relevant skills and effectively complete responsibilities. For this, IT training typically has two main goals, to reduce risk and add profit.</p> <p>IT training enables companies to do more with less along with adapting faster to quickly evolving technologies. It equips teams with new technical capabilities and makes businesses more efficient and productive, resulting in higher profits. According to a <a href="https://www.ukessays.com/essays/management/effect-of-training-and-development-on-employee-performance-management-essay.php">study on the impact of training and development on employee performance</a>, it was found that although employee turnover in the IT industry is high, a company is still able to sustain its employees because of the efforts taken to provide growth and motivation through training and developmental activities.</p> <p>One vital example is the capability to transform relevant data into actionable business outcomes through Analytics and Data Management, which positively impact your customers, operations, finances, and overall business. <a href="https://unitedtraining.com/search/keyword/data%20science">Data Science</a> can cut your costs, entitle leadership to make better decisions, help identify trends to compete better, increase your efficiency, and more.</p> <p>Another example is the importance of implementing the proper <a href="https://unitedtraining.com/search/keyword/security">Security Solutions</a> to ensure intellectual property remains safe and guarded against cyber-attacks, by using <a href="https://unitedtraining.com/search/keyword/cloud">Cloud Computing</a> to decrease expenses on hardware and the management and maintenance of your IT systems. Another would be taking repetitive tasks and using <a href="https://unitedtraining.com/search/keyword/powershell">PowerShell</a> to write and execute scripts, eliminating or automating many vital yet time-consuming responsibilities. Vital examples such as these can go on and on.</p> <p>IT training extends past hard skills. Essential IT training focuses on implementing a quality best practice for <a href="https://unitedtraining.com/search/keyword/service%20management">Service Management</a>. Both internal and external customers can receive efficient and reliable services, helping to propel your business and theirs forward.</p> <p>Proper training increases the value of your IT department without having to hire additional staff. Inspire innovation and improve current processes by integrating a training and development program for your IT staff to learn new technology. IT training impacts employees in their current role by developing new skill sets to find solutions to problems and challenges more effectively.</p> <p>The benefits of training also positively affect employee job satisfaction, morale, motivation, and retention. Employees appreciate businesses that invest in their current skills and their future.</p> <p><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Calculating IT Training ROI</strong></span></p> <p>For many businesses, finding a clear way to demonstrate the ROI of IT Training is the best way to overcome any potential objections. This involves quantifying the immediate and future monetary value your company will see due to new skills attained.</p> <p>Follow these steps to assign value to IT training and calculate ROI.</p> <p>1. <b>Identify your IT training goals -</b> Determine what’s most important to your organization and its current and future goals. Which metrics do you need to quantify? Are you looking to prepare your team to address and solve problems? Are you upgrading skills to use new technology more effectively? Would your business benefit from process improvements?<br /> <br /> Here are some things to keep in mind when measuring goals through IT training:</p> <ul> <li><strong>Saving time</strong><b> – </b>Will-less time is required to perform tasks? Will-less supervision be required? Is there better time management or a decreased lead time to reach proficiency?<b></b></li> <li><strong>Increase of productivity</strong><b> – </b>Is there a reduction in downtime or a faster turnaround to complete IT projects? Or to decrease time to resolution?</li> <li><strong>Employee performance</strong><b> –</b> Are there improvements to tardiness or absences? Is there a decreased or eliminated need to hire new talent? Is there a better quality of work?</li> </ul> <div> </div> <p>2. <strong>Measure proficiency both pre-and post-training</strong><b> -</b> Identify a baseline for your goals. Next, measure your team’s skill level with the technology both before and after training is complete. You may also measure how equipped they are to take on projects both pre-and post-training.</p> <p>3. <strong>Determine the dollar value of the benefits</strong><b> -</b> Assign a dollar value to what you’re looking to measure. For example, if a business objective is to successfully migrate to Azure, how much will you save by completing the project in-house instead of outsourcing? What additional savings will your organization see as a result of using a cloud subscription model? What would the cost be to pay outside talent to obtain these skills?</p> <p>4.<strong> </strong><strong>Finally, calculate the Return on Investment</strong><strong> </strong><b>-</b> Input the metrics into the following formula to find training ROI: </p> <p>($ value of benefits) – training cost = ROI for IT Training</p> <p><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Get the Most Out of Your IT Training</strong></span></p> <p>Ensure you’re choosing the right solution to maximize the ROI of your IT training. Here are some potential questions to ask when evaluating your training options.</p> <p>Does the training:</p> <ul> <li>Help with current projects?</li> <li>Decrease workloads?</li> <li>Solve specific issues that you were unable to solve before?</li> <li>Deliver hands-on skills that employees can use immediately?</li> <li>Educate the organization on new technologies?</li> <li>Create opportunities to collaborate with others?</li> </ul> <div> </div> <p><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Post-Training</strong></span></p> <p>Implementing training is the first step; however, it’s not the last. Completing ROI for your IT training comes from applying the skills learned in the course(s).</p> <p>Once your team(s) have completed training, schedule a meeting where the agenda is to identify the takeaways from what they learned. </p> <ul> <li>What are their action items post-training? </li> <li>What short and long-term goals will be implemented? </li> <li>Which key takeaways can be applied immediately? </li> <li>What courses or certifications are the right next step to build upon their newfound knowledge? </li> </ul> <p>Document the results of this meeting and have each team member submit an implementation plan. Make sure to schedule a follow-up meeting within 30 days to keep communication flowing and ensure any of the long-term goals are implemented. Commit to continued follow-up so the full benefit of the training can be achieved, along with uncovering more development opportunities to expand the positive impact on your business.</p> <p>At United Training, we’re talking about IT every day—and not just with various clients, but with leading vendors—about industry trends and real-life challenges. New Horizons is positioned to help businesses like yours leverage our knowledge experts to discuss strategies, implementation, and troubleshooting because of these close partnerships.</p> <p>We are here to help you find the right courses for your IT Training needs. <a href="https://unitedtraining.com/contact">Reach out to us!