The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) confirmed this morning that it is currently revising its A+ certification exams and hinted that the update may be significant.

In a statement released today, Neill Hopkins, vice president of skills development for CompTIA, said in part, "We are currently working with the industry on an update of our CompTIA A+ certification to meet the needs of the modern day IT technician. The most exciting development as a result of all of the research conducted...is the fact that the technician of the immediate future will have broad-based skills beyond the basic technical fundamentals, and CompTIA aims to include these options in the new A+."

CompTIA declined our request for more details on on what these options might be, as well as questions regarding the current status of the update and when the new exams might be delivered. It did say that it will provide more details as the process moves forward.

According to a source in the publishing industry who asked not to be identified, the update has been underway for some time, and courseware publishers have been notified of the plans. The update has not yet been officially announced by CompTIA.

Even though the release date is not known at this time, publishing schedules show that a number of A+ certification books are scheduled to be released in mid-2006.

Whenever the exams are released and whatever form they take, it will be the first major update of CompTIAs flagship title for computer technicians since December 2003. More than 600,000 IT professionals worldwide have passed the two exams required to earn the title.