Newsletter

In past jobs, I’ve worked in roles implementing and supporting clients. From that experience I’d like to think that when I build software I’m not only thinking of the functionality of the feature being built but also what it will look like for our clients to use that feature every day as well as how we support and administer that feature.

I evaluate and test my work from those perspectives, and, if I find something annoying or not as smooth as I would like, then I take a step back and think how can we make this better.

Sometimes this means the initial feature scope might change. Other times the collective “we” (development, product, service) determine that perhaps that additional scope is worth pursuing but in a future release version of the product, so we enter a ticket in our backlog to track it.

The important focus to maintain is ensuring that each feature adds value to our clients and we get feedback early and often to ensure we are on target.

I’ve worked at companies that ran on AWS before but they were still very much in the mold of dedicated virtual machines and manual deployments.

Operating an infrastructure that is fully Infrastructure as Code (IoC) has been challenging to learn but very powerful in our ability to maintain a lean development team, deploy features rapidly and consistently, and maintain lower costs for our clients.

I don’t have a ton of hobbies but the one I probably enjoy the most is playing soccer. I’m an older guy now so I’ve definitely lost a few gears speed-wise and get much more sore after playing but its still a great way to get exercise and socialize.

My son and daughter are also old enough now where I can bring them to play with me so its a great way to bond with them. Sadly, they’re passing up their “old man” now so I have to swallow that bitter pill.

Trailblazer’s mission is directly focused on an underserved segment of the insurtech market in bringing to bear the latest technology at an affordable cost to small insurers. This is inspiring to empower the underdog and even the playing field.