</a></p> <p> </p> 73The Ultimate Meeting Guide: How to Run a Meeting Like a Prohttps://www.newhorizons.com/resources/blog/postid/62/the-ultimate-meeting-guide-how-to-run-a-meeting-like-a-proGeneral,Microsoft,Skills,training,Work From HomeTue, 12 Jan 2021 08:00:00 GMT<p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span calibri="" light="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#505050"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="line-height:107%"><span calibri="" light="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#505050">The Ultimate Meeting Guide: How to Run a Meeting Like a Pro</span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span calibri="" light="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#505050">Without a doubt, meetings remain an essential part of doing business. Among many other benefits, they ensure your teams stay on the same page with the information they need to get things done. Unfortunately, they get a bad rap for taking up time and resources—ultimately costing your business. Surveys say employees historically hate meetings. So much so that almost half of the respondents polled by Harris for Clarizen (46%) said they’d instead do nearly anything else than attend status meetings. Moving to Antarctica was more favorable for 6% of the respondents, 8% would endure a root canal, and 17% would prefer to watch paint dry than be stuck in a meeting.</span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span calibri="" light="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#505050">So, why are meetings earning such a bad rap?</span></span></span></span></b></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span calibri="" light="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#505050">It’s mostly because of the sizable gap between the increasing volume of meetings and the value derived from the time spent. “15% of an organization’s collective time is spent in meetings,” according to Bain & Company via Harvard Business Review. And as everyone knows, time is money in any organization.</span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span calibri="" light="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#505050">So, what can a business do?</span></span></span></span></b></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span calibri="" light="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#505050">The short answer is: Conduct simple, direct meetings focused on exact action items so that the time spent feels convenient and useful for your employees.</span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span calibri="" light="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#505050">Do you even need to meet?</span></span></span></span></b></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span calibri="" light="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#505050">When is a meeting necessary? Should a meeting be convened at all? They’re valid questions and could save you significant time and money. Meetings without a clear agenda often lead to unproductive behaviors from attendees. Bain & Company conducted a survey that found that $60 million, 20% of the total cost of meetings, was squandered in unproductive activity in a sample 10,000 employee business.</span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span calibri="" light="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#505050">Watch your company’s bottom line and value your employees’ time by first determining whether a meeting is necessary. If it is, then follow some best practices for making it a success.</span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span calibri="" light="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#505050">Here are some simple criteria to consider before calling or attending a meeting:</span></span></span></span></b></span></span></span></p> <ul> <li style="margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"></span><b><span calibri="" light="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#505050">What is the action item of the meeting?</span></span></b><span calibri="" light="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#505050"> Is it decisive or informing?</span></span></span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"></span><b><span calibri="" light="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#505050">What is the size of the meeting?</span></span></b><span calibri="" light="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#505050"> If the number of people attending the meeting is greater than 10, it’s more of a presentation than a meeting.</span></span></span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"></span><b><span calibri="" light="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#505050">Is the meeting to inform a handful of people?</span></span></b><span calibri="" light="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#505050"> If the time is spent discussing status or debriefing information, you likely only need to send a memo or email or publish a document on your company’s intranet/website.</span></span></span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"></span><b><span calibri="" light="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#505050">Will the meeting solve a problem?</span></span></b><span calibri="" light="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#505050"> Will it help you and your peers reach an important decision or persuade a group of people to support a proposition? Is a brainstorming session needed to gather new information for a product or service? If you answered no to any of these questions, you don’t need a meeting.</span></span></span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"></span><b><span calibri="" light="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#505050">Is there a better alternative, such as using a tool with real-time chat or team announcement features?</span></span></b><span calibri="" light="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#505050"> If so, explore the merits of such a device before requiring people to pause whatever they’re doing to attend a meeting.</span></span></span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-bottom:11px; margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"></span><b><span calibri="" light="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#505050">Will suspending or canceling a meeting negatively impact your employees’ abilities to complete their assigned tasks?</span></span></b><span calibri="" light="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#505050"> If yes, go ahead and convene the meeting.</span></span></span></span></span></li> </ul> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span calibri="" light="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#505050">There’s a better way to conduct your meetings, and it’s directly tied to your business’ success. What if you could eliminate your meeting-related frustrations and run them efficiently like a pro? It’s not a far-fetched businessperson’s dream. We can help you deploy Teams, teach your employees how to use them, and offer professional development training to hone communication skills. Get in touch to learn more about how we can train your team to rock online meetings.