2016年2月20日 星期六

2016年最夯的15個IT高薪證照

對於今年想要透過考證造增加薪水籌碼的IT人員,可以看一下2016美國最夯的15個證照。

15 Top-Paying Certifications for 2016

John Hales, Global Knowledge VMware, SDN and SoftLayer instructor, A+, Network+, CTT+, MCSE, MCDBA, MOUS, VCP, VCAP, VCI, EMCSA

Introduction
Which mainstay certifications should be in your list of credentials? What's the next up-and-coming certification? This article will help you answer both questions by providing a review of the 15 top-paying certifications. I've provided a brief description of each, as well as the average salary each certification commands based on the 2016 IT Skills and Salary Survey conducted by Global Knowledge in the fall of 2015. Since the survey was distributed nationwide, variations exist based on where you work, your years of experience and the type of company you work for.

Top 15 Methodology
To qualify for this year's list:

A certification had to have at least 100 survey responses to ensure that the data was statically accurate. The affiliated certification exam had to be available as of the writing of this article.

Some certifications may pay more than those listed but were excluded from this article due to a low number of survey responses or lack of future availability.

Certifications
1. AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate
$125,871
Amazon Web Services' baseline certification, AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate, debuted in mid-2013 and is intended for individuals with experience designing distributed applications and systems on the AWS platform. The AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate certification exam addresses a range of topics, including designing on AWS, selecting the appropriate AWS services for your situation, ingress and egress of data to and from the AWS, estimating AWS costs and identifying cost-control measures.

Since the release of the AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate certification, AWS has rolled out four additional certifications, including the AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional. According to this year's salary survey responses, each of the five AWS certifications brings in an average salary of more than $100,000, but the others did not meet the minimum number of responses needed to make our list. Based on the number of companies moving to the cloud and the growth of AWS, I would certainly expect to see a few more AWS certifications on next year's list.

2. Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC)
$122,954
Similar to the way that CompTIA manages the A+ and Network+ certifications, the nonprofit group ISACA, which formerly stood for Information Systems Audit and Control Association but now is an acronym only, offers the CRISC certification.

Designed for IT professionals, project managers and others whose job it is to identify and manage risks to IT and the business through appropriate information systems (IS) controls, CRISC certification, introduced in 2010, covers the entire life cycle, from design to implementation to ongoing maintenance. It measures two primary areas: risk and IS controls. Similar to the IS control life cycle, the risk area spans from identifying and assessing the scope and likelihood of a particular risk to monitoring for it and responding to it if/when it occurs.

More than 18,000 people worldwide have earned this credential. Because of the demand for professionals with these skills and the relatively small supply of those who have them, CRISC is the second highest-paying certification on the list year.

To obtain CRISC certification, you must have at least three years of experience in at least two of the four areas that the certification covers, and you must pass the exam, which is only offered twice a year. In addition, continuing education credits are required each year to maintain your certification. This is not a case where you can just take a class and get certified. Achieving CRISC certification requires ongoing effort and years of planning.

3. Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)
$122,291
ISACA also created the CISM certification. It's aimed at management more than the IT professional and focuses on security strategy and assessing the systems and policies in place more than it focuses on the person who actually implements those policies using a particular vendor's platform.

More than 27,000 people have been certified since its introduction in 2002, of which 23,220 are currently certified, making this a highly sought-after area with a relatively small supply of certified individuals. In addition, the exam is only offered three times a year, making taking the exam more of a challenge than with many other certifications. It also requires at least five years of experience in IS, with at least three of those as a security manager. Your experience must be within the 10 years before taking the exam or five years after passing it. In addition, continuing education credits are required each year to maintain your certification. As with CRISC, requirements for CISM certification demand effort and substantial planning.

4. Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
$121,923
Offered by the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium (ISC)2, CISSP is designed to provide vendor-neutral security expertise similar to the certifications that ISACA offers. Launched in 1994, CISSP consists of an exam based around eight areas in computer security, including security and risk management, communications and network security, software development security, asset security, security engineering, identity and access management, security assessment and testing, and security operations.

