The CFA Level III test is the last in the series of three exams conducted by the CFA Institute. Coupled with at least 48 months of relevant work experience, successful completion of the final level yields a charter membership.

While the first two levels revolved around basic financial knowledge, investment valuation comprehension, and the application of both, the CFA Level III test focuses on portfolio management and wealth planning.

BusinessObjects was acquired by SAP in 2007 for $6 billion. BusinessObjects was acquired by SAP in 2009 for $78 billion, its largest acquisition to date. Initially, BusinessObjects operated independently, but in 2009 became a SAP division, and its products became SAP BusinessObjects.

IT pros skilled in the many areas of networking are in high demand in today’s job market. Those serious about their IT careers should consider one or more of these best-of-breed networking certifications to set themselves apart from their competitors.

When it comes to the care and feeding of modern networks, there’s quite a lengthy list of tools and technologies that qualified IT professionals must master – especially those who aspire to work as network administrators. In addition to the servers and clients that make up the endpoints in such environments, there’s a lot of network infrastructure to worry about. This includes switches and routers (both physical and virtual), plus a raft of appliances and services, such as unified threat management (UTM), next-generation firewalls (NGFs), software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions, virtualization (NFV) components and WAN optimization, as well as spam, email, and content filtering.

Wrapping your head around all these certification options and specialties can be challenging, but knowing where to start can help. We looked at five networking certifications (in their order of appearance in the job boards table that follows) that we consider leaders in the field of networking for 2019 and beyond.

To pick our leaders, we looked at the state of networking certification, examined various market and salary surveys, and performed an informal job board survey that revealed the number of job posts across the U.S. in which our featured certifications were mentioned on a given day.

Making its first appearance on the leader board this year is the SolarWinds Certified Professional (SCP). It replaces the Juniper Enterprise Routing and Switching, Expert (JNCIE-ENT) credential. While the JNCIE remains a great credential, job board numbers for the SCP were stronger, earning it a slot in the top five. The other featured credentials include the Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE), Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP), CompTIA Network+ and WCNA Certification for Wireshark (WCNA).

Job board search results (in alphabetical order, by certification)

The featured certifications represent all major tiers of networking job roles, from the entry level (Network+) to the expert level (CCIE). According to Glassdoor, a person just starting out in networking, most likely as a technician or junior administrator, can expect to make about $67,000. Midtier network administrators and engineers make an average of $79,000 to $90,000, while CCIEs average around $119,000.

CCIE: Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert

An evergreen and high-value networking certification is the Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE), which comes in several tracks. The annual production of CCIEs remains small enough that Cisco can still claim itself able to hire all of them itself, with demand and appreciation for this difficult and rewarding certification always stratospheric. Over the past few years, the Storage Networking credential gave way to Collaboration, and a Data Center credential made its debut, as well as other new certification tracks.

Although the road to obtaining a CCIE is long and hard, it is well worth the effort, time, and money. This credential opens doors to plenty of job opportunities and high salaries for networking professionals.

CCIE facts and figures

CCNP: Cisco Certified Network Professional

The Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) takes aim at platforms and products from a leading networking equipment vendor found at most communications and internet service providers, not to mention enterprises and businesses of all sizes, including government, research, and academia. It’s hard to go wrong with Cisco certification nowadays, and the CCNP is its most important midrange credential across a wide variety of specialties.

Cisco offers several flavors of the CCNP: Cloud, Collaboration, Data Center, Routing and Switching (the most popular), Security, Service Provider, and Wireless. The Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) is a required steppingstone to the CCNP. What usually comes after the CCNP for networking professionals could be another CCNP (different specialty), one or more Cisco Specialist certifications, or the advanced Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE), also available in numerous specializations.

CCNP facts and figures

CompTIA Network+

There aren’t that many entry-level networking IT certifications around, probably because CompTIA’s Network+ credential more or less owns this niche. Many IT and certification pundits, including us, believe the Network+ to be an important early checkbox element in any savvy IT professional’s basic certification portfolio. If you’re just starting out, this is a certification for you.

CompTIA Network+ is also a vendor-neutral certification and a steppingstone to a variety of more advanced networking credentials. Some vendor-specific certification programs even include it as a prerequisite.

Network+ facts and figures

SolarWinds Certified Professional

Our sole newcomer to the top five this year is the SolarWinds Certified Professional (SCP). Headquartered in Austin, Texas, SolarWinds makes simplicity its business. At SolarWinds, businesses and IT professionals will find tools, products, and solutions to Improve performance and monitoring and to solve real-world problems easily and efficiently. SolarWinds offers solutions across six areas: network management, system management, security, database management, IT help desk and the cloud.

SolarWinds currently offers a single credential, the SolarWinds Certified Professional (SCP), designed to validate a candidate’s skill, knowledge and expertise in using either the SolarWinds system management or network management product portfolio. Candidates can choose to test for the SCP on either the Network Performance Monitor (NPM) or Server and Application Monitor (SAM) path. Either way, a single test is required to earn the credential.

SolarWinds is committed to ongoing education and ensuring that SCP credential holders maintain skill currency as new products and technologies are released. To accomplish this, SolarWinds requires SCP credential holders to maintain a SolarWinds subscription and attend events and training. The subscription provides SCPs with webcasts, online training, invitations to in-person and online events, enhanced support, opportunities to study with SolarWinds experts, and more. An annual subscription fee of $200 is required. Credentials expire after three years if a candidate fails to maintain a subscription and attend training.

