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.

Stout Systems’ business development and senior technical staff member Bill Heitzeg and his peers saw a need within the IT community for an organized and practical way to introduce computer programmers to new technologies and new problem solving techniques. So they created the Software Development Study Group.

“The study group gives developers an interactive, one hour introduction into a new technology,” said Bill Heitzeg. “So far it’s blown away all my expectations. In a month I’ve learned more than I would have in a year of user groups.”

The group meets from 5:30 to 6:30 every Tuesday evening in Ann Arbor. Each meeting is led by a volunteer expert from the IT community, who actively facilitates the learning of technologies and methodologies that often take programmers a substantial time investment to learn on their own. Whether it’s the latest dynamic language or an old standby technology, the goal of the Software Development Study Group is to ensure that one week’s concentrated hour is worth many more hours or even days of having to absorb new technologies by oneself.

“Group attendance is on the increase as the word spreads, and that pleases us a great deal,” adds John W. Stout, President of Stout Systems. “Our staff always have tried to give back to the IT profession, and to see such immediate success is gratifying.”

Information about the Software Development Study Group and its meeting topics, prerequisites and venue can be found on the Web at:

http://sites.google.com/site/softwaredevelopmentstudygroup/.

Stout Systems announces that it is has officially entered the iPhone application development market with its first offering released to the iTunes Store. Called iSoBusy, the application is a tongue-in-cheek twist on a traditional mobile phone app theme: the “fake phone call” that gives a user an exit strategy from dull or uncomfortable situations. iSoBusy features over twenty uniquely silly pre-recorded fake callers including Mom, Obsessive Boss, Unemployed Brother-in-law, Football Fan and Dry Cleaner Calling About That Stain.

VolumeOne culture and entertainment magazine states that iSoBusy is “already the best-ranked application of its kind.”

Stout Systems developed iSoBusy in partnership with marketing guru David Brier and his company DBD International. Information about the application can be found at www.isobusy.com.