</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span calibri="" light="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#505050"><a href="/Portals/2/downloads/the_ultimate_meeting_guide.pdf" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="img-fluid" src="/Portals/2/blog-images/meeting_download.jpg?ver=V5JCP8F5fdJmIaiwB7T_Jw%3d%3d" style="width: 800px; height: 200px;" /></a></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span calibri="" light="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#505050"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> 62Enabling remote access to Appshttps://www.newhorizons.com/resources/blog/postid/53/enabling-remote-access-to-appsCloud,CyberSecurity,General,Microsoft,Modern Workplace,Security,training,Work From HomeWed, 09 Dec 2020 08:00:00 GMT<p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">2020 has pushed organizations to keep moving while protecting against new security threats that have emerged due to the rapid and universal move to remote work. ​Some organizations may be further along when it comes to securing remote work and may only need to fine-tune; others may need more assistance to ensure their remote work situation is secure. Every organization has a ​different starting point. We can help you quickly provide secure and scalable access to your apps, whether they are on-prem or cloud-based.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><strong><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Empower remote workers to access the apps they need without compromising security by:</span></span></span></strong></p> <ol> <li style="margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> Securing access to all your apps from anywhere. ​</span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> Simplifying end-user app discovery. ​</span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> Extending secure collaboration to your contractors and partners. ​</span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-bottom:11px; margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> Enabling strong authentication.</span></span></span></li> </ol> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b>The first step to enabling remote access to apps starts with identity</b></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In our current reality of a highly dispersed remote workforce, now more than ever identity is your control plane to have greater visibility and control over who has access to what, when they should have it, and under what conditions.​ With Azure Active Directory, Microsoft’s cloud-based identity & access management solution, as that control plane you can start that access control by enabling single sign-on to all your apps connected to Azure AD for your users. ​Single sign-on ensures that users only need to log in once to gain access to all their critical productivity resources, and they won’t need to remember passwords to each application account.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b>Why should you manage your identities from the cloud? ​</b></span></span></span></p> <ul> <li style="margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The cloud is more secure. With the ability to train models and algorithms, and ways to integrate solutions seamlessly, you cannot achieve the same security on-premises. ​​</span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It is much better for your workforce – the common identity you’ve created across cloud and on-premises delivers a seamless experience​. ​</span></span></span></li> <li style="margin-bottom:11px; margin-left:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It is a much better experience for you too – you can manage all user identifies and protect your apps from a single plane of glass​ with Azure AD as your universal platform.</span></span></span></li> </ul> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b>With identity and authentication set, now you can securely access all apps from on-premises to cloud-hosted, and SaaS apps</b></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">With users authenticated through Azure AD and granted single sign-on to their resources, they can seamlessly access any application connected to the service. ​You can connect your software as a service (SaaS) applications, web-based on-premises applications, and line of business (LOB) apps to Azure AD. Most organizations use about 180 apps on average—and this number keeps growing. ​</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">To keep you and your workforce more productive, Azure AD has over 3,300 SaaS applications pre-integrated in the Azure AD App Gallery and you can configure any of them for single sign-on and app security with just a few clicks.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b>Provide a single location for people to discover and access the apps they need to get their work done</b></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">As the number of apps used by organizations keeps growing, it is becoming much harder for end-users to find them. ​It is even more challenging when employees are working remotely, and IT is over-stretched with the new requirements. My Apps make it easy to deploy new apps across the entire organization or dedicated employee groups by creating a consistent, user-friendly experience that lets your employees securely and conveniently launch all the apps they need with just one click.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b>Ensure your external partners still have access, remotely</b></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Many organizations rely on external resources to execute key aspects of business operations. This could be vendors, partners, or contingent staff. Ensuring that your external partners still have access during this crisis is critical. ​Azure AD enables user-centric collaboration with any user, in or outside of your organization. ​You can easily connect all external users to collaborate in Microsoft Teams – from chats to co-authoring files and project management. ​You can also extend access for your external users to any app that may be required for the remote work scenarios when in-person meetings with suppliers, contractors, and other collaborators are impossible.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b>Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) ensures secure access to your apps</b></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">To secure authentication, you must first look at passwords and provide stronger factors for your users to establish trust. Passwords are the weakest link in a security chain and a single point of failure without any additional verification. ​That’s why we believe strongly that if you only do one thing to help protect yourself, it should be to turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA) – which can prevent 99.9% of identity attacks. ​We support a broad range of authentication options to fit the needs of your business and your users.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">United Training is committed to your success when it comes to the importance of securing remote work. For more information on how we can get you trained at any starting point, contact us today for a free consultation on your next steps.<span style="border:none windowtext 1.0pt; color:black; padding:0in"></span></span></span></span></p> 53Why Military Veterans Excel in Security Careershttps://www.newhorizons.com/resources/blog/postid/44/why-military-veterans-excel-in-security-careersCertifications,CompTIA,CyberSecurity,General,News ,Security,trainingThu, 29 Oct 2020 08:00:00 GMT<p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><i><span style="background:white"><span style="color:black">The mission is critical. The job pays well. There are plenty of openings needing qualified people to fill them. As a returning military veteran, does that all sound good to you?