CompTIA Acquisition Will Accelerate Training, Certification Offerings

CompTIA on Thursday announced the strategic acquisition of online training provider TestOut. The two companies are combining forces to extend tech learning, industry-recognized certifications and career accelerators to students around the world.

CompTIA’s Todd Thibodeaux

“There is a critical need to break the cycle of persistent talent shortages and an equally critical need to expand opportunity and diversity in the tech workforce,” said Todd Thibodeaux, CompTIA CEO and president. “CompTIA and TestOut share a passion and commitment to unlocking the potential of every student, instructor, career changer or tech professional reaching for the next rung.”

Utah-based TestOut provides IT certification training and certifications. It offers interactive, hands-on lab exercises, video training, written lessons, custom quizzes, and certification exams, all in one integrated training package that is delivered on their online learning platform, LabSim.

“TestOut has an amazing team of dedicated professionals driven by a customer-first mindset,” said Thibodeaux. “They’ve built a great company, developing world-class learning solutions for a broad array of students and instructors. The combination of our two companies will greatly accelerate CompTIA’s training and certification offerings into more and more tech and IT job roles.”

A Good Fit

TestOut’s Noel Vallejo

TestOut CEO Noel Vallejo believes the two companies are well aligned.

“Over the past 10 years, I have often thought that if I were going to sell TestOut, CompTIA would be at the top of my list of potential buyers,” Vallejo said. “We fit well together.

Both organizations are committed to helping individuals build a better life for themselves through technology education and certification.”

Employer hiring activity for technology and digital job roles reached an all-time high in 2022 with more than 4 million employer job postings, according to CompTIA. Over the next decade, projections indicate demand for tech workers will grow at twice the rate of the overall labor force. In areas such as cybersecurity, data, cloud infrastructure and software development, growth rates are even higher. Momentum continues to build for digital literacy across all occupation categories.