CISSP candidates must have at least five years of full-time experience in at least two of the eight areas tested. If you don't have the work experience, you can still earn an Associate of (ISC)2 designation while working toward the full certification.

CISSP certification has a broad focus, covering many different areas in a single certification. There are nearly 104,000 CISSPs worldwide, with approximately two-thirds of them in the United States. To remain certified, CISSPs must earn Continuous Professional Education (CPE) credits every year.

5. Project Management Professional (PMP®)
$116,094
The fifth highest-paying and the first that is business-related instead of technical-related, the PMP certification was created and is administered by the Project Management Institute (PMI®) and is the most recognized project management certification available. There are more than 658,000 PMPs worldwide.

The PMP certification exam tests five areas relating to the life cycle of a project: initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. PMP certification validates expertise running any kind of project and is not specialized into sub types, such as manufacturing, construction or IT.

To become certified, individuals must have 35 hours of PMP-related training. In addition, those who have less than a bachelor's degree must have 7,500 hours of project management experience, while those who have a bachelor's degree or higher need 4,500 hours. To maintain PMP certification, continuing education credits are required each year. PMP certification is another that requires years of planning and effort.

6. Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA)
$113,320
CISA certification is ISACA's oldest, dating back to 1978, with more than 115,000 people certified since its inception. Of those, 78,640 are still certified. CISA certification requires at least five years of experience in IS auditing, control or security, in addition to passing an exam that is only offered three times per year. Maintaining CISA certification means earning continuing education credits each year.

CISA certification is usually obtained by those whose job responsibilities include auditing, monitoring, controlling, and/or assessing IT and/or business systems. It is designed to test the candidate's ability to manage vulnerabilities and propose controls, processes, and updates to a company's policies to ensure compliance with accepted IT and business standards.

7. Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) Routing and Switching
$112,858
CCIE Routing and Switching is one of the highest-level certifications available. Only the Cisco Certified Architect is higher, and it is aimed more at networking designers and architects than implementers and troubleshooters as this CCIE is. As such, CCIE Routing and Switching is the highest-paying Cisco certification on this list. With this certification, along with an associate-level and two professional-level certifications, Cisco has the most certifications in the top 15 this year. There are other CCIE tracks-collaboration, data center, security, service provider and wireless-and all command a similarly high salary, but none of the others met our list's requirement to have at least 100 survey responses.

Unlike most Cisco certifications and many others at this level, there are no formal prerequisites for CCIE Routing and Switching in terms of training or certification. You simply must pass a written exam and then pass an eight-hour hands-on, in-person lab exam. Cisco currently operates 10 CCIE lab exam locations around the world-two are in the United States.

Topics covered on the two exams include technologies used in Layers 2 and 3, security, VPNs, and infrastructure services such as Quality of Service (QoS), Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), and Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).

CCIE Routing and Switching is considered an industry-leading networking certification. There are only about 27,000 CCIEs in routing and switching in the world, and about a quarter of them have not met the recertification requirements, so professionals with this level of expertise are in higher demand and, therefore, command a higher salary.

8. Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Data Center
$107,045
Though associate-level Cisco certifications have been around a very long time, the data center certification track that includes CCNA, CCNP and CCIE levels were introduced in 2012. The track is aimed at data center technologies, such as networking (especially with Nexus physical and virtual switches), storage (especially converged storage involving Fibre Chanel over Ethernet [FCoE] and standard network traffic on the same network infrastructure and cards), compute (primarily around Cisco's UCS technologies), virtualization and various network services, such as global and local load balancing.

