The CompTIA A+ certification is the industry standard for computer-support professionals and has been acknowledged as a primary catalyst for careers in information technology. The vendor-neutral certification has been designed to prove competence in a broad range of computer-support skills, including installation, preventative maintenance, networking, security, and troubleshooting. In addition, certified technicians must prove that they command the necessary customer service and communication skills to work with clients in today's modern, highly connected world.

Matthew Poyiadgi, Vice President EMEA for CompTIA says, "… bringing together two of the IT industry's most innovative learning leaders is a significant vote of confidence in the latest version of CompTIA A+. We look forward to implementing these experiential learning solutions and providing certification candidates with first-class preparation, no matter what challenges of time and distance they may be confronted with."

This latest CompTIA A+ certification, 2009 Edition, requires candidates to prepare for, and pass, two exams: CompTIA A+ Essentials and CompTIA A+ Practical Application. CompTIA A+ Essentials measures the necessary competencies of an entry-level IT professional with hundreds of hours of hands-on experience in the field. CompTIA A+ Practical Application is an extension of the knowledge learned in Essentials, with more of a "hands-on" orientation focused on troubleshooting scenarios in which specific tools must be applied to resolve "real-life" problems.

The interactive scenarios are designed around an IT Technician's roles and help students translate realistic requests from co-workers and customers - via phone, email, meetings, and site visits - into viable IT solutions. For example, in a customer-service scenario involving viruses, the student is guided through the process of gathering all relevant data, identifying the virus, and then inoculating it in a risk-free, insulated hands-on virtual data centre.

This blended-learning solution embraces the latest technologies to provide not only individuals with a great learning resource, but also instructors and lecturers with a flexible, scalable, anytime-anywhere solution to power their online IT programs so they can focus on what they do best: educating their students.

"We are all being challenged daily to rapidly and profoundly change our approach and attitudes towards learning and to embrace innovative solutions in order to remain competitive in the fast-changing global economy", says John Valencia, CEO and President of Toolwire. "We look forward to ensuring the success of future CompTIA A+ certification candidates through their use of these combined world-class technologies."