SCP facts and figures

WCNA: Wireshark Certified Network Analyst

Founded in 2007 by major networking geeks Gerald Combs and Laura Chappell, Wireshark University offers only a single certification but makes it worth your while. The WCNA for Wireshark Certification (WCNA) recognizes knowledge of network packet and protocol sniffing and analysis using Wireshark, as well as TCP/IP network communications, network troubleshooting, and network security. To achieve this credential, candidates must pass one multiple-choice exam, which is DoD 8570-certified.

The WCNA is good for three years, but certification holders must obtain a total of 20 continuing professional education (CPE) credits each year to maintain their credentials in good standing. These CPE credits must focus on activities related to the WCNA test objectives (sniffing, analysis, etc.) and not be tied directly to job tasks. For example, attending a Sharkfest or Black Hat conference, or even studying the Wireshark Network Analysis Study Guide, can net some CPEs.

Along with administering the WCNA program, Wireshark University offers self-paced, instructor-led and customized training options for anyone who wants to learn about Wireshark and packet analysis. An All-Access Pass is a one-year subscription to all WCNA for WireShark training courses and costs $699.

WCNA facts and figures

Beyond the top five: More networking certifications

There are lots of other choices for networking professionals to investigate and pursue outside of these five.

Another interesting and upcoming Open Linux Networking focused credential comes from Cumulus Networks – namely the Cumulus Networks Open Networking Professional (CCONP).

While it didn’t make the top five this year, the Juniper Enterprise Routing and Switching-Expert (JNCIE-ENT) remains an excellent credential for candidates interested in Juniper technologies.

Many other major networking vendors, including F5 and HPE, offer networking-focused credentials that ascend all the way to advanced or expert credentials. Serious network professionals will also want to check out the certifications from Avaya, Citrix and Extreme Networks.

• The U.S. job market has almost 600,000 openings requesting cybersecurity-related skills. 
• Employers are struggling to fill these openings due to a general cyber-skill shortage, with many openings remaining vacant each year. 
• When evaluating prospective information-security candidates, employers should look for certifications as an important measure of excellence and commitment to quality.
• This article is for business owners looking to hire cybersecurity experts, or for individuals interested in pursuing a cybersecurity career. 

Cybersecurity is one of the most crucial areas for ensuring a business’s success and longevity. With cyberattacks growing in sophistication, it’s essential for business owners to protect their companies by hiring qualified cybersecurity experts to manage this aspect of their business. The best candidates will have a certification in information security and cybersecurity. This guide breaks down the top certifications and other guidance you’ll need to make the right hire for your company. It’s also a great primer for individuals who are embarking on a cybersecurity career.

Best information security and cybersecurity certifications

When evaluating prospective InfoSec candidates, employers frequently look to certification as an important measure of excellence and commitment to quality. We examined five InfoSec certifications we consider to be leaders in the field of information security today.

This year’s list includes entry-level credentials, such as Security+, as well as more advanced certifications, like Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) and Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA). According to CyberSeek, more employers are seeking CISA, CISM and CISSP certification holders than there are credential holders, which makes these credentials a welcome addition to any certification portfolio.

Absent from our list of the top five is SANS GIAC Security Essentials (GSEC). Although this certification is still a very worthy credential, the job board numbers for CISA were so solid that it merited a spot in the top five. Farther down in this guide, we offer some additional certification options because the field of information security is both wide and varied.

1. CEH: Certified Ethical Hacker

The CEH (ANSI) certification is an intermediate-level credential offered by the International Council of E-Commerce Consultants (EC-Council). It’s a must-have for IT professionals who are pursuing careers in white hat hacking and certifies their competence in the five phases of ethical hacking: reconnaissance, enumeration, gaining of access, access maintenance and track covering. 

CEH credential holders possess skills and knowledge of hacking practices in areas such as footprinting and reconnaissance, network scanning, enumeration, system hacking, Trojans, worms and viruses, sniffers, denial-of-service attacks, social engineering, session hijacking, web server hacking, wireless networks and web applications, SQL injection, cryptography, penetration testing, IDS evasion, firewalls and honeypots. CEH V11 provides a remapping of the course to the NIST/NICE framework’s Protect and Defend (PR) job role category, as well as an additional focus on emerging threats in cloud, OT and IT security, such as fileless malware.

To obtain a CEH (ANSI) certification, candidates must pass one exam. A comprehensive five-day CEH training course is recommended, with the test presented at the course’s conclusion. Candidates may self-study for the test but must submit documentation of at least two years of work experience in information security with employer verification. Self-study candidates must also pay an additional $100 application fee. Education may be substituted for experience, but this is evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Candidates who complete any EC-Council-approved training (including with the iClass platform, academic institutions or an accredited training center) do not need to submit an application prior to attempting the exam.

Because technology in the field of hacking changes almost daily, CEH credential holders are required to obtain 120 continuing-education credits for each three-year cycle.

Once a candidate obtains the CEH (ANSI) designation, a logical progression on the EC-Council certification ladder is the CEH (Practical) credential. The CEH (Practical) designation targets the application of CEH skills to real-world security audit challenges and related scenarios. To obtain the credential, candidates must pass a rigorous six-hour practical examination. Conducted on live virtual machines, candidates are presented 20 scenarios with questions designed to validate a candidate’s ability to perform tasks such as vulnerability analysis, identification of threat vectors, web app and system hacking, OS detection, network scanning, packet sniffing, steganography and virus identification. Candidates who pass both the CEH (ANSI) and the CEH (Practical) exams earn the CEH (Master) designation.

CEH facts and figures

Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) training

While EC-Council offers both instructor-led and online training for its CEH certification, IT professionals have plenty of other options for self-study materials, including video training, practice exams and books.

