blog

Neel Shah, VP of Software Development
May 22, 2026

There is a growing belief that because people are now using Claude, Copilot, Cursor, Codex, and other AI coding tools to build applications, the future must be that AI will also write complete software systems.

I understand why people think that. The progress is real. Modern AI coding tools are no longer just autocomplete engines. Claude Code can work inside a developer’s environment, understand a codebase, make edits, run commands, and assist with software development workflows. GitHub Copilot’s coding agent can research a repository, create an implementation plan, make code changes on a branch, and prepare work for developer review. OpenAI’s Codex is also positioned as a coding agent that can help with software development tasks. (more…)

Neel Shah, VP of Software Development
May 7, 2026

The Old Economics of Software

Uncle Bob has often made a simple but powerful point about software: software is not like manufacturing.

In manufacturing, there is a clear difference between design and production. Someone designs the product first. Then a factory produces copies of it. The production cost matters because each physical item requires materials, labor, logistics, and distribution.

Software does not work that way. Once software is written, the cost of producing another copy is almost zero. You do not need a new factory line to ship another copy of an application. You do not need raw materials to deploy another instance of a service. You can build, copy, deploy, and distribute software at extremely low marginal cost.

So the real cost of software is not production. The real cost is design. (more…)

Rory McCorkle, VP of Business Development
January 20, 2026

Remote proctoring has become a key component for exam delivery of many credentialing programs. While it offers clear benefits, expanded access, scheduling flexibility, and scalability, it also introduces new risks related to exam security, candidate experience, and accreditation compliance.

For accredited credentialing bodies, these risks cannot be outsourced. Even when a third-party vendor delivers the service, the responsibility for maintaining exam integrity and compliance ultimately remains with the credentialing organization itself. This principle is both a best practice in vendor governance and an expectation of accreditation frameworks. (more…)

Jeff McGregor, President
January 13, 2026

As the credentialing landscape continues to evolve, organizations face increasing expectations around validity, security, scalability, and candidate experience. Over the past year, we have remained deeply committed to meeting those expectations by investing in innovation, strengthening partnerships, and expanding the capabilities of the products and services our clients rely on.

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Rory McCorkle, VP of Business Development
December 18, 2025

In certification and licensure, defensibility is everything. From accreditation reviews and legal challenges to board confidence and stakeholder trust, the strength of a credential ultimately rests on the quality of its assessment data and the rigor with which that data is analyzed.

Yet for many credentialing organizations, psychometric analysis remains a resource-intensive or costly outsourced activity. Analyses may live in disconnected spreadsheets or scripts that are difficult to explain or scale. Even organizations with strong psychometric partners often struggle with visibility, timeliness, or the ability to explore “what-if” scenarios across test forms and administrations.

To address these challenges, we are excited to announce the launch of a new, comprehensive test analytics and psychometrics suite, purpose-built for certification and licensure. This platform consolidates the core psychometric processes that credentialing organizations rely on, including item analysis, test form analysis, IRT calibration, pre-equating, and more, into a single, integrated, and transparent environment.

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Rory McCorkle, VP of Business Development
December 4, 2025

It has been just over a week since returning from the I.C.E. Exchange in Phoenix, Arizona, and the Strasz team is still buzzing about the new connections made, the industry friends and colleagues met, and all that was learned during the conference. We certainly learned that umbrellas were a necessary — but unexpected — accessory for Phoenix, as the pouring rain made navigating from session to session more challenging than anticipated!

With that said, we walked away from the conference with several takeaways:

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Rory McCorkle
November 4, 2025

Credentialing programs with limited candidate bases must operate under tight budgets with lean teams. However, just because some credentialing exams might have smaller numbers of test takers, it doesn’t mean their tests are exempt from meeting the same rigor and reliability as their larger counterparts. The question is: how can these programs create robust exams under these constraints and remain profitable?

In an episode of Beyond the Test – Strasz Talks, Strasz Director of Business Development, Rory McCorkle sat down with Eric D’Astalfo, Vice President of Business Development at Pearson VUE and ATP Treasurer, to unpack how small-volume programs can thrive amid financial challenges and competition.

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Krysten Maddocks
October 2, 2025

Since the rise of computer-based testing in the early 2000s, we’ve seen some significant shifts—remote proctoring, AI tools, and more sophisticated cheating methods. While cheating (pre-knowledge) and theft are two of the most popular ways bad actors breach test security, their methods continue to evolve.

In the past, credentialing programs often targeted cheating at the individual level. However, with remote proxy test-taking services growing into large businesses, organizations increasingly see more sophisticated cheating methods. Beyond candidates sharing questions and answers, organizations are seeing cheating practices that have become systemic, intentional, and powered by technology. For example, AI makes it easier and faster to share information. On the benefit side, AI also allows testing companies and credentialing experts to analyze massive amounts of data in real time. We can detect anomalies, monitor behaviors, and bring together data streams in ways we couldn’t before.

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Gary Spivack, Senior Product Manager
August 21, 2025

Pro! v5.0 is Here — A New Era for Volunteer Authoring and Review Begins!

As the Product Owner for Pro!, I couldn’t be more excited to introduce Pro! v5.0 — a release that reflects months of innovation, user feedback, and focused development to deliver a faster, smarter, and more intuitive experience across the entire platform.

Let’s dive into some of the highlights.

View the Pro! v5.0 release notes for complete details

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Gary Spivack, Senior Product Manager
June 10, 2025

We’re thrilled to announce the release of Pro! v4.8, and trust us—it’s packed with the kind of enhancements that users will genuinely appreciate. From beautiful new reports to time-saving authoring tools and expanded API capabilities, this update brings powerful improvements across the board.

Let’s dive into some of the highlights.

View the Pro! v4.8 release notes for complete details

(more…)