Ann Arbor, Mich., April 21, 2010 – On Tuesday April 20th, software industry thought leader Mary Poppendieck made a trip to Ann Arbor where she led a group of nearly 50 management and technical representatives from local software companies in an interactive seminar. Working on real software business problems, Ms. Poppendieck helped the participants learn and apply techniques to reduce waste from their processes to become so efficient that they can compete with the pricing offered by offshore vendors.
Three-time author, speaker and trainer, Mary Poppendieck has a long, notable career helping companies produce great software. After retiring from 3M in 1998, Ms. Poppendieck started helping software companies around the world adopt the "Lean Patterns" that have been so successfully applied in manufacturing. In 2003, she published her first of three books: Lean Software: An Agile Toolkit. Focusing on the process of developing software, not necessarily on the software code, Ms. Poppendieck gives teams the tools and techniques to analyze, understand and continuously improve delivery. In her third book Leading Lean Software Development (2010), she teaches decision-makers how to continuously improve the ability of their organizations to consistently produce great software.
"We were extremely pleased to be able to have such a distinguished speaker in Ann Arbor," said John W. Stout, founder of software industry consulting firm Stout Systems. "Mary's seminar is unique and demonstrates effective techniques for removing waste thereby reducing cost from the software development process. The feedback from the participants was uniformly positive."
The event was sponsored by Stout Systems in conjunction with the Ann Arbor Chapter of the Association for Women in Computing (AWC-AA). All proceeds from the event went to benefit AWC-AA's college scholarship program.
"We are thrilled that Mary was able to stop in Ann Arbor for our April program," said Lisa Luczek, President of AWC-AA. "The program was sold out, and enabled us to raise $500 for our scholarship. It was an opportunity for almost 50 IT professionals to learn about lean software development and have their processes critiqued by Mary. It is an excellent example of the kind of community and professional development that AWC-AA works to create in the IT space."
About Stout Systems
Stout Systems is a software development and staffing company that is fueled by the most powerful technology available—Human Intelligence. Stout eliminates the stress, frustration and overwork all too typical to software projects. Stout helps say goodbye to frustration and hello to achieving project targets and technical staffing requirements. Founded in 1993, Stout has offices in Ann Arbor and Detroit, and a national client base. To learn more please visit www.stoutsystems.com.
About The Ann Arbor Chapter of the Association for Women in Computing
The Ann Arbor Chapter of the Association for Women in Computing (AWC-AA) is part of a national organization. AWC was founded by fifteen women in Washington, D.C. in 1978, and it is one of the first professional organizations for women in computing. The initial purpose of the group was to establish and encourage communication among women in computing. The scope of the organization has grown to include professional networking, employment assistance, continuing education, and mentoring. To learn more please visit www.awc-aa.org.