Pluralsight currently offers an ethical-hacking learning path geared toward the 312-50 exam. With a monthly subscription, you get access to all of these courses, plus everything else in Pluralsight’s training library. Through Pluralsight’s learning path, students can prepare for all of the domains covered in the CEH exam.  

CyberVista offers a practice test for the CEH 312-50 certification that includes several sets of exam-like questions, custom quizzes, flash cards and more. An test prep subscription for 180 days costs $149 and gives candidates access to online study materials, as well as the ability to obtain the materials for offline study. Backed by its “pass guarantee,” CyberVista is so confident its practice test will prepare you for the CEH test that the company will refund its practice test costs if you don’t pass.

FYI: Besides certifications in information security and cybersecurity, the best IT certifications cover areas such as disaster recovery, virtualization and telecommunications.

2. CISM: Certified Information Security Manager

The CISM certification is a top credential for IT professionals who are responsible for managing, developing and overseeing information security systems in enterprise-level applications or for developing organizational security best practices. The CISM credential was introduced to security professionals in 2003 by the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA).

ISACA’s organizational goals are specifically geared toward IT professionals who are interested in the highest-quality standards with respect to the auditing, control and security of information systems. The CISM credential targets the needs of IT security professionals with enterprise-level security management responsibilities. Credential holders possess advanced and proven skills in security risk management, program development and management, governance, and incident management and response.

Holders of the CISM credential, which is designed for experienced security professionals, must agree to ISACA’s code of ethics, pass a comprehensive examination, possess at least five years of experience in information security management, comply with the organization’s continuing education policy and submit a written application. Some combinations of education and experience may be substituted for the full experience requirement.

The CISM credential is valid for three years, and credential holders must pay an annual maintenance fee of $45 (ISACA members) or $85 (nonmembers). Credential holders are also required to obtain a minimum of 120 continuing professional education (CPE) credits over the three-year term to maintain the credential. At least 20 CPE credits must be earned every year.

CISM facts and figures

Other ISACA certification program elements

In addition to CISM, ISACA offers numerous certifications for those interested in information security and best practices. Other credentials worth considering include the following:

• Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA)
• Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT)
• Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC)

The CISA designation was created for professionals working with information systems auditing, control or security and is popular enough with employers to earn it a place on the leaderboard. The CGEIT credential targets IT professionals working in enterprise IT management, governance, strategic alignment, value delivery, and risk and resource performance management. IT professionals who are seeking careers in all aspects of risk management will find that the CRISC credential nicely meets their needs.

Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) training

Pluralsight offers a CISM learning path containing five courses and 17 hours of instruction. The courses cover the domains addressed in the exam, but the learning path is aimed at the CISM job practice areas. 

CyberVista offers a CISM online training course in both live and on-demand formats. The course includes more than 16 hours of training videos, supplementary lessons, custom quizzes, practice test questions and access to experts through the instructor. As with other CyberVista courses, the CISM training course comes with a “pass guarantee.” 

Did you know?: According to CyberSeek, there are enough workers to fill only 68% of the cybersecurity job openings in the U.S. A cybersecurity certification is an important way to demonstrate the knowledge and ability to succeed in these job roles.

3. CompTIA Security+

CompTIA’s Security+ is a well-respected, vendor-neutral security certification. Security+ credential holders are recognized as possessing superior technical skills, broad knowledge and expertise in multiple security-related disciplines.

Although Security+ is an entry-level certification, the ideal candidates possess at least two years of experience working in network security and should consider first obtaining the Network+ certification. IT pros who obtain this certification have expertise in areas such as threat management, cryptography, identity management, security systems, security risk identification and mitigation, network access control, and security infrastructure. The CompTIA Security+ credential is approved by the U.S. Department of Defense to meet Directive 8140/8570.01-M requirements. In addition, the Security+ credential complies with the standards for ISO 17024.

The Security+ credential requires a single exam, currently priced at $381. (Discounts may apply to employees of CompTIA member companies and full-time students.) Training is available but not required.

IT professionals who earned the Security+ certification prior to Jan. 1, 2011, remain certified for life. Those who certify after that date must renew the certification every three years to stay current. To renew, candidates must obtain 50 continuing-education units (CEUs) or complete the CertMaster CE online course prior to the expiration of the three-year period. CEUs can be obtained by engaging in activities such as teaching, blogging, publishing articles or whitepapers, and participating in professional conferences and similar activities.

CompTIA Security+ facts and figures

CompTIA Security+ training

You’ll find several companies offering online training, instructor-led and self-study courses, practice exams and books to help you prepare for and pass the Security+ exam.

Pluralsight offers a Security+ learning path as a part of its monthly subscription plan for the latest SY0-601 exam. Split into six sections, the training series is more than 24 hours long and covers attacks, threats and vulnerabilities; architecture and design; implementation of secure solutions; operations and incident response; and governance, risk and compliance.

CyberVista offers a Security+ practice test so you can test your security knowledge before attempting the SY0-601 exam. The test comes with a 180-day access period and includes multiple sets of test questions, key concept flash cards, access to InstructorLink experts, a performance tracker and more. As with CyberVista’s other offerings, this practice test comes with a “pass guarantee.”

4. CISSP: Certified Information Systems Security Professional

CISSP is an advanced-level certification for IT pros who are serious about careers in information security. Offered by the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium, known as (ISC)2 (pronounced “ISC squared”), this vendor-neutral credential is recognized worldwide for its standards of excellence.

CISSP credential holders are decision-makers who possess the expert knowledge and technical skills necessary to develop, guide and manage security standards, policies and procedures within their organizations. The CISSP certification continues to be highly sought after by IT professionals and is well recognized by IT organizations. It is a regular fixture on most-wanted and must-have security certification surveys.

