News

CastleBay Companies (CastleBay) is pleased to announce the addition of Robb Creary as Director of Canadian operations based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. “Robb brings a wealth of expertise in the Guidewire cloud space, as well as deep roots in the Canadian property and casualty marketplace; two areas which we have targeted for growth in 2024,”…

~ by Randy Wagner How to Spot Problems When Metrics Fail to Accurately Represent Reality Much of the work we do is reduced to metrics. Test cases completed, defect counts, and accepted stories drive the numbers.  We measure velocity and plan accordingly. We gauge health accordingly. But then there are times when the numbers just…

~ by Randy Wagner Three Things Every Consultant Needs to Deliver Value Consulting is an interesting mix of traits. On one hand, you need to have a decent bag of tricks but on the other, you may just need enough courage to fake it until you make it — with a ton of hard work…

~ by Randy Wagner How to Balance the Past, Present, and Future in QA Today is present in multiple ways for Quality Assurance (QA). The work we do is a result of our past, hopefully informed by the future as we see it, and limited by the time and resources at hand. It’s up to…

~ by Randy Wagner Some Tasks Just Don’t Seem Worth the Effort All of us face a myriad of tasks, seen and unseen, that get our projects done. Sometimes it’s late in the evening; other times it’s just another task in a long list of tasks. We’re all human. It’s tempting to think that no…

~ by Randy Wagner Hardship Can Pay Dividends When I look back at the toughest struggles in my life, both personally and professionally, I’ve found that hardship usually pays unexpected dividends. There were definitely tough spots but if you embrace the challenge and the change, then you can make it work. How to Embrace the…

When we think about working on a project, we think about what we need to get across the finish line. But how often do we stop to consider our personal work product? What minimum viable product is appropriate for the work we create and deliver? What is a Minimum Viable Product or MVP? Minimum Viable…

~ by Randy Wagner Consultants Must Wear Many Hats As consultants, we are expected to represent our shop well, provide more value than our fees, and generally speak, look, and act like we’re the ones to call when a client needs help. That’s all great but it goes beyond that simple perspective. It often demands…

~ by Randy Wagner Multiple Clocks Almost everything in our lives is governed, in one way or another, by the clock. Workdays, meeting time, dinner time, release schedules, the list goes on and on. However, the one thing that is easy to lose sight of is that we’re working with multiple clocks and that time…

CastleBay Companies is the recipient of RiskStream’s Innovator Award. This award is in recognition of CastleBay’s work supporting Guidewire Integration insurance-related projects.