Pittsburgh Technology Firm
Wires NationÕs Second Largest Manufacturing Union

A comprehensive web site and content management system developed by a Pittsburgh technology firm is now being used to great advantage by the United Steelworkers of America across its entire network in the United Staes and Canada.

Headquartered in downtown Pittsburgh and serving more than 700,000 members , the USWA is the second largest manufacturing labor union in the nation.

After reviewing several commercial applications already on the marketÑand not finding what was needed--USWA hired Savvior Technology Solutions, based in Pittsburgh, to develop customized technology that enables USWA staff to easily add or change content across its entire network.

"ItÕs great that weÕre working with a Pittsburgh firm," said Mike Krueger, the USWAÕs director of information services, who added that heÕd been looking for an application that would enable multiple users in several geographic locations to simultaneously and easily work on the USWA web site.

"SavviorÕs browser-based approach turned out to provide exactly what was neededÑand it fit within our budget," he said. "We investigated quite a few packaged products, but most were very expensive, costing $100,000 and up for an off-the-shelf application," said Krueger. "Because USWA is Oracle-based, we required a product that would accommodate customization," he said.

We also needed something that would accommodate a high degree of functionality. We have web designers in house, and wanted to be able to change and modify our page templates, and many of the off-the-shelf products donÕt offer that flexibility. The Savvior system cost much less, and itÕs an open source application, so we just invested in the programming that was necessary to customize it our needs."

Not only was the dollar investment much less than Krueger expected to make, but there was very minimal investment in new hardware. "Savvior just used the system we already had in place," he said.

Along the way, Savvior was also hired to play a key role in redesigning the USWAÕs web site, which Krueger is quick point out, "was looking pretty stale. Because the site reaches out to our membership, plus several other audiences that include businesses, elected officials, the media and the public, we wanted a site that looked and functioned as a top-of-the-line web presenceÑwhich it now does."

To date, about 50 USWA staff members have been trained to use the content management system. However, Keith Giuliani, SavviorÕs president and CEO, notes that updating the web site actually requires very little staff education.

"Because itÕs browser-based, itÕs really just a matter of logging on and going to the area you want to edit; itÕs as simple as that," he said.

He added that his team greatly enjoyed the challenges posed by Krueger, and is glad they were able to meet them.

Kruger said the Savvior system provides everything the USWA neededÑand much more. He added that, in addition to the main USWA site, the system is now in use with a number of sub-sites hosted by the organization.

"The service is just excellent," he said. "In addition to being good programmers, they are very responsive. And I can be very demanding."

The technical resilience of SavviorÕs work was also put to the test several months ago when President Bush came to Pittsburgh. Krueger said that a weblog site had linked to an article appearing on the USWA site. As a result, the USWA site received literally millions of hits in a matter of hours.

"The technology passed the test with flying colors," said Krueger.

About Savvior Technology Solutions
Pittsburgh-based Savvior Technology Solutions is a leading technology service provider that works with businesses to add technology to implement their business strategies and add value to their products and services. By taking advantage of traditional and advanced technology solutions, Savvior expands its clients' strategic and tactical opportunities and delivers ROI with results. Savvior provides customized, cost-effective solutions, combining the most modern technology with a quality team to obtain the maximum benefit for clients. The companyÕs state-of-the-art content management system is a widely sought, fully customizable application that is currently is use at several major companies and organizations.

Copyright © 2005 by John Fries, Pittsburgh, PA.