CISSP is designed for experienced security professionals. A minimum of five years of experience in at least two of (ISC)2’s eight common body of knowledge (CBK) domains, or four years of experience in at least two of (ISC)2’s CBK domains and a college degree or an approved credential, is required for this certification. The CBK domains are security and risk management, asset security, security architecture and engineering, communications and network security, identity and access management, security assessment and testing, security operations, and software development security.

(ISC)2 also offers three CISSP concentrations targeting specific areas of interest in IT security:

• Architecture (CISSP-ISSAP)
• Engineering (CISSP-ISSEP)
• Management (CISSP-ISSMP)

Each CISSP concentration test is $599, and credential seekers must currently possess a valid CISSP.

An annual fee of $125 is required to maintain the CISSP credential. Recertification is required every three years. To recertify, candidates must earn 40 CPE credits each year, for a total of 120 CPE credits within the three-year cycle.

CISSP facts and figures 

Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) training

Given the popularity of the CISSP certification, there is no shortage of available training options. These include classroom-based training offered by (ISC)2, as well as online video courses, practice exams and books from third-party companies.

Pluralsight’s CISSP learning path includes 12 courses and 25 hours of e-learning covering the security concepts required for the certification exam. Available for a low monthly fee, the CISSP courses are part of a subscription plan that gives IT professionals access to Pluralsight’s complete library of video training courses.

When you’re ready to test your security knowledge, you can take a simulated test that mimics the format and content of the real CISSP exam. Udemy offers CISSP practice questions to help you prepare for this challenging exam.

5. CISA: Certified Information Systems Auditor

ISACA’s globally recognized CISA certification is the gold standard for IT workers seeking to practice in information security, audit control and assurance. Ideal candidates can identify and assess organizational threats and vulnerabilities, assess compliance, and provide guidance and organizational security controls. CISA-certified professionals demonstrate knowledge and skill across the CISA job practice areas of auditing, governance and management, acquisition, development and implementation, maintenance and service management, and asset protection.

To earn the CISA certification, candidates must pass one exam, submit an application, agree to the code of professional ethics, agree to the CPE requirements and agree to the organization’s information systems auditing standards. In addition, candidates must possess at least five years of experience working with information systems. Some substitutions for education and experience with auditing are permitted.

To maintain the CISA certification, candidates must earn 120 CPE credits over a three-year period, with a minimum of 20 CPE credits earned annually. Candidates must also pay an annual maintenance fee ($45 for members; $85 for nonmembers).

CISA facts and figures

Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) training

Training opportunities for the CISA certification are plentiful. Udemy offers more than 160 CISA-related courses, lectures, practice exams, question sets and more. On Pluralsight, you’ll find 12 courses with 27 hours of information systems auditor training covering all CISA job practice domains for the CISA job practice areas.

Beyond the top 5: More cybersecurity certifications

In addition to these must-have credentials, many other certifications are available to fit the career needs of any IT professional interested in information security. Business owners should consider employing workers with these credentials as well.

• The SANS GIAC Security Essentials (GSEC) certification remains an excellent entry-level credential for IT professionals seeking to demonstrate that they not only understand information security terminology and concepts but also possess the skills and technical expertise necessary to occupy “hands-on” security roles.
• If you find incident response and investigation intriguing, check out the Logical Operations CyberSec First Responder (CFR) certification. This ANSI-accredited and U.S. DoD-8570-compliant credential recognizes security professionals who can design secure IT environments, perform threat analysis, and respond appropriately and effectively to cyberattacks. Logical Operations also offers other certifications, including Master Mobile Application Developer (MMAD), Certified Virtualization Professional (CVP), Cyber Secure Coder and CloudMASTER.
• The associate-level Cisco Certified CyberOps Associate certification is aimed at analysts in security operations centers at large companies and organizations. Candidates who qualify through Cisco’s global scholarship program may receive free training, mentoring and testing to help them achieve a range of entry-level to expert certifications that the company offers. CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+), which launched in 2017, is a vendor-neutral certification designed for professionals with three to four years of security and behavioral analytics experience.
• The Identity Management Institute offers several credentials for identity and access management, data protection, identity protection, identity governance and more. The International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), which focuses on privacy, has a small but growing number of certifications as well.
• The SECO-Institute, in cooperation with the Security Academy Netherlands and APMG, is behind the Cyber Security & Governance Certification Program; SECO-Institute certifications aren’t well known in the United States, but their popularity is growing. 
• It also may be worth your time to browse the Chartered Institute of Information Security accreditations, the U.K. equivalent of the U.S. DoD 8570 certifications and the corresponding 8140 framework.

Also, consider these five entry-level cybersecurity certifications for more options.

Tip: Before you decide to purchase training for a certification or an test voucher, see if your employer will cover the cost. Employers may cover all or part of the cost if you have a continuing education or training allowance, or if the certification is in line with your current or potential job duties.

Information security and cybersecurity jobs

According to CyberSeek, the number of cybersecurity job openings in the U.S. stands at almost 598,000, with about 1.05 million cybersecurity professionals employed in today’s workforce. Projections continue to be robust: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects 33% growth in information security analyst positions between 2020 and 2030; in comparison, the average rate of growth for all occupations is about 8%.

Security-related job roles include information security specialist, security analyst, network security administrator, system administrator (with security as a responsibility) and security engineer, as well as specialized roles, like malware engineer, intrusion analyst and penetration tester.