Achieving CCNA Data Center certification requires passing two exams. The first is focused primarily on the networking aspects, especially the Nexus technologies, including configuring and verifying their operation, VLANs, coming up with an IP address scheme, etc. The second exam covers primarily unified computing (UCS setup and configuration), virtualization (server and device virtualization and the Nexus 1000V virtual switch), and storage networking (including FCoE, SAN connectivity, zoning and Virtual Storage Area Network [VSAN]). Together these two exams verify familiarity with a large portion of common data center technologies implemented by Cisco.

Due to the broad nature of this exam and the widespread use of Cisco technologies, this is a great place for those interested in data center administration to begin certification.

9. Cisco Certified Design Professional (CCDP)
$105,008
CCDP is a professional-level Cisco certification-that's the level between the entry-level associate tracks and the expert level that we covered in the previous two certifications. Professional-level certification tracks show a greater depth and specialization in certain topics than the associate-level ones. CCDP certification is designed for senior-level architects who want to design more advanced network topologies and services. There are three exams required for this certification-two are focused on implementation (routing and switching) and one on architecting. The two implementation exams are required for this certification, as well as for the CCNP Routing and Switching certification.

Topics covered on the implementation exams include the technologies associated with switching (discovery protocols, trunking, spanning tree, LACP, etc., including the security features available at this layer) and routing (TCP versus UDP operation, frame relay, subnetting, DHCP, routing protocols, including features and limitations, VPN technologies, and the security options at this layer). In addition to the practical implementation details, CCDP validates knowledge of designing for proper and optimal use of the protocols covered on the implementation exams, as well as high availability, small and large multisite campus networks, edge connectivity with other networks, designing for the large data center, using network virtualization technologies, and much more on the security of all of the above.

This combination of design and implementation skills is what makes this certification more challenging to achieve.

10. Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)
$103,297
The International Council of E-Commerce Consultants (EC-Council) created and manages CEH certification, which is aimed at security officers and auditors, site administrators, and others responsible for network and data security. The exam is designed to test a candidate's abilities to prod for holes, weaknesses and vulnerabilities in a company's network defenses using techniques and methods that hackers employ. The difference between a hacker and a CEH is that a hacker wants to cause damage, steal information, etc., while the CEH wants to fix the deficiencies found.

CEH exam topics include scanning networks, malware threats, session hijacking, denial of service, social engineering, hacking wireless networks, hacking mobile platforms, cryptography, cloud computing, and evading IDS, firewalls, and honeypots.

Given the many attacks and great volume of personal data at risk and the legal liabilities possible, the need for CEHs is quite high, hence the salaries reported.

11. Six Sigma Green Belt
$102,594
Six Sigma is a process of analyzing defects-that is, anything outside a customer's specifications-in a production/manufacturing process, with a goal of no more than 3.4 defects per million "opportunities" or chances for a defect to occur. The basic idea is to measure defects, analyze why they occurred and then fix the issue(s). There is a Six Sigma process for improving existing processes and a slightly modified version for new processes or major changes. Motorola pioneered the concept in the mid-1980s, and many other companies have since followed their examples to improve quality.

Unlike most of the other certifications on this list, Six Sigma Green Belt is not IT-specific. Instead it's primarily focused on manufacturing and producing better quality products. No standards organization owns it, and there is no standard certification exam. In fact, some organizations can certify an individual for simply taking a course or participating in a project. Many university and for-profit groups offer training.

Since no organization owns Six Sigma certification per se, the specific skills and number of levels of mastery vary depending on the organization or certifying company. Entry level is typically Green Belt, progressing to Black Belt and Master Black Belt.

12. Citrix Certified Professional - Virtualization (CCP-V)
$102,138
CCP-V is a newer certification from Citrix that replaced Citrix Certified Enterprise Engineer (CCEE) certification, which was retired in November 2014. Focused on XenDesktop 7, CCP-V requires that candidates have already earned Citrix Certified Associate - Virtualization (CCA-V) certification. CCA-V certification covers the basics of managing, maintaining, monitoring and troubleshooting, while CCP-V certifies that candidates can deploy applications and virtual desktops using a variety of Citrix technologies, primarily XenDesktop 7, as well as some aspects of XenServer and NetScaler. CCP-V certification is valid for three years.

