Acknowledgments

From Troy: Special thanks to all that helped with this book, but especially to Dave Dustheimer for suggesting me for this book, to Betsy Brown for guiding us through the process, to Andrew Cupp and Allison Johnson for keeping us on schedule and most of all to my co-author, Robin Abernathy.

From Robin: I would be remiss if I did not first of all mention my gratitude to God for blessing me throughout my life. I do nothing on my own. It is only through Him that I have the strength and wisdom to accomplish my goals.

When my father and his business partner asked me to take over a retail computer store in the mid-1990’s, I had no idea that a BIG journey was just starting. So thanks Wayne McDaniel (aka Dad) and Roy Green for seeing something in me that I didn’t even see in myself and for taking a chance on a very green techie. Also, thanks to my mom, Lucille McDaniel, for supporting my career changes over the years, even if you didn’t understand them. Thanks to Mike White for sharing your knowledge and giving me a basis on which to build my expertise over the coming years. Thanks to Zackie Bosarge, a great mentor who gave me my first “real” job in the IT field at Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind.

Thanks also to my little family, my husband Michael and my son Jonas. Thanks for being willing to have Friday night fun nights without me while I spent my extra time knee-deep in CISSP topics. Thanks to Michael for always making sure that I knew that everything was easier on a Mac. Thanks to Jonas for keeping mom humble by making sure she understood that you couldn’t see why someone was paying mom to write a book where Percy Jackson or Harry Potter was NOT the main character. I love you both immensely!

Pearson has put together an outstanding team to help me on my journey. Thanks Betsy Brown, Andrew Cupp, Allison Johnson, and Seth Kerney for making this first foray into authorship so easy for me. Also, thanks to Chris Crayton and Brock Pearson for providing such a great technical review and giving us suggestions on improvement.

Finally, a thank you to Troy McMillan for contacting me when this book idea was first introduced to you. It has been a great journey! We make a great team, and I look forward to working with you on future projects.

It is my wish that you, the reader, succeed in your IT certification and career goals. I wish you the very best.