</span></span><span style="background:white"></span></i></span></span></p> <div style="border-bottom:double windowtext 2.25pt; padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in"> <p style="border:none; padding:0in; margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><span style="background:white"></span></span></span></p> </div> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><span style="background:white"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><span style="background:white"><span style="color:black">Damages from cybercrime are estimated to top $6 Trillion by next year. </span></span><span style="background:white"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><span style="background:white"><span style="color:black">Depending on whose report you read, there are anywhere from a half-million to 2 million open job requisitions for cybersecurity professionals in the U.S.</span></span><span style="background:white"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><span style="background:white"><span style="color:black">Entry salaries range from $50,000 to over $100,000 with rapid advancement to well over $200,000 with additional training.</span></span><span style="background:white"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><a href="https://www.harford.edu/~/media/PDF/Academics/BCAT/CDC/Veterans_Guide.ashx" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><span style="background:white">The Department of Homeland Securities’ Veterans Cybersecurity Training and Education guide</span></a><span style="background:white"><span style="color:black"> tells us:</span></span><span style="background:white"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-right:48px; margin-bottom:8px; margin-left:48px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><i><span style="background:white"><span style="color:black">“The demand for cybersecurity professionals is growing at 12 times the overall job market, making cybersecurity one of the most highly sought-after careers in the country. Cybersecurity professionals report an average salary of $116,000—that’s nearly three times the national average. In addition, this career offers you the opportunity to continue to support a mission that protects citizens, critical Information, and even national security. Many jobs in cybersecurity offer rewards that are similar to your military experience, such as the ability to thwart adversaries, make quick decisions in dynamic situations, and help defend your country.”</span></span><span style="background:white"></span></i></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><span style="background:white"><span style="color:black">At the same time, employers are preferring those with military experience for many of these positions. CyberSecurityGuide.org tells us:</span></span><span style="background:white"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-right:48px; margin-bottom:8px; margin-left:48px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><i><span style="background:white"><span style="color:black">“Cybersecurity employers also see the same qualities in veterans that so many others do: discipline, dedication, and team orientation. Today’s military forces utilize some of the most technologically advanced digital systems in the world. And military computer systems and networks are probably the most heavily targeted high-value assets in the world for hackers. Given this, any active-duty service members involved directly with these systems, and particularly with defending these systems from attack, will be extremely well prepared for private sector work in cybersecurity.”</span></span><span style="background:white"></span></i></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><span style="background:white"><span style="color:black">Some of the attributes that make members of the Armed Services and military veterans sought-after candidates for cybersecurity jobs include:</span></span><span style="background:white"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><span style="background:white"><span style="color:black">            • Learning agility and problem solving</span></span><span style="background:white"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><span style="background:white"><span style="color:black">            • Leadership capabilities and experience</span></span><span style="background:white"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><span style="background:white"><span style="color:black">            • Experience working in high-pressure situations</span></span><span style="background:white"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><span style="background:white"><span style="color:black">            • Experience working in roles where lives and safety are at stake</span></span><span style="background:white"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><span style="background:white"><span style="color:black">            • Understands the importance of discipline and process</span></span><span style="background:white"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><span style="background:white"><span style="color:black">            • Ability to obtain and maintain security clearance</span></span><span style="background:white"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><span style="background:white"><span style="color:black">            • Mission-driven: accustomed to working with a shared sense of purpose</span></span><span style="background:white"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><span style="background:white"><span style="color:black">            • High personal drive; motivated by the pursuit of excellence</span></span><span style="background:white"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><span style="background:white"><span style="color:black">            • Loyalty, dedication, and teamwork</span></span><span style="background:white"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><span style="background:white"><span style="color:black">There are few organizations in the world, across the history of the world, that do a better job of instilling these qualities in a person than the U.S. Armed Forces. Literally, the only thing missing is cybersecurity training, and that’s very easy to obtain.</span></span><span style="background:white"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><span style="background:white"><span style="color:black">United Training Academy prides itself on being the best learning resource for those with military experience who are looking to apply everything they learned while serving a role where they can make a living and make a difference. To find out about funding available to you, and courses of study which will quickly prepare you, contact us today for a free consultation on your next steps.</span></span></span></span></p> 44United Training Named DevOps Institute Registered Education Partnerhttps://www.newhorizons.com/resources/blog/postid/41/united-training-named-devops-institute-registered-education-partnerAnnouncement,Certifications,DevOps,General,News ,trainingMon, 12 Oct 2020 08:00:00 GMT<p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:10pt">United Training has been named a Registered Education Partner (REP) by the DevOps Institute, “Offering Enterprise-Level DevOps Training and Certification for Today’s IT Marketplace.”