13. Cisco Certified Networking Professional (CCNP) Security
$101,414
The fourth Cisco-related certification and the sixth security-related certification on this year's list is CCNP Security. Achieving CCNP Security certification requires that you have achieved CCNA Security or any CCIE and that you pass four security implementation exams covering secure access, edge network security, secure mobility and threat control.

The Implementing Cisco Secure Access Solutions (SISAS) exam focuses primarily on identity management, including 802.1x, RADIUS, LDAP and BYOD issues, as well as threat defense, including the Cisco TrustSec architecture used in a wide variety of Cisco products from switches to routers to wireless access to firewalls.
The Implementing Cisco Edge Network Security Solutions (SENSS) exam covers firewalls, Layer 2 security, Cisco network device hardening, Cisco Security Manager, NetFlow, logging and virtualization/cloud security.
The Implementing Cisco Secure Mobility Solutions (SIMOS) exam covers remote access and site-to-site VPNs in detail, as well as common encryption and hashing algorithms and PKI.
The Implementing Cisco Threat Control Solutions (SITCS) exam covers a wide range of cisco security devices, the role of Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPSs), and how to design secure Web, email, and general application solutions.
As you can see from the exams, the expertise required to achieve CCNP Security certification is quite broad, covering a wide range of security-related topics at a practical implementation level. Networking security is already very popular and growing at a rate of five percent per year, and many of the areas inside security are growing much faster, including mobile security (18 percent) and cloud security (50 percent). This makes security a very good area for job growth and salary growth until the supply of and demand for certified security professionals is more in balance, which may take several years at least.

14. ITIL® v3 Foundation
$99,869
ITIL was created by England's government in the 1980s to standardize IT management. It is a set of best practices for aligning the services IT provides with the needs of the organization. It is broad-based, covering everything from availability and capacity management to change and incident management, in addition to application and IT operations management.

Formerly known as the IT Infrastructure Library, ITIL is composed of a set of books. Five books define the various project life cycle stages:

Service Strategy, where organizational and customer needs are determined and documented.
Service Design, where the defined service strategy gets turned into a plan for meeting those needs.
Service Transition, which covers how to add new services into an existing environment.
Service Operation, covering how to manage the deployed services.
Continual Service Improvement, which covers both incremental and major upgrades to the deployed services.
Over the last 30 years, ITIL has become the most widely used framework for IT management in the world. ITIL standards are owned by AXELOS, a joint venture company created by the Cabinet Office on behalf of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom and Capita plc, and they have authorized partners who provide education, training and certification. The governing body defined the certification tiers, and they leave it to the accredited partners to develop the training and certification around that framework.

ITIL Foundation is the entry-level ITIL certification and provides a broad-based understanding of the IT life cycle and the concepts and terminology surrounding it. Anyone wishing for higher-level certifications must have ITIL Foundation first, so people may have higher certifications and still list this certification in the survey, which may skew the average salary somewhat.

15. VMware Certified Professional 5 - Data Center Virtualization (VCP5-DCV)
$99,334
The VMware Certified Professional (VCP) is VMware's oldest and former entry-level certification. As VMware's product portfolio has grown over the last several years, the company decided that a single certification was not sufficient. Now, VMware Certified Associate (VCA) is the entry-level certification, and several VCP tracks exist, enabling VCPs to specialize.

The only VCP track to break the top 15 this year-due to number of responses, not salary-is the Data Center Virtualization track, the largest and oldest of the VCP tracks. VCP-DCV certifies one's knowledge of and ability to perform basic deployment and administration of vCenter and ESXi.

According to VMware's policy established in 2014, in order to remain certified, every two years, VCPs must recertify on their current track, take an exam in another VCP track or take a higher-level exam. Also, with the release of vSphere 6, becoming certified requires two exams: a Foundations exam that applies to all tracks and a track-focused exam.

