It is added value for Malaysians pursuing Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) studies to have other professional certifications, as it improves their employability and salaries drawn, even as the industry evolves and grows rapidly.

Among the certifications to be pursued are those from Microsoft, Cisco, Linux and CompTIA.

CompTIA President and CEO, Todd Thibodeaux said extra initiatives were needed to cater to the future demand of IT professionals in Malaysia.

"I believe vendor-neutral certifications command more value for individuals keen on advancing their career in the industry," he said.

CompTIA is non-profit trade association advancing the global interests of ICT professionals and companies, as well as a leading provider of IT certifications.

It provides four types of certifications, namely, basic for individuals considering training for an IT career, specialty for business and professionals in a niche or emerging market, for professionals with experience and mastery for advanced IT professionals.

Thibodeaux told Bernama that CompTIA used expertise from all over the world to create the exams for the certifications, with the same standards applied globally.

CompTIA has an ISO170224 certification for the international standard of development of certified exams, which many other similar vendors do not have.

"Our certifications also cover a broader range and issues compared to others who just focus on their technology. Most professionals take our certifications as the baseline before considering any others," he said.

Thibodeaux said as a country, Malaysia is ahead in terms of ICT as it has good infrastructure, progressiveness in terms of the skills environment and government funding.

"In the Asean region, Malaysia is among the top three in terms of ICT development and the performance of its students is very good, noting the top scores we see. Their quality is also on par with others elsewhere in the world," he added.

He also believed that Malaysia is on the right track to leverage on ICT to achieve the status of a high income nation by 2020.

To date, CompTIA has issued 1.7 million certifications worldwide, which are recognised by industry leaders like Intel, Dell, Lenovo and others.

"In Malaysia, we have issued about 20,000 certifications this year and mostly in the CompTIA A+ programme, other than the CompTIA Network + and CompTIA Security + certifications,” he added.