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BOOM!

A certification AND an industry conference today!

Feels good to now have the initial certifications under my belt! I’m starting to feel confident about making moves towards finding work in the field.

Network+, Security+, Splunk Power User, AZ-900….happy!

I’ve sent my resume to someone in the industry to look over, and I’m making updates to this website and my online jobs profiles. Lots to do!!

I also have courses on Active Directory and AWS that I want to do, as well as some Microsoft Learn courses. Starting tomorrow!

Directly after the exam, I headed over to the Irving Convention Center!

I finagled my way into the ServiceNow World Forum this afternoon, and I was blown away by the size and diversity of the crowds there! Lots of AI / machine learning people, but also asset managers, security professionals, and more! It was quite cool to get my first glimpse into the community!

(In case you didn’t know, ServiceNow is a cloud computing platform that helps manage enterprises manage workflows…it was quite cool researching it and hearing about it!)

I enjoyed the risk assessment and security panel, but what I enjoyed most of all was hearing about the merging of customer service management and IT service management from representatives from two fairly large companies who were pretty upfront and forthcoming about their past failures and shortcomings

• multiple identical workflows that essentially doubled/triple their work
• a lack of centrally-tracked asset inventory
• lacking a robust configuration management database

and way more. They then shared how ServiceNow, other companies, and forward thinking helped them overcome these “horror stories” that they were sharing, to use their words.

Fascinating!

Threat intelligence, attack vectors, the importance of documentation and training, and the convergence of so many other aspects of IT and customer service AND security all in one place and one platform – ServiceNow – this isn’t an ad haha I promise!

While I didn’t have the stamina to stick around all day, the panels I went to were helpful and engaging, and I hope I can attend more industry forums / conferences like this.

The journey is only beginning!