2016年1月2日 星期六

認識「區塊鍊」(blockchain)技術

Bitcoin帶來的貨幣改革,也慢慢影響到現實生活的金融交易。Blockchain技術,帶來防止資料被竄改的優勢,有空看一下這篇文章吧。

比特幣技術將顛覆銀行!防駭易管理、FinTech靠它


虛擬貨幣比特幣可能逐漸退燒,不過比特幣科技才正要出現爆炸性應用!25家銀行攜手合組聯盟,推動比特幣背後的「區塊鍊」(blockchain)技術,不僅可用於匯款、股票交易等,未來投票、汽車牌照登記等,或許都會改用此一技術。

CNBC和equities.com報導,區塊鍊被視為金融科技(FinTech)的顛覆性科技,區塊鍊能清楚紀錄每一筆交易、不會遭駭,比特幣只是這個技術的「暖場秀」而已。簡單來說,區塊鍊是公開透明的交易紀錄方式,沒有中央管理系統,每個端點都可儲存交易資料,結合各端點數據後,能創造出具有明確時間點的完整交易紀錄,由於資料持續在數千個端點分享,能及早發現不完整的數據,避免寫入。

這麼做的好處是,要是有哪個端點的操作者想偽造資料,其他端點若不加以確認,就無法記入正式數據當中。傳統的集中管理系統,不管有多嚴格的防護措施,都可能遭駭,區塊鍊等於讓帳簿正本不復存在,駭客無處下手,他們可以改動一兩處數據,但不可能變更所有端點的資料。從比特幣歷史看來,這個技術確實能夠防駭。

高盛和巴克萊認為,此一技術可用於銀行轉帳交易、證券交易等。那斯達克證交所和高盛都打造了運用區塊鍊的交易平台。不僅如此,區塊鍊還能用於投票、汽車牌照登記、槍枝管制、貿易收支、紀錄藝術品所有人等。

彭博社、Business Insider 17日報導,IBM Corp.、英特爾(Intel Corp.)與富國銀行(Wells Fargo)在內的重量級企業週四(12月17日)宣布共組聯盟,將與Linux基金會(Linux Foundation)聯手為新興的「分佈式分類帳」(distributed ledger)技術打造免費且開放的版本。

什麼是分佈式分類帳技術?其實,這個技術與數位貨幣「比特幣」(bitcoin)息息相關。簡單來說,區塊鍊主要是把一個資料庫分拆給多個電腦使用,讓這個資料庫無法被單一實體掌控,同時並以加密的方式保護資料、追蹤付款與收款人、監控交易餘額。這一整個系統,就被稱為「分佈式分類帳技術」。只要銀行或交易所確認某家公司的確擁有能夠與另一家公司交易的資金或資產,那麼整個結帳的時間將可縮短至數秒鐘。

*編者按:本文僅供參考之用,並不構成要約、招攬或邀請、誘使、任何不論種類或形式之申述或訂立任何建議及推薦,讀者務請運用個人獨立思考能力,自行作出投資決定,如因相關建議招致損失,概與《精實財經媒體》、編者及作者無涉。

資料來源-MoneyDJ理財網

2015年12月27日 星期日

站起來的勇氣

人的一生難免有低潮,遇到失敗,如何再站起來,甚至面對人群,努力過活,其實這個勇氣是我們要鼓勵與自勉。看到前天喜旅行社總裁郭正利以下這則新聞有感而發,如果可以的話,大家到北市迪化街的永樂市場時,可以給認真的人多點支持,喝一碗麻油雞。

40億總裁 叫賣麻油雞


【張芳榮、林金聖╱台北報導】曾擁有40億元身家的旅遊大亨郭正利,因投資房地產失利欠了15億元債務,旅行社也在去年倒閉,曾西裝筆挺、出入名車的他,現再次挑戰命運,穿著199元的運動服,在市場擺攤叫賣麻油雞,對於還有2400萬元債務要還,他坦然面對說:「人生起落無常,頭放低、腰放軟,我將再起!」

