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Case Study

XML Content Management System Upgrade:

Congressional Quarterly (CQ)

Background: Congressional Quarterly Inc. (CQ) is nonpartisan news and legislative tracking service that provides information on government, politics, and public policy through its many print and online publications. CQ's Web sites are updated with new data all day, every day-with some providing real time information and breaking news. CQ's system manages news and reference information that is both developed by CQ staff and fed in from multiple outside content providers. The system is integrated with SoftQuad XMetaL and Quark Publishing System/XPress, automatically processes outside XML content feeds, and outputs content as XML to print and electronic (Web) products.

Strategy: CQ identified a need to change its content management system, the Unified Data Repository (UDR), to allow its editorial staff to simultaneously manage data from multiple Congresses (e.g. the 106th and the 107th). To oversee the "Multi-Congress" project and implement the appropriate modifications, CQ commissioned a team led by Really Strategies with key development support from Wingspan Technology and internal editorial and development resources.

Result: Really Strategies analyzed the business requirements, and then developed a detailed project plan, the functional specifications for needed changes to the UDR and data feeds, and test plans for QA activities. Over the course of the 3-month project, Really Strategies ensured that the physically separated project team was tightly coordinated, and that system changes could be rolled out with minimal impact on editorial and production staff. Really Strategies led the project to a successful completion before its critical end date - the swearing in of the 107th Congress.

"Really Strategies' leadership on this project was a key factor in its on-schedule completion. With an immovable end date, our staff relied on Really Strategies' experience with our systems and processes to guide the integrated project team. We continue to have an outstanding relationship with Really Strategies. They are an integral part of our strategic publishing initiatives."
Mike Connelly, Vice President of Operations at CQ

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