Average salaries for information security certified and security engineers – two of the most common job roles – vary depending on the source. For example, SimplyHired reports about $74,000 for specialist positions, whereas Glassdoor‘s national average is about $108,000. For security engineers, SimplyHired reports almost $112,000, while Glassdoor’s average is more than $111,000, with salaries on the high end reported at $261,000. Note that these numbers frequently change as the sources regularly update their data. [Meet the man who kept Microsoft safe and secure for more than a decade.]

Our informal job board survey from April 2022 reports the number of job posts nationwide in which our featured certifications were mentioned on a given day. This should give you an idea of the relative popularity of each certification.

Job board search results (in alphabetical order by cybersecurity certification)

Did you know?: Cybersecurity matters even when you’re traveling. Find out how to keep your computer secure when you’re on the road for business or pleasure.

The importance of hiring information security and cybersecurity professionals

According to Risk Based Security‘s 2021 Year End Data Breach Quickview Report, there were 4,145 publicly disclosed breaches throughout 2021, containing over 22 billion records. This is the second-highest number of breached records, after an all-time high the year before. The U.S. was particularly affected, with the number of breaches increasing 10% compared with the previous year. More than 80% of the records exposed throughout 2021 were due to human error, highlighting an ever-increasing need for cybersecurity education, as well as for highly skilled and trained cybersecurity professionals. [Learn how to recover from a data breach.]

If you’re serious about advancing your career in the IT field and are interested in specializing in security, certification is a great choice. It’s an effective way to validate your skills and show a current or prospective employer that you’re qualified and properly trained. If you’re a business owner, hiring certified professionals and skilled IT managers can help prevent cyberattacks and provide confidence that your company’s security is in the right hands. In the meantime, review our quick cybersecurity tips to Improve your company’s protection.

Jeremy Bender contributed to the writing and research in this article.

DUBLIN, Ohio & SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 4, 2022--

Axcel, a professional education business backed by Alpine Investors (Alpine) and specializing in buying, building and operating world-class education companies, today announced its partnership with EduMind, a global education and training provider specializing in professional test preparation. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221004005507/en/

EduMind was founded in 2004 as School of PE by Radhika Dega and Vinod Dega with the goal of providing comprehensive, user-friendly training courses to help students prep and pass the FE and PE exams (Fundamentals of Engineering and Professional Engineer) while also practicing their engineering profession. The company adopted the EduMind name in 2014 as it added professional certification training within engineering, architecture, project management, nursing and other key professional education courses.

EduMind has established itself as a leader in the professional education coursework space through its two content brands, EduMind and School of PE. EduMind’s state-of-the-art learning management systems have helped tens of thousands of hard-working, busy individuals and students around the world boost their careers with professional certification and licensure courses. School of PE focuses on engineering test prep in addition to Professional Development Hour (PDH) courses that are mandatory to maintain an active engineering licensure. While engineers typically depend on computers to solve problems, PE exams still require its test takers to complete manual computational problems. School of PE differentiates itself by ensuring engineers have access to the tools and review courses needed to refresh and strengthen these manual computational skills.

With Axcel’s support, EduMind will have access to new technologies and systems, continue to invest in its employees, core instructors and veteran management team, and develop new and innovative professional education courses to continuously optimize test prep for students and individuals around the world. Axcel will also provide further investments of capital and personnel to meet the growing demand for professional test preparation as the industry trends towards computer-based testing. Most test prep courses offered by EduMind and School of PE are geared toward CBT exams, including engineering, PMP®, CAPM®, and NCLEX®. Effective with this partnership, Christopher Lam joins EduMind as Chief Executive Officer.

“I want to sincerely thank the entire EduMind team for their loyalty and dedication to the company over the years. It’s been an honor to support tens of thousands of students in their career advancement and professional certification journeys,” said Vinod Dega, Founder of EduMind. “As EduMind enters its next phase of innovation, I know the company will be in good hands with Chris and the Alpine and Axcel teams. Not only does Alpine and Axcel have the resources and knowledge to grow and expand our offering, but Alpine’s values align with EduMind’s dedication to learning.”

“Vinod and Radhika truly care about helping students and created a one-of-a-kind company dedicated to limitless learning. I vow to honor the company and its employees as we grow EduMind,” said Christopher Lam, CEO of EduMind. “Our partnership with Axcel and Alpine will accelerate our ability to provide the highest quality study resources and tools through EduMind’s state-of-the-art student portal and modernized CBT-ready courses.”

EduMind is Axcel’s fourth acquisition and joins Axcel’s suite of professional education companies, including Michael Management Corporation (“MMC”), a leading provider of SAP training, Web Age Solutions (“Web Age”), a leading IT training company, and Interskill Learning (“Interskill”), a leading independent provider of online mainframe training.

“We are so excited to welcome EduMind to the Axcel family,” said Jonathan (Jono) Zeidan, CEO of Axcel. “Vinod and Rahdika built EduMind into a market leader. As part of Axcel, we are looking forward to providing EduMind the support and resources to take its growth to the next level.”

About EduMind

Founded in 2004 by CEO Vinod Dega, EduMind is a global education and training provider specializing in professional test preparation through its two content brands, EduMind and School of PE. EduMind’s education platform brand and content home for architecture (ARE®), healthcare (NCLEX®), project management (CAPM®, PMP®), immersive technology (AR/VR) and continuing education certification courses, among others, across its Ondemand, Live Online and Onsite classroom modules. School of PE is EduMind’s flagship brand devoted to National Counsel of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) licensure test preparation, including Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) and Professional Engineer (PE) exams for such engineering disciplines as civil, electrical, environmental, mechanical, chemical and structural. To learn more about EduMind, visit https://www.edumind.com/, and to learn more about EduMind’s flagship brand, School of PE, visit http://www.schoolofpe.com.