現年58歲的前天喜旅行社總裁郭正利,服完兵役到日本讀書兼差導遊,1990年創設天喜旅行社,專營高檔日本旅遊團,天喜曾創1年53億元營業額,個人身家40億元,未料投資失利,旅行社倒了、妻子也離開。

改搭公車穿百元衣

郭正利說,旅行社倒閉後,他欠了一屁股債,以前出入全身名牌行頭,連帥氣小平頭都要花萬元打理,但現在穿199元廉價運動衣,搭公車代步、頭髮也自己剃,以前最高單月曾有3億元現金入袋,現在只有幾百元可用,是他人生大起大落的寫照。

為早日還清債務,郭正利向媽媽討教麻油雞秘方,上月起在北市迪化街的永樂市場擺攤叫賣麻油雞,臉書也設立「郭媽媽麻油g」社團,以實體、網路方式販售,一碗賣150元,對照風光時最高單月3億元收入,現在每月要賣200萬碗麻油雞才能跟上,但他樂觀說:「我從小苦過來,什麼大風大浪沒見過?即便吃稀飯配肉鬆,還是得過下去!」

郭正利口才一流,在市場擺攤叫賣,深獲婆婆媽媽捧場。翻攝臉書郭正利6年前被爆跳票,他偕前妻(中)開記者會,秀出3千萬現鈔宣示財務沒問題。資料照片曾是旅遊大亨的郭正利,破產後開始賣麻油雞。林金聖攝
上一張投影片下一張投影片
第 1/3 張 © 由 蘋果日報 提供
郭正利口才一流,在市場擺攤叫賣,深獲婆婆媽媽捧場。翻攝臉書
擺攤現炒逗樂師奶

《蘋果》本周二下午到他家看他烹煮麻油雞,當天是冬至,電話訂單就有200碗,只見他耐著性子調火候慢炒雞肉,然後施展大廚架式爽灌米酒及麻油下鍋,廚房立即芳香四溢。

郭正利得意的秀出擺攤叫賣麻油雞影片,片中他在街頭擺了一個大爐子,宛如「叫賣哥」上身,邊烹調邊推薦他做的麻油雞是世界第一好吃,不少婆婆媽媽駐足圍觀,被他逗得笑呵呵,還有人舉大拇指喊讚,然後打包了好幾碗,渾然不知眼前的歐吉桑,曾是「億來億去」的旅行社總裁。

「做什麼要像什麼」

「做什麼要像什麼!」郭正利說,他不再留戀過去,現在專注賣麻油雞,每天花心思研發口味,到處試吃麻油雞,比較口味差異,他期許能在美食界重啟爐灶,順利的話能開店、拓點,達到百家分店的目標。對於眼前困頓,郭正利充滿信心地說:「我還有很多債務要還,不能就這樣倒下!」

郭正利小檔案

●年齡:58歲

●現職:郭媽媽麻油雞負責人

●經歷:前天喜旅行社總裁

●婚姻:離婚,前妻為日本石川縣溫泉飯店千金新滝祥子(滝音同龍)

●學歷:日本東京室內設計專門學校

●資產:身家最高曾達40億元,現負債2400萬元

郭正利事件簿

1990/06

創設立天喜旅行社,專營日本高檔旅遊

2007/09/09

迎娶日本石川縣溫泉飯店千金新祥子

2009/05

天喜多次跳票,觀光局要求停業,品保協會除名

2011/07/20

在高雄國賓飯店開毒趴,被查出吸安進勒戒所

2014/07/02

天喜旅行社被撤照,正式歇業

2014/10/27

么弟在高雄住處墜樓身亡

2015/06

與妻子離婚

2015/11

在北市迪化街永樂市場擺攤賣麻油雞

資料來源:《蘋果》資料室