CompTIA Breakaway 2011 Concludes with Tech Summit on Cybersecurity, Healthcare IT

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- CompTIA Breakaway 2011 concluded here yesterday with comprehensive discussions on cybersecurity and healthcare IT during the inaugural CompTIA Tech Summit.

More than 1,000 IT industry leaders attended Breakaway, the premier annual event for the IT channel. The four-day conference offered attendees robust channel training, networking opportunities, community meetings and the debut of new technology solutions.

"Solution providers gleaned some of the best training in multiple verticals such as healthcare IT, security, cloud computing, unified communications, legal IT sales and government IT sales," said Todd Thibodeaux, CompTIA president and chief executive officer. "Vendors and distributors also gained more than just visibility and networking with their partners, but their own educational sessions to help them better understand their partners and their own forums to learn more about each other's businesses and CompTIA."

Thibodeaux added CompTIA Breakaway 2012 will be held in Las Vegas July 30 through Aug. 2, 2012.

Peter Sandiford, chief executive officer, Level Platforms, said CompTIA Breakaway is the industry's "premium event."

"It's all about education and networking," Sandiford said. "Many of the people in the industry come to Breakaway as a neutral place to meet and discuss industry-wide opportunities. As a result, I find most of my time here building relationships that really help build our business."

"With Breakaway 2011, CompTIA officially has reinvented itself in education, certification, advocacy and philanthropy," said Ted Roller, vice president of channel development, Intronis.

"The entire extended IT community is collectively smarter, better connected and more impactful on the world stage than they were a week ago," Roller continued. "From remarkable community focus, to the outstanding work of the Creating IT Futures Foundation, every single initiative is meeting and addressing the critical ecosystem needs.  It is an absolutely great time to get involved with CompTIA."

CompTIA Tech Summit

Thursday's conference agenda featured the inaugural CompTIA Tech Summit, which delivered discussions amongst policy-makers, think tanks and the IT industry on the important issues of healthcare IT and cybersecurity.

Dr. Carolyn M. Clancy, director of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), delivered the keynote address on healthcare. She outlined the agency's "National Quality Strategy" to guide national, state and local efforts, focusing on better care, healthy communities, and affordable care. The strategy's priorities include reducing harm caused in the delivery of care, promoting effective communication and coordination of care, and making quality care more affordable by developing and spreading new healthcare delivery models.

"We want to make the right thing to do the easier thing to do," Clancy said.

Also Thursday, cybersecurity experts shared a chilling scenario of the current threat level in the world of mobile devices and applications

"Right now mobile security is a pretty dicey place," said Andrew Hoog, chief investigative officer, viaForensics. "It's too much for an IT department to take on, but it's too big an issue to ignore. It's a massive hole."

Speakers noted that mobile devices typically combine both corporate and personal information, making them a much richer target for cyber criminals and hackers.

Countering the threats will require a combined effort of education and robust counter measures by manufacturers of mobile devices, application developers, carriers and services providers and the individuals and organizations that rely on mobile technology solutions.

More than 30 sessions were offered this week at Breakaway and the co-located CompTIA Tech Summit. For those who were unable to attend this year's event. Speaker presentations, online coverage and other conference information will be added to the Breakaway website throughout the month of August.

About CompTIA

CompTIA is the voice of the world's information technology (IT) industry. As a non-profit trade association advancing the global interests of IT professionals and companies, CompTIA is the recognized authority for IT education and credentials and the primary advocate for IT businesses and workers. Through its foundation, CompTIA also enables disadvantaged populations to gain the skills they need for employment in the IT industry. CompTIA's vision of the IT landscape is shaped by more than 25 years of global perspective and more than 2,000 members and 1,000 business partners. For more information, visit www.comptia.org or follow CompTIA on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/comptia.  

SOURCE CompTIA