Origami Software

Agile Software Development, DevOps, Training Since 2003

Origami Software is the software practice of Spencer Marks and Associates.

About Spencer

Spencer Marks is a seasoned developer skilled in a wide variety of languages, technologies, and methodologies. Spencer has been developing commercial software since 1989.

Spencer builds and lead teams and designs and integrate systems, including complex automated workflows for data ingestion and manipulation and laboratory information systems. Spencer focuses on clear communication and goal setting, as well as testability, rapid deployment, and sustainable development processes. http://www.github.com/smarks

Spencer also is also passionate about teaching. Since 1998 Spencer has been a part time adjunct at the University of Massachusetts Lowell where he designs and presents college level courses. Current topics include Java and Agile software development best practices as well, Python, Perl and PHP.

Approach

First, Spencer works with the client to determine their needs and the timeline for the project. What follows is an iterative design phase which produces a detailed mock-up/prototype of the project. At this point, nothing is set in stone and Spencer works closely with the client, offering various solutions and an iterative plan for achieving them.

Since 2012 Spencer has been utilizing Amazon Web Services to save clients money, provide scalability, and ensure uptime. Using AWS lets clients focus on solutions for their core business needs rather than be distracted by hardware and infrastructure concerns.

Tools and Domains

In Spencer’s current toolbox you will find:

AWS services including (but not limited to)

API-Gateway, Lambda, Batch, EC2, S3, RDS, CloudFormation CodeCommit, Build, Deploy

Language Expertise

Java (including JDBC, JPA, JAXB, JSP, Hibernate, Spring / SpringBoot, Tomcat, Jersey)
Python (including SQLAlchemy)
SQL (Oracle, Postgres, MySQL,SQLite)
NoSQL (MongoDB)
Bash, JSON, XML, HTML, CSS

Devops

Ansible, Docker, Packer, Vagrant, Terraform
Maven, Ant, JUnit, WebDriver, Mocking
TeamCity, Jenkins, CircleCI, GitHub, GitLabs
Git, Subversion (and others)

Other:

REST, Oauth
Messaging: JMS, RabbitMQ
Operating Systems: Linux (Ubuntu, RedHat, Centos, Debian) MacOS, Windows

Methodologies

SCRUM, XP, rapid prototyping

Domain Expertise

Origami Software has developed software and managed projects for a wide variety of domains including BioTech, Banking, Insurance, Internet, Graphic Design, Education, and consumer software.

Past engagements include Google, ITA Software, Apple, Avid, DEC, The MathWorks, CISCO, Wellington Financial Services, Nokia, Liberty Mutual Insurance, Symantec, GTE Labs, Claritas Genomics and Seres Therapeutics.

Spencer holds a BA in English from Skidmore College and a Masters of Arts in English Literature from Clark University.

He has presented papers a conferences and organizations including Building Better Java Applications presented at Quality Week Europe, Brussels