About Axcel

Axcel is a professional education business backed by Alpine Investors that is focused on buying, building and operating world-class education companies. Axcel is passionate about people, focused on training the modern workforce and obsessed with delivering for customers and learners. Axcel sits within AlpineX, an Alpine investment platform focused on lower middle-market services businesses that have durable customer value propositions, high-quality revenue, and attractive markets. For more information, visit www.axcel-learning.com.

About Alpine Investors

Alpine Investors is a people-driven private equity firm that is committed to building enduring companies by working with, learning from, and developing exceptional people. Alpine specializes in investments in companies in the software and services industries. Its PeopleFirst strategy includes a talent program which allows Alpine to bring leadership to situations where additional or new management is needed post-transaction. Alpine is currently investing out of its over $2.25 billion eighth fund. For more information, visit www.alpineinvestors.com.

View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221004005507/en/

CONTACT: Alpine

Audrey Harris

Head of Marketing

aharris@alpineinvestors.com

KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA OHIO UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: FINANCE OTHER EDUCATION PROFESSIONAL SERVICES TRAINING EDUCATION

SOURCE: Alpine Investors

Copyright Business Wire 2022.

PUB: 10/04/2022 09:00 AM/DISC: 10/04/2022 09:03 AM

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221004005507/en

Unity Software's (NYSE:U) stock continues to face headwinds as investors shun unprofitable growth stocks. This has been exacerbated by problems with their monetization business, although these now appear to be largely resolved. Unity continues to invest aggressively in the capabilities of its platform and will need to begin showing returns on these investments going forward. The company's ability to successfully integrate ironSource (IS) and Weta is also crucial. Problems here could drive the stock even lower.

Create

Unity’s Create segment provides tools that allow the creation of engaging and interactive real-time 3D experiences. At the moment, this business is driven by the gaming sector, but in coming years use cases outside of gaming, like digital twins and media, will become increasingly important. The business outside of gaming currently represents 40% of the total Create business and is growing rapidly.

Unity has seen record adoption of their 2021 Long-Term Stable (LTS) version. The LTS version is supported with biweekly fixes for two years and doesn’t introduce feature or API changes, allowing users to lock in production with confidence. Additions and improvements include:

• Visual scripting
• Editor extensibility
• Scene view overlays for artist driven tools and asset ingestion

The Tech Stream version provides earlier access to new features and in 2022 updates include:

• Refined our user input framework
• Improved developer and artist productivity, through features like better spline tooling and better material variant productivity
• Connectivity with other creation tools

Unity have also expanded the capabilities of their Data-Oriented Tech Stack (DOTS). DOTS is a technology stack that is data oriented rather than object oriented and offers 10-100x performance improvements for rich environments that have a lot of content, interactive objects and real-time 3D objects. Unity intend to introduce easy-to-use versions of DOTS into their core technology over the next 2-3 years. DOTS enabled V Rising to scale up the world size and the number of players and was a key factor behind Stunlock choosing Unity.

Unity continues to have the most success in mobile games, but has a growing presence across Console, PC, AR/VR and Web. Unity powers more than 70% of the top mobile games, and nearly half of Steam games for PC were made with Unity in 2021. Those games are also breaking through to the Steam charts, where 13 of the top 20 games in May were made with Unity. Unity games made up 80% of the most popular games on Oculus Quest in July and 72% of the top selling games.

The accurate success of the Oculus Quest 2 is a potential indicator that the AR / VR market is reaching an inflection point. The Quest 2 has sold over 14.8 million units since launching in Q4 2020. For perspective, this is more sales than the HTC Vive and Xbox Series X and S, although less than the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5.

Meta (META) also has the Oculus Quest 3 and Project Cambria in the pipeline, with the latter supposedly targeted more at metaverse applications than gaming. The Quest 2 is by far the most popular VR headset, making up 78% of all sales in 2021. In comparison, DPVR captured 5.1% of sales and ByteDance’s PicoVR accounted for 4.5% of sales.

Apple (AAPL) is also rumored to be working on an AR/VR headset and AR smart glasses, which could further accelerate the adoption of 3D experiences. Apple reportedly has a research unit with hundreds of employees working on AR and VR, with a product expected in 2023. The headset will reportedly focus on gaming, video streaming and video conferencing and could be priced over 2,000 USD.

In addition to the focus of companies like Meta and Apple on AR / VR hardware, a number of high-profile companies are working on 3D content. Meta views the metaverse as a successor to the mobile internet, and wants to control its own platform so that it is not at the mercy of companies like Apple. Meta have over 10,000 people working on their metaverse ambitions and are committing tens of billions of dollars. Roblox (RBLX), NVIDIA (NVDA) and Microsoft (MSFT) have also been building out virtual worlds.

Another indicator of the growing importance of 3D applications are LiDAR sales, which continue to grow rapidly, driven in large part of transportation use cases. Apple also recently introduced LiDAR to their mobile phones.

Unity’s Create business outside of games includes media and entertainment, e-commerce, industrial and manufacturing, architecture and engineering and construction amongst other industries. The use of digital twins is increasing rapidly and Unity are investing in capabilities to capitalize on this opportunity. One such example in Neural Radiance Field (NeRF), which uses a neural network to create a 3D scene from a series of 2D images, democratizing the creation of digital twins.