</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:10pt">“DevOps Institute is pleased to collaborate with United Training to support the advancement of the Humans of DevOps.  As a global member-based association, DevOps Institute relies on Partners like United Training to take to market the most relevant certifications and thought leadership in the DevOps arena,” says Jayne Groll, CEO, DevOps Institute.</span></span><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:10pt">DevOps Institute is laser focused on ensuring the highest quality certifications and content for partners to leverage in the market to optimize organizational adoption and implementation while supporting and addressing the current global skills gap in the market.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:10pt">“More and more companies are committing to continuous improvement through continuous delivery (CI/CD) which is the primary goal of DevOps,” explains Jamie Fiely, Founder and CEO of United Training. “DevOps unites development and operations teams. That’s what United Training is all about.”</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:10pt">United Training DevOps course offerings include:</span></span></p> <table class="Table" style="width:1108px; border-collapse:collapse" width="1108"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="padding:0in 7px 0in 7px" valign="top"> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:10pt"><a href="https://unitedtraining.com/course-outline/courseid/200008888/title/devops-foundation" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank" title="Click to view course outline"><b>DevOps Foundation</b></a><span class="MsoHyperlink" style="color:blue"><span style="text-decoration:underline"><b></b></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:10pt"><a href="https://unitedtraining.com/course-outline/courseid/200013991/title/devops-site-reliability-engineering-sre-foundation?" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank" title="Click to view course outline"><b>DevOps Site Reliability Engineering Foundation (SREF)</b></a><span class="MsoHyperlink" style="color:blue"><span style="text-decoration:underline"><b></b></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:10pt"><a href="https://unitedtraining.com/course-outline/courseid/200009644/title/devops-leader-dol" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank" title="Click to view course outline"><b>DevOps Leader (DOL)</b></a><span class="MsoHyperlink" style="color:blue"><span style="text-decoration:underline"><b></b></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:10pt"><a href="https://unitedtraining.com/course-outline/courseid/200010507/title/devsecops-foundation" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank" title="Click to view course outline"><b>DevSecOps Foundation</b></a></span></span><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><b><u><span style="color:blue"></span></u></b></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:0in 7px 0in 7px" valign="top"> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:10pt"><a href="https://catalog.unitedtraining.com/catalog/outline?courseid=200009642" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" title="Click to view course outline"><b>Continuous Testing Foundation</b></a><span class="MsoHyperlink" style="color:blue"><span style="text-decoration:underline"><b></b></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:10pt"><a href="https://catalog.unitedtraining.com/catalog/outline?courseid=200009956" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" title="Click to view course outline"><b>Continuous Delivery Ecosystem Foundation</b></a></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:0in 7px 0in 7px" valign="top"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>About United Training</b> </span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="background:white"><span style="color:black">United Training unites our customers with the training solutions they need, how they need them at just the right time. <span style="border:none windowtext 1.0pt; padding:0in">United Training was founded by a team of industry experts who believe it is critical to develop innovative solutions to train professionals for the skills of the future. Our training and learning solutions are designed to help individuals and organizations do what they do best- only better. With over 100 expert instructors, we can quickly create custom & professional curriculum on almost any topic imaginable.</span> </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"></span></span></span></p> 41Evolution of the Cloudhttps://www.newhorizons.com/resources/blog/postid/18/evolution-of-the-cloud-MicrosoftSun, 06 Sep 2020 08:04:00 GMT<p>Back when all infrastructure was located on premise this was a truly huge and complex problem. A database that began small begins collecting data from hundreds or thousands of collection points. It doesn’t take long before it becomes a big database that exceeds the capacity of the drive it’s stored on. A new storage device needs to be added, and fast. But that’s not a fast process. First everyone must argue…err… decide what storage device to obtain. Then budget needs to be allocated. Then a purchase order. The drive is shipped and ultimately received. Then it must be installed and configured, tested, and approved for production use. Then the database needs to be spanned across the existing and new drives.</p> <p>By this time the data collection has a big gaping hole in it.</p> <p> <span style="font-weight: 600;"> Then Came Cloud </span> </p> <p>One extraordinary solution to this problem came with the arrival of the cloud. When the storage allocated at the start of the database project got close to being exhausted, they simply requested more, and it was allocated from the shared resource pool. If more was needed, more was allocated. And so on, and so on. The cloud quickly proved to be a great place to find scalable Big Data solutions.</p> <p>Cloud computing also provided choice. You might use a SQL back-end database, or choose NoSQL, or MongoDB, or one of many others. You might choose Hadoop to process all the data, or perhaps PowerBI or other tools. You could readily change tools, too, if you decided you’d made a bad choice. Very forgiving, this cloud.</p> <p> <span style="font-weight: 600;"> But What About Resilience and Reliability </span> </p> <p>Here’s where they started to separate the big clouds from the small. The big cloud players, such as AWS, Azure, and Google, built redundant data centers which replicated your data repeatedly. If one data center was lost, your work would fail-over to another often without you even knowing it.</p> <p>As always, however, the Open Source Community stepped in to democratize cloud resilience with Software-Defined-Storage which segments your data and allocates it in triplicate to multiple cloud data centers. If large file copies are required the software determines which parts are located nearest by to shave milliseconds off each transaction, assembling your copies far faster than before. If one data center is lost, often even two, all the data is kept safe at another redundant site and still available to the entire storage cluster. Storage purpose-built for use in the cloud. Goes perfectly with containers, microservices, and other cloud-centric constructs.