RUSSOFT Forum 2007 Secures eWeek Senior Writer for Keynote Presentation

St. Petersburg, Russia, May 2007 – The RUSSOFT Association has announced a series of program updates for the 7th annual RUSSOFT Forum, formerly known as ROSS (Russian Outsourcing & Software Summit), to be held June 20th – 23rd, 2007.

Two new speakers have been added to the Forum’s agenda: eWeek Senior Editor and Washington Bureau Chief Wayne Rash, and Mckinsey & Company’s Director, Detlev Hoch.

InformationWeek Editor Paul McDougall and neoIT’s Eugene Kublanov will team up for a keynote session on the Russian IT industry as seen by international media and analysts at 9:30am on Friday, June 22nd.

eWeek’s Wayne Rash will serve as moderator for a keynote interview with Russian software industry leaders from 10:30 to 11:30am on Friday June 22nd. Rash will also deliver a keynote speech alongside International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) Chairman, Michael Corbett, and Mckinsey’s Hoch beginning at 10:00AM on Thursday June 21st on the Russian Software Development Outsourcing Industry.

“Eastern Europe has been garnering a lot of attention recently in the context of the global outsourcing industry, particularly from its IT and Software outsourcing providers,” said Hoch, Mckinsey’s Head of Global Software & Services Practice. “The talent-pool in the region for these types of projects is deep and capable, and its pragmatic approach in this high-demand market has yielded results that are hard to ignore.”

In addition to the international group of media and analysts in attendance, major corporations will be present at RUSSOFT and will be available to discuss how they are extracting value from outsourcing to Central and Eastern Europe. Included in this list of companies and representatives are Hewlett Packard, SUN Microsystems, T-Mobile, Motorola and EMC. Ian Wilson, founder of Gazelle Software Solutions, and former Worldwide Capability Director at Intel, will also attend.

As this year’s program has expanded, so has the location of the event. Initially scheduled for the Aquamarin Resort Hotel in Zelenogorsk just outside St. Petersburg, the Forum has been moved to the Hotel Park Inn Pribaltiyskaya in St. Petersburg proper.

“We are committed to making the 2007 RUSSOFT Forum the most successful Russian outsourcing event in the Forum’s 7 year history,” said Nikolai Puntikov, Chairman of the RUSSOFT Forum Program Committee, RUSSOFT Board Member and President of Eastern Europe for Exigen Services. “As this year’s platinum sponsor, Exigen Services has focused a great deal of time and effort on putting together a first-class event program including some of the most prominent figures from Russia’s outsourcing community. We are honored and excited to be involved so closely with RUSSOFT 2007.”

Dates and times for the Forum remain the same, which means attendees can still enjoy the ‘white nights’ period in St. Petersburg where a state of twilight lasts through the night from May to July. Visitors will also have a chance to experience the charming combination of Eastern and Western European cultures that characterize St. Petersburg as they take in the city’s sweeping boulevards, decorative monuments and large public spaces.

Russia continues to flourish as a center for global software development with an industry growth rate of 50 percent in 2006. With multi-sourcing quickly becoming a major trend, the Russian software exports industry has surpassed US$1.5 billion – a strong proof point for Russia’s positioning as a high-end IT outsourcing destination.

RUSSOFT Forum 2007 aims to provide buyers of technology services from around the world with up-to-date intelligence on sourcing options in Central and Eastern Europe, coupled with the opportunity to meet leading service providers in that region. The event will also serve as a platform for Russian software service providers and ISVs to showcase their services, products and solutions to an audience of industry analysts, potential clients and investors.

To register for RUSSOFT Forum 2007, go to http://www.soft-outsourcing.com

To arrange an interview or to get more information on the Forum, contact Nate Hubbell at nate@marchpr.com or (617) 475-1573, or Cheryl Gale at cheryl@marchpr.com or (617) 475-1571.

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About RUSSOFT: The Russian Software Developers Association (RUSSOFT) is the nationwide association for software development companies from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. RUSSOFT unites more than 80 companies with 7000+ highly qualified programmers and software engineers with advanced graduate level degrees in Technology & Computer Science. RUSSOFT cooperates with the leading Universities that form the unique human potential of Russia.