Drupal Partners

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The Emory Prevention Research Center is a part of the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. I am a project manager on a couple of research projects, as well as a deputy director of operations for the center.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Drupal Partners?

We built a web-based application a few years back, probably in 2011 or 2012, for research projects, in order to have a project management and program delivery application accessible online.

Our original builders folded as a company, and decided to move on with something else. We had spent years trying to find a company specializing in Drupal, since we’d had so many issues with expertise, false promises, and deadlines being missed because of developers learning on-the-go. This prompted us to find Drupal Partners; they are experts in Drupal, and know exactly what it is I need, and how to make fixes, changes and updates.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The original application was our main framework, and it was fully-functional when we turned it over. We were looking to upgrade to the newer software, as the version date of Drupal we were using was expiring, and would no longer receive support. We also wanted to add a couple of features, and went from having multiple Drupal applications for every research partner, to combining the different sites into one multisite portal.

Drupal Partners has handled our monthly maintenance, checking for security updates and troubleshooting issues.

What is the team dynamic?

We worked with one project manager throughout the entire project. He setup weekly meetings with the programming team, which then moved to monthly meetings. The collaboration was remote, so I have no idea how many people were involved in the process.

How did you come to work with Drupal Partners?

I believe I made an online search. Also, as part of Emory University, we have a procurement department which has helped us with finding specific types of expertise, in terms of graphic design and so on.

How much have you invested with them?

Confidential.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Drupal Partners in 2015. The project is ongoing in maintenance mode. If I have any issues, bugs or things which need to be fixed, I can definitely go back to them, and Drupal Partners will work with my timelines, budget and anything else we give them. It’s been a great experience.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

My own feedback, as a user of the application Drupal Partners has been working on, is that we haven’t had site crashes or similar experiences. There is nothing negative to report. The application is fully functional, and any issues or bugs were fixed quickly.

They’re extremely knowledgeable in Drupal, and this has been a refreshing experience for me. I’m not a programmer, nor do I know Drupal, but I’ve had experience with other companies which had no expertise in this area. Drupal Partners is fast, responsive and knowledgeable.

How did Drupal Partners perform from a project management standpoint?

Scheduling calls or communicating issues via email is handled well. There is also a lot of follow-up from them, checking if the issues were resolved to our satisfaction. We were assigned a single project manager, which gave us continuity. That person knew the application, so, when we had issues or bugs, he would understand what we were talking about, and effectively communicate the issues to his programmers. I don’t speak the technical language, so I didn’t know how to translate my requests into their verbiage, in terms of what needed to happen, and how it would need to be programmed. Our project manager was excellent in being able to translate my issues, requests, and concerns into language the programmers could understand, and make it happen.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most important thing was their phenomenal Drupal expertise. I’ve worked with many companies and programming teams, and Drupal Partners was the first one to which I would like to assign even more projects.

The other thing they’re excellent in is customer service. Drupal Partners is responsive, even in terms of acknowledging that I’ve put in a ticket or have a question. The quick response times are great for me since I’m task- and action-oriented. Those two things are a perfect marriage for me and this team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not that I can think of. I’ve been happy with how everything has been going, and there isn’t a single thing I could mention as an improvement point.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

As a non-programmer, it’s been important for me to determine the long-term vision of a project—what it should look like 5-10 years down the road. This way, when the developer is building the framework or upgrading the application, they will know to keep that vision in mind. I’ve learned this from prior experiences—it’s important to have the foresight to say what we want now, and where we ultimately want to take the application. Later on, if we want to add more things, or if we have budget constraints, it’s nice to have thought through the ultimate goal of the product being built.