Firebrand Training in The Guardian

Firebrand Training was featured in The Guardian - the UK national newspaper - on Wednesday 28 May. Visit the Firebrand Training press room on the Firebrand Training website to view the article.

We were in the Information Security supplement, and were recommended as part of four steps to guaranteeing business security.

Visit our Security Centre to see how you can better protect yourself.

CCNA, MCSE, PMP and MCSA top the big-earners list

Research by Dice Learning has proven that it pays to be certified - with higher salaries dished out to those with the top certifications.

Evan Lesser, Director of Dice Learning, explains: "When you combine in-demand skill sets and proven salary impact, specific certifications become valuable to individual technology professionals."

An example of this is practitioners who gained Cisco Certified Network Associates (CCNA) certification. The "ability to install, configure, run and troubleshoot medium-sized routed and switched networks" - with the handling of security and wireless technologies - means there are more than 650 job opportunities requesting CCNA skills listed on Dice.com.

Professionals certified as a Project Management Professional were found to be high earners, and those unemployed were more likely to find a new role. Dice Learning claims that there are currently 1,400 jobs with PMP certification listed as a requirement. Other Microsoft certifications found to increase average salaries included: Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers (MCSE) and Microsoft Certified Systems Administrators (MCSA).

Windows 7 usage set to spike

As companies begin to haul themselves out of the economic recession, IT spending looks all-set to increase. According to research firm Forrester, major corporate PC upgrades are scheduled for the next 12 to 18 months. This will mean many organisations will finally allow themselves to introduce new operating systems, productivity suites, browsers and applications.

This is set to lead to a major leap in the use of Microsoft's latest OS offering - Windows 7. Forrester predicts that IT managers will begin their refresh cycles by mid-to-late 2010. This in turn will eventually lead to wide adoption of Windows 7.

Windows 7 has already proven to be a success - with a quick pace of adoption. Forrester reports that, although it was only released in October 2009, Windows 7 is already operating 7% of corporate PCs. This is a level that Windows Vista did not reach until almost a year after its release.

Since the day Windows 7 was released, Windows XP usage has dropped by 7% to 75%. Vista has remained at 12%.

EC-Council collaborates with US Department of Defense Cyber Crime Centre

Firebrand Training partner EC-Council has collaborated with the United States Department of Defense Cyber Crime Centre (DC3 for short) in their annual Digital Forensics Challenge.

DC3 sets the standards for digital evidence processing, analysis, and diagnostics for Department of Defense investigations that requires computer forensic support. DC3 assists in criminal, counter-intelligence, counter-terrorism, and fraud investigations.

The Digital Forensics Challenge encourages innovation from individuals, teams, and institutions in providing solutions for computer forensic examiners in the lab as well as in the field. Approximately 25 different challenges, ranging from basic forensics to advanced tool development, are being provided to all participants.

If you fancy becoming a forensics investigator, take a look at our CHFI certification.

Master CIW Designer course accelerated by a further 33%

There have been additions to the Firebrand Training website over the last few days. This includes the Master CIW Designer course.

This course has been accelerated by a full 33%. The CIW Master Designer course was originally a nippy 12-day offering, but certification can now be gained in a blistering eight days. Shorter CIW certifications (Associate CIW Designer and Professional CIW Designer) are also being offered in quicker time – three and six days respectively.

This means that all three of our CIW courses are twice as fast as you will find anywhere else.

CHFI course updated from version three to four

There have been additions to the Firebrand Training website over the last few days. This includes updating EC-Council Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator (CHFI) from version three to four.

The EC-Council website states: “Computer forensics graduates have been in high demand for jobs with law enforcement and that demand is growing. Starting salaries in the field can range as high as $85,000 to $120,000.”
The new curriculum is also currently being updated on Firebrand Training's DACH and Nordic sites - meaning that the course will soon be delivered in both Germany and Sweden.

New Microsoft MCPD .NET 3.5 Windows Applications Developer course

There have been additions to the Firebrand Training website over the last few days. This includes the new course: Microsoft MCPD .NET 3.5 Windows Applications Developer.

This course provides Windows Applications developers with the necessary skills to build multi-tier Windows applications that are supported by both a business layer and a data access layer. It further helps developers design, develop, and test Windows Applications beginning with defining business requirements; building use cases and usage scenarios, creating test cases and testing applications, and finally designing a viable multi-tier deployment plan.

Not only is this available in the UK, but it is also in the process of being added for delivery in both Germany and Sweden.

Microsoft SharePoint 2010 launched

The long-awaited launch of Microsoft SharePoint 2010 took place this week. Microsoft describe the latest offering as the "Business Collaboration Platform for the Enterprise and the Web." Microsoft says that the benefits of integrating SharePoint 2010 into your business include:

Deliver the Best Productivity Experience
​SharePoint 2010 will look and feel similar to the Microsoft Office platform familiar to millions.

Cut Costs with a Unified Infrastructure
​SharePoint 2010 reduces costs by consolidating intranet, extranet, and internet sites on a single platform.

Rapidly Respond to Business Needs
​SharePoint 2010 applications can be used out-of-the-box, or can be fully customised for specific business needs.

See the video below to learn the economic impact of using SharePoint 2010.

Introducing...Mr Firebrand

A man has renamed himself 'Mr Firebrand' - full name Mr Stormhammer Deathclaw Firebrand. Formerly Richard Smith, he was unhappy with being known by the nickname of 'Spiff'.

The 41-year-old care worker from Carlisle made it official by changing his name by deed poll.

The London Metro has paid homage to Mr Firebrand by producing a list of the Top 5 Weirdest Name Changes

Mr Firebrand explained: "It’s just a strange name I like the sound of" - he will always be welcome at one of our training centres...

Vendor and technology-specific certifications are more important than ever

Certifications are now proving to be more beneficial than ever to IT job seekers. As the economy begins to improve there is an increased emphasis on vendor and technology-specific training. Organisations are re-finding those budgets in order to take on talented, certified professionals.

Ray Kelly, CEO of certification provider Certiport explains: "There are great opportunities in technology, but there is increased competition for jobs. I have never seen a time like today where there is such a focus on certifications."

If you have an IT certification, now is the time to be taking the next step in your career; the Dice job board listed more than 62,000 tech jobs up for grabs in early May.

Fred Weiller, Director of Marketing for Learning at Cisco, agrees: "The economy has been challenging, but from a technical education standpoint it has been a positive market."