The growing importance of Unity’s non-gaming business necessitates a shift in their sales model though. Unity recently partnered with Capgemini to develop sector-specific solutions and services for Unity’s customers. Targeted sectors include consumer goods, retail, telecommunications, energy and utilities. Capgemini is a consulting company that leverages technology to enable digital transformation. 85% of the 200 largest public companies on the Forbes Global 2000 list are Capgemini clients. This type of partnership is generally an important part of the go-to-market strategy for enterprise sales.

In addition to expanding the use of game engines outsides of gaming, Unity’s other focus for the Create business is democratizing the creation of 3D content. Creating 3D content is currently difficult for a number of reasons:

• Complex
• Expensive
• Large file sizes
• Complicated rendering techniques

Unity acquired Weta specifically to make powerful artistic tools more widely available. This has the potential to foster the development of 3D applications and significantly expand Unity’s market opportunity. For the potential of this acquisition to be realized, Weta must be integrated into Unity’s platform. Management believes this process is progressing well, with previews available for customers this year and the first Weta tools released next year, ahead of the initial M&A integration schedule.

Operate

Unity’s Operate business has struggled this year due to the combination of technical issues with their platform and general weakness in the digital advertising market.

Unity had a data quality issue and problems with the accuracy of their audience pinpointer product earlier in the year that impacted the monetization business. Unity have now removed the bad data and improved their monitoring capabilities to try and prevent the same issue from occurring again. Audience Pinpointer accuracy is also improving and Unity plan on introducing features in the second half of the year that will Improve customers' return on ad spend. Revenue has not increased as quickly as expected though due to a combination of macroeconomic headwinds and the difficulty of projecting the trajectory of the monetization business.

Unity Gaming Service

Unity Gaming Service (UGS) allows customers to build their games in a single platform by providing tools for multiplayer services, game operations, user acquisition and monetization. UGS is a suite of tools and services that enable developers to create, host and manage their games in the cloud in a single dashboard experience. UGS is designed to be modular so that creators can select the best tools for their use case, whether the game was built with Unity Unreal or any other game engine.

UGS was released in beta in October 2021 and became generally available in June 2022, with more than 50,000 game developers signed up and 2,300 new customers added since the launch.

Unity's merger with ironSource is supportive of their monetization strategy as it enables the combination of creation and growth into a single platform to increase creator success.

Gaming Market

The gaming industry is currently undergoing a post-pandemic correction, with US consumer spending on video game hardware, content and accessories in 2022 expected to decline by 8.7% relative to 2021. So far the impact of this decline on Unity's Create business appears to be muted, but there could still be a flow through impact in coming quarters. The Operate business is likely being hit by a combination of reduced consumer screen time and a reduction in advertiser budgets.

Longer term, global entertainment and media revenue is expected to continue outpacing global growth, rising approximately 10% annually through 2026.

The entertainment and media industry is expected to become more digital, more mobile, more dependent on advertising and more evenly distributed globally. These are all generally positive trends for Unity, which has a dominant position in mobile gaming and continues to advance its advertising business. Advertising currently represents 32.2% of total entertainment and media industry revenues and is expected to increase at a 6.6% CAGR through 2026.

Video games revenue is expected to increase at an 8.4% CAGR through 2026, growing into a 321 USD billion industry.

VR revenue is projected to increase at a 24.1% CAGR between 2021 and 2026, growing to reach 7.6 billion USD annually. The global active installed base is expected to increase to 65.9 million by 2026.

AppLovin

AppLovin (APP) made Unity an acquisition offer in August for approximately 59 USD per share. The deal made a lot of sense for AppLovin, from both a strategic and financial perspective, as the company is vulnerable to the combined Unity / ironSource entity, and has a weak balance sheet. Unity's strong position in mobile gaming is obviously attractive to an ad mediation platform. Ad mediation is used by app developers to connect multiple ad networks to their app and serves as an ad network optimizer for developers looking to increase their ad revenue. With Unity combining their ad network with ironSource's ad mediation, the competitive position of AppLovin is significantly undermined.

It is not clear what value AppLovin would provide to Unity though, and it is doubtful the deal was given serious consideration. With the large potential of Unity's Create business, AppLovin having control of the company would be something akin to the tail wagging the dog.

Financial Analysis

Despite making progress with issues in the operate business, Unity lowered full year revenue guidance in the most accurate quarter to 1.3-1.35 billion USD. This was attributed to a combination of the weak macroeconomic environment and difficulties projecting the revenue trajectory of their monetization business.

Operate revenue was down 13% YoY in the second quarter, likely in part due to monetization issues, the weak macro environment and the difficult comparable period in 2021. The number of large customers (more than 100,000 USD trailing 12 months revenue) grew 22% YoY in the second quarter and Unity’s net dollar expansion rate was 121%, compared to 142% a year earlier. Both of these figures were lower due to the Operate business.

Over 75% of Unity’s revenue is generated outside of the US, which is likely to be a headwind in coming quarters due to the significant appreciation of the US dollar.

Unity’s cost of revenue consists primarily of hosting expenses, personnel costs for employees associated with product support and professional services, allocated overhead, third-party license fees, and credit card fees, as well as amortization of related capitalized software and depreciation of related property and equipment. Gross margins appear to be trending down over time, although it is not really clear why this is the case. Once monetization issues are resolved, gross margins will bounce back somewhat, but investors should look for a stabilization or improvement in margins as ironSource is integrated and Weta tools are commercialized.

Unity’s operating expenses are extremely high due to the R&D investments they are making in the capabilities of their platform. These are primarily personnel costs and investors will likely want to see the burden of operating expenses fall before the stock moves higher. This should come through a combination of operating leverage and a 100 million USD cost saving program that was announced in the previous quarter.

