Differences between A+ IT Technician (220-602), and A+ Remote Technician (220-603) exams

There are very few differences between A+ IT Tech and A+ Remote Tech exams. The former is aimed at technicians that are visiting the customer premises and attending to installation/up-gradation/repair of PC hardware and software. The later (Remote Tech) is aimed at technicians whose primary job is to help customers remotely. A remote tech normally will not visit customer premises. He will be sitting at one place and assisting the customer over phone, video, or PC in installing or repair of computers. Surprisingly, Notebooks and Portable Devices objective is not included in Remote Tech syllabus. Notable changes are given below:

1. Normally customers are not expected to repair at component level. Therefore, any intricate repair works are not included in the Remote Tech exam. CPU related topics doesn't appear to have been covered in Remote Technician exam.

2. In Personal Computer Components objective, CPUs, and Cooling Systems does not appear. Also, you can not expect the customer to have loop back plugs, antistatic mats, or specialty hardware or tools. Therefore, you are not likely to find any questions on these topics. 

3. The objective Notebooks and Portable Devices is completely absent in Remote tech exam.

4. In the Operating Systems objective, most of the syllabus is same in both the exams. One minor difference is given below:

   The section "Demonstrate the ability to recover operating systems (e.g. boot methods, recovery
   console, ASR, ERD)" is not included in Remote Tech exam.

5. The objective Safety and Environmental Issues is also absent in Remote tech exam.

6. Under the objective Printers and scanners, "Preventive Maintenance" is not included.

           The objective includes the following topics:

• Perform preventive maintenance of printers and scanners.

• Perform scheduled maintenance according to vendor guidelines

• Ensure a suitable environment

• Use recommended supplies.

5. In Security objective, a few additional topics as given below are covered:

   •  Install and configure hardware, software, wireless and data security, for example: 

     • Smart card readers

     • Key fobs 

     • Biometric devices

6. In the objective Communications and Professionalism, no changes have been made.

Inference: A+ IT Technician exam consists of two additional exam objectives. A+ Remote Technician objectives are a subset of A+ IT Technician exam. It is likely that the preparation for A+ Remote Tech takes less time compared to A+ IT Tech.

Article by: Vijay

Note: The above are opinions of the author, and may be contacted at vijay at simulationexams dot com.

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