Applied Technology Academy - IT Training

I came into J. Chaney’s CompTIA Security+ class with zero IT experience, and I was honestly nervous. But J. Chaney made everything clear, understandable, and even fun. He is hands down one of the best instructors I’ve ever had. He broke down the basics—like the CIA triad (confidentiality, integrity, availability), passwords, security controls, and why companies need rules and policies—using simple examples anyone could understand. When we learned about threats like phishing, malware, and social engineering, he explained them in everyday language so I never felt lost. Even the harder topics—like networks, cloud security, encryption, certificates, MFA, segmentation, and backups—finally made sense because he tied every lesson to real-life situations. Instead of just reading slides, he told stories, drew diagrams, and checked in constantly to make sure we were keeping up. The hands-on parts were the best. We practiced spotting suspicious emails, reviewing logs, using a SIEM, understanding alerts, and walking through a mock “security incident.” I never imagined I’d understand things like incident response or vulnerability scanning, but he broke each step down until it clicked. He also taught the bigger picture: how companies manage risk, why policies matter, how vendors and third parties affect security, and why training regular employees is just as important as the tech itself. What I appreciated most is that he never made anyone feel embarrassed for asking questions. He was patient, encouraging, and genuinely cared that we understood the material. By the end of the course, I felt confident—something I didn’t think was possible when I started. If you’re new to IT or nervous about cybersecurity, take this class with J. Chaney. He makes Security+ understandable for beginners and gives you the tools to actually succeed. I can’t recommend him enough.

Came into a CCNA 200-301 course. While a 5 day course does not fully cover all content in a class, this was nothing short of fantastic. The instructor Mr. Palladino was very knowledgeable and explained everything thoroughly and timely

Very much enjoyed the PMI Project Management Professional course. Great instructor, feel much better about the exam than I did prior to the course.

J Chaney was a “God” in the classroom. He commanded your attention like lightning from Zeus and thunder from Thor! That guy deserves the compensation and authority to propel the academy to the top of mount Olympus. I will 100% use ATA for my next certification.

I really like the structure of ATA. From the instructors all the way to the administrative staff. Communication was great, received emails with class info in advance, no issues with access to resources, the content and material were up to date, and the instructors for CISM and CCNA were very knowledgeable and answered everyone’s questions easily. I definitely plan on signing up for classes with them again in the future, if I have the resources that is. All-around fantastic organization.