The meaning of the 'A'

101010

What does the 'A' in the CompTIA A+ stand for?

That question popped into my over-caffeinated brain early this morning, and has thus far eluded my efforts to answer. As anyone with even minimal IT experience can attest, our use of acronyms borders on the obsessive, even more so when certifications come into play (MCSE, MCSA, CCNA, CISSP, etc.). So it boggles my mind that the certification that is supposed to signify baseline technical prowess, and the most common to boot, seems to break from that mold.

Now this question may seem a tad facetious, and after several hours of failed Google searches it may be. I would still appreciate an answer, if nothing more than to ease my mind.

TheShadow

Huh? A+ has always been an indicator for better than the best; a replacement for the word acme used in so many company names in the last century. The cert was originally for computer stores. Meaning that they had an A+ grade for excellence. Remember CompTIA is a non profit industry group. When there were lots of mom and pop stores it was common to see the A+ sign, even fringed banners in their windows.

A+ stores needed A+ technicians and there were two types of certs, one for Mac's and one for PC's. The Mac one disappeared in the late 90's because Apple felt used as they were the only CompTIA member paying for its upkeep. Server+ and Net+ were added with the rise of LAN's and called the cert trinity. iNet plus was added when the INTERNET became big and eventuall became part of all the certs just like Microsofts MCP+I. Security+ mentally replaced Server+ in the trinity and you probally know about Linux+ and the rest. The plus in all the cert names then was simply branding tying them to the original A+. Clear as mud now, right, for a lazy Sunday.