</p> <p> <span style="font-weight: 600;"> For Those Who Thought Cloud Displaced You </span> </p> <p>Many IT professionals have been concerned that the onset of cloud computing has displaced them. Made their jobs obsolete. That may be true in some cases, but your skills are not obsolete. They are easily repurposed when you learn to apply them to the growing Big Data cloud community. Big Data requires high network capacity with non-stop performance, high capacity and fast I/O storage, massive processor capacity perhaps with enough memory to contain entire big databases for faster processing, and experts to code the solutions enabled by all this big data.</p> <p>Developments like software-defined-storage and software-defined-networking, along with the far more resilient container and microservice approach to coding create a broader, more interesting selection of occupations to apply your skills to. All you need is some guidance and re-training to learn the differences in this new environment.  The rest, as they say, is all just syntax.</p> <p>To get more information on how to make your existing skills more relevant to the world of big data scalable cloud solutions, contact your United Training Account Manager today!</p> 18United Training Chosen as Authorized CompTIA Training Partnerhttps://www.newhorizons.com/resources/blog/postid/22/united-training-chosen-as-authorized-comptia-training-partner-Certifications,CompTIA,News ,trainingTue, 01 Sep 2020 11:27:00 GMT<p><span style="font-weight: 600;"> New Braunfels, TX. 25 August 2020 </span> –United Training today announced their selection as an authorized CompTIA Delivery Partner, which “provides valuable tools and resources to assist training organizations in recruiting, training, and certifying IT professionals.” United Training now brings a complete catalog of authorized courses leading to one of the industry-recognized and respected certifications from the Computer Technology Industry Association – CompTIA!</p> <p>CompTIA’s certifications are legendary in the IT industry and recognized by hiring managers and other executives who seek to provide relevant, valuable IT training to their personnel. All CompTIA certifications are completely vendor-agnostic, preparing corporate IT specialists to dramatically expand and extend their skill sets, providing increased value to their employers and customers.</p> <!--paragraph 2--> <p>These important industry-wide certifications include:</p> <table class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse:collapse; border:none"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width:90px; padding:0in 7px 0in 7px" valign="top"> <p style="margin-left:48px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif"></span></span></p> </td> <td style="width:180px; padding:0in 7px 0in 7px" valign="top"> <ul style="list-style-type:square"> <li><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="tab-stops:list .5in"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><a href="/search?keyword=comptia%20a%2B" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" title="A+ Training | United Training">A+</a></span></span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="tab-stops:list .5in"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><a href="/search?keyword=comptia%20advanced%20security%20practitioner" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" title="CASP Training | United Training">CASP+</a></span></span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="tab-stops:list .5in"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><a href="/search?keyword=comptia%20cloud%2B%20certification" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" title="Cloud+ Training | United Training">Cloud+</a></span></span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="tab-stops:list .5in"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><a href="/search?keyword=comptia%20cloud%20essentials" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" title="CompTIA Cloud Essentials Training | United Training">Cloud Essentials+</a></span></span></span><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="tab-stops:list .5in"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""></span></span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="tab-stops:list .5in"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><a href="/search?keyword=comptia%20cybersecurity%20analyst" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" title="CompTIA CySA+ Training | United Training">CySA+</a></span></span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="tab-stops:list .5in"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><a href="/search?keyword=comptia%20it%20fundamentals" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" title="CompTIA IT Fundamentals Training | United Training">IT Fundamentals+</a></span></span></span></li> </ul> </td> <td style="width:138px; padding:0in 7px 0in 7px" valign="top"> <ul style="list-style-type:square"> <li><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="tab-stops:list .5in"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><a href="/search?keyword=comptia%20linux" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" title="Linux+ Training | United Training">Linux+</a></span></span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="tab-stops:list .5in"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><a href="/search?keyword=comptia%20network" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" title="Network+ Training | United Training">Network+</a></span></span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="tab-stops:list .5in"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><a href="/search?keyword=comptia%20penetration%20tester" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" title="Network+ Training | United Training">PenTest+</a></span></span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="tab-stops:list .5in"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><a href="/search?keyword=comptia%20project" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" title="CompTIA Project+ Training | United Training">Project+</a></span></span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="tab-stops:list .5in"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><a href="/search?keyword=comptia%20security" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" title="CompTIA Security+ Training | United Training">Security+</a></span></span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="tab-stops:list .5in"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><a href="/search?keyword=comptia%20server" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" title="Server+ Training | United Training">Server+</a></span></span></span></li> </ul> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif"></span></span></p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p>Click any certification to learn more about it in the United Training course catalog. Employers seeking to provide additional skills to their staff members will appreciate the broad selection of virtual Instructor-led training courses, private group training, digital assessments, hands-on labs, certification prep tools, and eLearning, all designed to surround the student with the right resources for their learning style.</p> <!--paragraph 4--> <p>United Training founder and President Jamie Fiely explains, “United Training is committed to working as a trusted partner with our clients. Whatever it takes – we are nimble, experienced, and positioned to help every small business, large corporation, or government teams reach their goals. This partnership with CompTIA allows us to collaborate with the best in the business to provide the training content & resources our customers need most in some of the most in-demand certifications.”