How To Choose A Drupal Partner For Your Project?

When Will The Drupal Agency Be Helpful?

Drupal is a free, stable and flexible content management system. It is used by the official website of the British Royal Family, Oxford University, and even NASA. Over 1000 agencies all over the world offer Drupal-related services – developers, trainers, businesses, hosting providers, online payment providers, or platforms that monitor and analyze websites. If you want to set up a Drupal-based website, you need an agency that will provide you with Drupal specialists who are responsible for building and maintaining the website.

Drupal allows for almost unlimited expansion. When your website is based on this system, you may need specialists to develop it. In what situations can a Drupal agency be useful? It is often used by large companies that need internal communication tools, e.g. an intranet. The CMS perfectly copes with functions such as working time records, leave calendar, contact list, or chat. Drupal works well when handling events and conferences – it is an excellent tool for managing users and deadlines. It can be easily integrated with payment or verification methods. If you want to build an online store or expand an existing one, contact a software house that offers Drupal implementations. The system has a Drupal Commerce module that allows you to build such projects.

What Can You Build on Drupal?

Drupal is a very universal CMS, that offers multiple functions. Here’s a list of projects that you can build using the system:

• e-commerce platforms,
• project management systems,
• intranets,
• websites of any size e.g., for universities, sports clubs or event agencies,
• inline forums and social platforms.

A Drupal development partner can help you build a new website from scratch or develop an existing one. Moreover, it should solve emerging problems with the website, proposing modern and functional alternatives.

How to Hire a Drupal Partner – Crucial Areas

The success of your projects depends on choosing the right Drupal partner. You can find plenty of software houses that work with this system. Here are some pieces of advice on what to pay attention to and how to find an ideal Drupal development partner.

Specialization

Check the agency’s specialty. Are Drupal projects their main task or just a side task? Evaluate their specialists and experience. It would be good if the company ran a Drupal-related blog, conducted webinars etc. so that you could assess their knowledge of the system. This way, you can easily determine if this is a partner for you. Services

Carefully analyze the Drupal agency’s offer – check the range of services, and how complex they are. Is Drupal development their prime activity? Also, check if a given software house has already built an online store and offers support and maintenance services.

Portfolio

Assess the agency’s portfolio. Put the strain on the scope of the project and the budgets. Verify the customers' opinions either on platforms for professionals like Clutch or social media channels. You can even contact some clients and ask them directly.

Experience in implementing Drupal projects is crucial when choosing an ideal Drupal development partner. Contact the agencies directly and let them answer your questions. Here are some exemplary questions you can ask a potential Drupal partner:

• How many Drupal projects have you implemented?
• Do you have any experience in implementing a similar project?
• How will you secure my website?

By contacting a potential Drupal development partner, you will not only dispel your doubts but also check how long it took them to reply. The way they treat a potential client may be a clue as to how the cooperation would look like.

Communication

As we mentioned earlier, at the very beginning of communication with a Drupal agency, pay attention to the response time to your message, as well as the communication style. But that’s not all.

For the project to be successful, cooperation between several departments is needed. Working on implementation can be stressful – tight deadlines, testing new features etc. Hire a partner that employs specialists with the so-called soft skills, i.e. people who can relieve tense atmosphere and do not create stressful situations.

Transparent communication is equally crucial. The information flow between teams is extremely important, so choose a software house that willingly and frequently shares the progress of its work and does not avoid questions about their projects.

Support And Maintenance

Find out whether the software house offers support and maintenance after implementing the project. Monitoring the website and fixing bugs is crucial for data security as well as user experience. Post-implementation support is also important when it comes to updating Drupal. Drupal experts will then help you update to the latest version of the system.

Drupal Training

After implementation (or during final work on the project), the partner should conduct training and show your employees the basic functions of the system and editing options. This is a very important aspect, as it makes navigating the platform way easier.

The scope of training is determined individually. It depends on the client’s needs, the team’s level of knowledge about Drupal and the department for which the training is organized.

Moreover, the agency should provide the client with design documentation which contains information about the implemented solutions and discusses the CMS in general.

Additional Services

When analyzing the software house’s portfolio, it is worth paying attention to less obvious aspects that should be addressed before the development process. Check whether the agency organizes design workshops, conducts pre-implementation analyzes or offers graphic design.

Post-implementation support is equally important. In addition to the website monitoring mentioned earlier, the agency should also offer marketing services to increase your website’s visibility.

How Much Do The Drupal Agency Services Cost?

Some entrepreneurs cooperate with freelancers, mostly due to the limited budget. It is believed that one specialist costs less than a whole group. Not necessarily. The agency can be a cheaper option, mostly due to the skills and competencies. The costs might be lower because the experienced developers on board don’t need so much time as the less experienced freelancer.

What are the costs of such services? The prices range between several to over a dozen thousand dollars. It all depends on the scope of the realization, the number of customized functionalities, and the overall level of the project’s difficulty. It is recommended to ask for a personalized estimation, not the ready-made prices of the available packages. Remember that Drupal is a scalable system – you can expand it by installing new modules. Thus, you can stagger the costs, and develop the project in a few stages.

Summary

Drupal is a flexible system that can be used in various projects. Such flexibility can give you a real headache. That is why it is worth discussing all of the possibilities with the Drupal development partner. The experts will advise you on the technical issues, and present the latest solutions that suit your business. It is crucial to hire a Drupal partner that has appropriate competencies and people on board. The smooth flow of information will be the best base for fruitful cooperation and the next Drupal project.