CompTIA is to deliver a new line of technology training and testing products through TestOut, a business that it acquired in early 2023. The solutions are targeted at academic institutions around the globe and are designed to enhance the existing offerings that TestOut has already delivered.
Graham Hunter, CompTIA’s Executive Vice President for global business development, said, “CompTIA is now uniquely positioned to provide an unparalleled depth of training and workforce development solutions along with our globally recognised technical certifications.
“We believe in empowering educators and stakeholders who are tasked with shaping the future of IT education with robust teaching tools and hands-on courseware that saves time and money and produces better results.”
Who is TestOut?
TestOut is a training company that has been active in the academic market for 30 years. It provides a range of online labs that can be used to reinforce training courses. Those labs are delivered through its learning platform, LabSim.
By using online labs, TestOut ensures that students complete courses with practical knowledge, something that employers want. It speeds up their effectiveness in the enterprise as they are able to hit the ground running rather than go through additional hands-on training in the early stages of starting a job.
The platform also integrates with the major Learning Management Solutions (LMS). It allows students to log into LabSim directly from the LMS rather than directly into LabSim. For educational establishments, it means not having to run multiple systems in parallel with all the management problems that can bring.
What is this new announcement about?
Key to this announcement is that TestOut now gains access to the CompTIA library of courses. While there is some overlap, the key gains for TestOut is the technology and cybersecurity courses that CompTIA offers.
Additionally, it can now offer the CompTIA range of certifications to educational establishments. This is likely to appeal to many as the market for education in areas such as cybersecurity continues to grow.
Enterprise Times: What does this mean?
For CompTIA, the acquisition of TestOut was a good move as it opened up access to over 10,000 institutions worldwide. Inevitably, some of those would also have been using CompTIA products. However, they would have been running multiple platforms with all the problems of management.
Leveraging the educational market that TestOut serves, especially around technology courses, also has benefits for students. Technology training is a lifelong exercise, and employers are desperate for people with skills. If those skills are practical and span school through college and into work, even better.
This move also means that the learning is backed by recognised certifications. While employers are moving away from education on CVs, they are still looking for people with practical skills.
For students and employees, getting access to a wider range of courses, especially those that are related to higher-paying careers, is good news. Education is expensive today. There is increasing concern that salaries are not high enough to pay down educational debt quickly enough. For those who now have access to the CompTIA courses through TestOut, that concern should be somewhat mitigated.