</p> <!--paragraph 5--> <p>“Over the next decade, the U.S. will need to meet the demand for more than one million new technology professionals to support growth, while also backfilling positions created by hundreds of thousands of retirements,” said Joe Padin, Vice President for business development at CompTIA. “To meet this demand, CompTIA and partners such as United Training are building the tech talent pipeline, providing new on-ramps for individuals to receive industry-recognized training and certifications as the gateway to a career in IT.”</p> <!--paragraph 6--> <p>James Cox, United Training Vice President of Sales, points out that, “Having a delivery partnership with CompTIA is awesome.  The ability to offer a large public schedule of CompTIA courses, as well as, private events and customized curriculum backed by CompTIA is a big win for our customers.  In a time of great transition for our world, many organizations are focused on enhancing the skills of their team members and it’s great to be a part of that plan.”</p> <!--insert CTA--><!--paragraph 7--> <p><span style="font-weight: 600;"> About United Training </span></p> <!--paragraph 8--> <p>United Training unites our customers with the training solutions they need, how they need them at just the right time. United Training was founded by a team of industry experts who believe it is critical to develop innovative solutions to train professionals for the skills of the future. Our training and learning solutions are designed to help individuals and organizations do what they do best- only better. With over 100 expert instructors, we can quickly create custom & professional curriculum on almost any topic imaginable. Learn more about United Training at <a href="www.unitedtraining.com">www.unitedtraining.com </a> .</p> <!--paragraph 9--> <p>It is true that most people learn what they need to know to use Excel in their job and stop there. You can set a dramatic difference in your desirability in vastly diverse fields including finance, insurance, engineering, architecture, operations, and many more by being proactive and learning much more of what Excel can do. To get started, have a conversation with your United Training Account Manager today!</p> <div style="border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in"> <p align="center" style="border:none; text-align:center; padding:0in"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span segoe="" style="font-family:" ui=""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span book="" franklin="" gothic="" style="font-family:">United Training – Uniting You with Skills, Certifications, & Opportunity!</span></span></span></span></p> </div> <p style="margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif"></span></span></p> 22You did WHAT with Excel?https://www.newhorizons.com/resources/blog/postid/21/you-did-what-with-excel-MicrosoftThu, 27 Aug 2020 16:05:00 GMT <p> Many users report being overwhelmed by “Pivot Tables” yet those who use them sing their praises. Truly advanced users take advantage of the ability to create automated “macros” or visual basic for applications (VBA) to make Excel do handsprings. </p> <p> Many “Excel experts” point at Conditional Formatting as their favorite little-used capability, pointing out that this can be used to create an interactive “dashboard” on your spreadsheet. Nested formulas are also not for the faint of heart, but they make it far easier to explain strings if you’re into that kind of thing. </p> <!--paragraph 2--> <p> VLookup is also a popular function that gets less love because of its sophistication, but it’s far easier to use than functions like DatedIf, RoundUp, RoundDown, Evaluate, Convert, Roman, FactDouble, Bahttext and others. These are not even documented! (In fairness, your version of Excel may no longer include these.) </p> <!--paragraph 3--> <p> Some advanced users find it easy to use sophisticated capabilities like filters, index matching, flash fill, absolute references, freeze panes, statistical analysis, regression analysis, and many others. </p> <!--paragraph 4--> <p> Some of these terms are probably familiar to you, and others are not. That puts you in good company, as it is likely the case with most people. It can safely be said that, when it comes to Excel, you really don’t know what you don’t know! </p> <!--paragraph 5--> <p> <span style="font-weight: 600;"> A Popular Data Management Tool </span> </p> <!--paragraph 6--> <p> Some may not be aware that Excel is among the favorite tools for those who manage data and often must transfer data from one platform to another. Many transfer the data first to Excel, then convert it to comma-separated values (CSV), or simply plain text. Then the converted data is transferred to the ultimate destination. This is a common use of Excel among database administrators (DBA). </p> <!--insert CTA--> <!--paragraph 7--> <p> <span style="font-weight: 600;"> The More You Know </span> </p> <!--paragraph 8--> <p> You may be waiting for the big “So What?” So here it is. </p> <!--paragraph 9--> <p> The more you know about a platform with this much functionality, the greater the variety of tasks you can perform. The greater the variety of tasks you can perform, the wider your choice of available job positions and the higher salary you can command. </p> <!--paragraph 9--> <p> It is true that most people learn what they need to know to use Excel in their job and stop there. You can set a dramatic difference in your desirability in vastly diverse fields including finance, insurance, engineering, architecture, operations, and many more by being proactive and learning much more of what Excel can do. To get started, have a conversation with your United Training Account Manager today! </p>21United Training Approved Provider of Army Credentialing Assistance Programhttps://www.newhorizons.com/resources/blog/postid/17/blahNews Thu, 20 Aug 2020 16:04:00 GMT <p> <span style="font-weight: 600;"> Conclude Your Service & Commence Your New Career with the Credentials You Need to Compete </span> </p> <p> United Training – Uniting You with Skills, Certifications, & Opportunity! </p> <!--paragraph 2--> <p> Soldiers preparing to return home from military service and their families know that they will need to plan for the future. What kind of work will their returning hero be seeking? What does their military occupational specialty (MOS) prepare them for? Will they have the skills and credentials required to compete in the civilian marketplace. </p> <!--paragraph 3--> <p> United Training is proud to have been approved to serve as an authorized training resource for the Army’s Self-Directed Credentialing Assistance (CA) program.   <span style="font-weight: 600;"> Education, Career and Transition Counselors  </span> providing guidance on education, professional growth, and career requirements and opportunities. CA enables soldiers of most every rank to pursue credentials including certifications and licenses in fields within or outside their MOS. </p> <!--paragraph 4--> <p> It does so by providing up to $4,000 per fiscal year to use on CA and traditional tuition assistance (TA) programs. </p> <!--paragraph 5--> <p> Pursuing these certifications “gives you a leg up on your peers and make you more competitive against your civilian counterparts, who are already working in and seeking career advancement in their chosen industry and sector,” said Col. Brian Anderson, USAF (Ret), MOAA’s director of career transition and member services. </p> <!--paragraph 6--> <p> <span style="font-weight: 600;"> Earn Certifications Through CA at United Training </span> </p> <!