Unity’s pace of hiring slowed significantly during second quarter of 2022, which was possibly related to macro weakness. Since then, hiring has picked up modestly but it is not clear if this is due to growth reaccelerating or Unity continuing to invest in the long-term capabilities of their platform.

The number of job openings mentioning Unity continues to trend upwards modestly, with no real significant change in trend that would indicate a change in business fundamentals.

Valuation

Unity’s stock is down by over 80% since its peak in November 2021, driven in part by a general pullback in growth stocks and in part by company specific problems. The stock now appears reasonably priced relative to peers and should provide significant upside potential once macroeconomic conditions stabilize and growth reaccelerates. Based on a discounted cash flow analysis I estimate that Unity’s stock is worth approximately 100 USD per share, although the company will likely to make significant progress towards profitability before these types of prices are seen again.

Conclusion

Unity’s heavy investments in R&D, coupled with a weak macro environment, mean the stock may continue to struggle in the short term. If the integration of ironSource can be successfully executed, a rebound in advertising and the commercialization of Weta tools should set Unity up well for the long term. The stock’s current valuation is more than reasonable given the company’s long-term prospects, although this is unlikely to matter in the short term due to Unity’s ongoing losses.

“I find chopsticks frankly distressing,” wrote Bill Bryson in Notes from a Small Island (1995).“A pair of knitting needles is no way to capture food.” Tsung-Dao Lee, the 1957 Nobel laureate for physics, held a different view, praising their versatility: “Chopsticks are an extension of human fingers. Whatever fingers can do, chopsticks can do too.” (The contrasting attitudes might just reflect the speaker’s dexterity — or not — in snatching up a mouthful of chow mein.)

Originating in China, early chopsticks were made from twigs and animal bones; examples dating back more than 7,000 years have been unearthed at Neolithic sites in Jiangsu province. Before their arrival at the dining table, though, chopsticks were used for stirring and retrieving food from a pot rather than eating. Meals were usually consumed with a spoon.

They became the preferred utensil as diet evolved. Rice, noodles and dumplings came to replace the staple millet, often eaten as porridge, and proved easier to manipulate with chopsticks than a spoon.

Later, the Chinese philosopher Confucius may have influenced their uptake. When fuel shortages led to the practice of cutting food into small pieces so it cooked more quickly, knives were no longer required at the table. This gelled with the non-violent teachings of Confucius: “The honourable and upright man keeps well away from both the slaughterhouse and the kitchen. He allows no knives on his table.” 

In Chopsticks: A Cultural and Culinary History (2015), Q Edward Wang traces their spread across Asia; more than a fifth of the world’s population use them today. Cultural differences are explored: in China, for example, chopsticks are about 27cm long in order to bring food from the middle of a table to one’s bowl, while Japan’s shorter version is better suited to the individual bento box meal.

The English word derives from the Chinese Kuàizi, meaning “quick” and “bamboo”, while the expression “Chop! Chop!” is thought to be the Chinese pidgin English for “Quickly! Quickly”. 

Etiquette in some countries decrees that chopsticks should never be stuck upright in a heap of rice, as they resemble incense sticks on a burial mound. In others, newly-weds are often gifted a pair as symbols of love and partnership.

Quotidian contemporary chopsticks are usually made of wood, bamboo or plastic but traditional versions may be in porcelain, jade or ivory. In 2020, a couple paid $2mn for a charity dinner, which they ate with diamond-encrusted chopsticks worth $34,000. Definitely not ones for the dishwasher.

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James Tissot’s 1873 painting “The Last Evening”, on display at London’s Guildhall Gallery, is a seething mass of social signals and intrigue: all low whispers, coy looks and craning necks beneath a web of taut cables. At the centre of it, drawing everyone’s eye, is a red tartan blanket, a prop that may have helped make the artist’s fortune.

Tissot, the French son of a draper father and a milliner mother, had an eye for fashion and a talent for following the money, shrewdly catering to the tastes of his audiences. In painting the demimonde of Paris, his props had included tiger and leopard skins. When he landed in London in 1871 after the Commune uprisings, he homed in on the newly fashionable tartan blanket.

After a false start with a dreary brown number tucked about “A Gentleman in a Railway Carriage”, he fixed on a startlingly vivid tartan, using it in two other paintings the same year: “The Captain and the Mate” and “A Visit to the Yacht”. 

It’s easy to see how the paintings would have appealed to Tissot’s target audience, the art-collecting Victorian bourgeoisie. The well-heeled tartan wearer appears as much at home on a boat or train as in her own garden. The blanket is both brazenly bright yet reassuringly cosy, adventurous yet domesticated, evoking at once an imagined romantic past and an increasingly mobile future.

Tartan is now considered as Scottish as shortbread and whisky, but its origins are as uncertain as they are ancient. It was characteristic of Highland dress until the British government’s 1746 Dress Act forbade it in an attempt to suppress rebellious Scottish culture. When the ban was lifted in 1782, Scotland’s upper classes rushed to reclaim it, romanticising the “primitive” tartan as an aspirational national dress.

Queen Elizabeth II’s official tartan, the Royal Stewart, was first sported by King George IV in 1822, after he was persuaded by Sir Walter Scott that he was in fact a Stuart prince. By 1853, Prince Albert had designed his own tartan, the Balmoral, its colour inspired by the local Aberdeenshire granite and its use restricted to the royal family and the sovereign’s piper.

The late Queen, of course — last photographed wearing a Balmoral kilt to meet her new prime minister Liz Truss — lacked any social superiors to impress. When out and about, she was often seen to favour that most prosaic of blankets, a plain baby-blue fleece.

cityoflondon.gov.uk

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