--insert CTA--> <!--paragraph 7--> <p> Soldiers may begin planning and applying to train for the credentials of their choice by reaching out to United Training. Our experts provide informed guidance helping them identify the career they wish to pursue, the opportunities available, and the credentials required to make them most competitive when they re-enter civilian life. They then may schedule and enroll into the chosen training experiences. </p> <!--paragraph 8--> <p> Some credentials most frequently pursued by military returnees include the Security + certification offered by the Computer Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) and respected across the industry, Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) granted by the International Information System Security Certification Consortium (ISC)², and Project Management Professional (PMP) conveyed by the highly regarded Project Management Institute (PMI). </p> <!--paragraph 9--> <p> All three are manufacturer and product agnostic and applicable across all related technologies and industries. </p> <!--paragraph 9--> <p> <span style="font-weight: 600;"> Start Getting Ready to Get Started! </span> </p> <p> Military discipline has taught you to plan your work and work your plan. Here are some key steps to kick start your plan to return: </p> <p> <span style="font-weight: 600;"> Get Good Guidance </span> – There are many resources out there looking to help you. Only United Training puts all the resources you need into play even before you get home! </p> <p> <span style="font-weight: 600;"> If It Sounds Too Good </span> – It probably is. Everybody will share advice with you. While all is well-intended, much isn’t based on research and careful exploration. Talk to United Training’s career counselors who will furnish you with all the information, the forms and websites, other veterans to speak with, and many other human resources who are there to help you. </p> <p> <span style="font-weight: 600;"> It’s Okay to Talk About Money </span> – Candidates with certifications are usually offered higher starting salaries than others. Let us help you approach salary negotiations with full, accurate knowledge of what the position you seek usually pays. Be sure you fully leverage all your advantages, including certification, experience, and the unmatched value of military discipline and professionalism. </p> <p> <span style="font-weight: 600;"> Let This Be the First Step on a Long Journey </span> – Develop the habit of constantly honing your skills and improving your earning potential. </p> <p> Don’t wait until you get home. Start building your advantage over civilian candidates. Review the CA program, review the United Training course catalog, and start using your CA benefits today! Call United Training for more information. </p> 17Lean Six Sigma Certification: Return on Investmenthttps://www.newhorizons.com/resources/blog/postid/19/lean-six-sigma-certification-return-on-investment-Certifications,General,trainingThu, 13 Aug 2020 16:04:00 GMT <p> Lean Six Sigma presents a very high, and highly specific, benchmark for the achievement of quality. For some, the benefit of achieving Six Sigma performance represents an existential requirement. For all organizations, the process leading to the achievement of Six Sigma is itself a set of exercises in assuring excellence. While specifying a financial return on investment, the return is pervasive reaching every facet of any operation. </p> <!--paragraph 2--> <p> Lean Six Sigma combines two very powerful improvement initiatives into one that is “greater than the sum of its parts.” </p> <!--paragraph 3--> <p> <span style="font-weight: 600;"> Lean methodologies </span> seek to create and increase customer value by minimizing or eliminating waste, which is defined as any activity not required to complete a process. </p> <!--paragraph 4--> <p> <span style="font-weight: 600;"> Six Sigma </span> reduces defects by solving problems most effectively. Its goal and its name are derived from a statistical conception of a process that only produces 3.4 defects per million instances. That means the process is successful 99.99966% of the time. An impressive goal. </p> <!--paragraph 5--> <p> Put the two together and you find yourself increasing customer value by minimizing waste and solving problems. </p> <!--paragraph 6--> <p> <span style="font-weight: 600;"> Benefits of Lean Six Sigma </span> </p> <!--insert CTA--> <!--paragraph 7--> <p> These should be considered simple and direct solutions to sometimes very complex problems. </p> <!--paragraph 8--> <p> For example, there are only two ways to increase profit. One is to increase revenue production. The other is to reduce costs. Simple enough concept. Lean Six Sigma helps companies accomplish both while improving efficiency and effectiveness and helping to further develop people and their skills. </p> <!--paragraph 9--> <p> The processes involved in Lean Six Sigma are simple enough that any company, no matter how small or large, can incorporate them into their business. The components of Lean Six Sigma are: </p> <!--paragraph 9--> <p> <span style="font-weight: 600;"> Define </span> – Define the problem </p> <p> <span style="font-weight: 600;"> Measure </span> – To quantify the problem and its impact </p> <p> <span style="font-weight: 600;"> Analyze </span> – to determine the cause of the problem </p> <p> <span style="font-weight: 600;"> Improve </span> – Create, implement, and verify the results of the solution </p> <p> <span style="font-weight: 600;"> Control </span> – Provide ongoing maintenance and support for the solution </p> <p> Many companies leverage learning Lean Six Sigma as an excellent vehicle for fostering improvement at every level of their organization. This leverages the increased process familiarity of employees who are closest to problems in helping to identify and resolve them. Some companies determine to win quality-focused awards such as The Malcolm Baldrige Award for Excellence as a vehicle for imbuing greater application of best practices to achieve higher levels of quality in their organization. </p> <p> Baldrige advertises itself as “America’s Best Investment” suggesting there is a high return on investment available here, and indeed there is. </p> <p> <span style="font-weight: 600;"> Lean Six Sigma Return on Investment </span> </p> <p> ROI measures how much you gain from making any investment. Improvements in quality are often difficult to quantify as they can be somewhat subjective. </p> <p> Instead we focus on applying Lean Six Sigma processes to specific projects, measuring the subject of the project before and after Lean Six Sigma implementation. Great care should be exercised when selecting a project for the evaluation of Lean Six Sigma ROI. Often, failure can be caused simply by poor project selection.Select a product or process that produces revenue and incurs costs. Determine how it could be improved, and then apply Lean Six Sigma processes to a specific increase in revenue and decrease in costs. This will provide the most useful evaluation of the ROI and value of the application of Lean Six Sigma. Then multiply that by the sheer number of products and processes in your organization that would benefit from Lean Six Sigma processes. The potential ROI is tremendous. </p> <p> <span style="font-weight: 600;"> Begin Your Lean Six Sigma Journey </span> </p> <p> United Training provides a selection of courses leading to certification in Lean Six Sigma processes. Talk to your Account Manager about the opportunities awaiting anyone who masters Lean Six Sigma. </p>19