In my previous posts, I explored how Drupal CMS and the IXP (Inexperienced) Initiative could help rebuild Drupal's ecosystem pyramid by bringing back smaller projects and creating pathways for new developers. Today, I want to explore something that constantly comes up in conversations with agencies, especially in Latin America: how can contributing to Drupal actually translate into business growth?
These discussions emerge most frequently in my Latin American network, but the core challenge crosses all borders: small agencies everywhere struggle to connect their Drupal contributions with business growth opportunities.
The question isn't theoretical. Agency owners regularly wonder: "What's the actual business benefit of becoming a Drupal Certified Partner?" As one colleague recently put it, "Despite donating for years, what extra benefit or help do I get from the DA when I have an employment need or something similar?" These are fair questions that deserve serious answers.
I believe we have an opportunity to expand Drupal.org from primarily a technical community platform into a genuine business hub that connects clients with service providers. This approach could create a system where contribution naturally leads to business opportunities—not through pressure, but through practical economic benefits that work across all regions.
The Missing Connection: Contribution and Business Growth
The Drupal Association's CEO recently shared some revealing numbers in his post "Progress in Innovating and Sustaining Drupal, but More Needs to Be Done":
"There were 1,440 organizations active on Drupal.org in 2024 and yet, only 101 Drupal Certified Partners (7%). In fact, 96% of all contributions came from 219 companies (15%). This is not sustainable, if Drupal is to remain innovative and independent."
These numbers tell a story that resonates with conversations I've had across the Drupal ecosystem, especially in Latin America, where I know several companies that will be catalogued as small for US standards. As one agency director bluntly told me: "At the business level, we don't see much benefit beyond appearing on a list." Another developer who had been donating for years asked: "What tangible benefit do I get when I have a real need like finding employment?"
The fundamental problem is clear: there's currently no direct business channel connecting contribution to client acquisition. Potential clients looking for Drupal services rarely start their search on Drupal.org. They don't use the platform to find agencies, evaluate expertise, or make hiring decisions. This creates a disconnect between contributing to the platform and growing your business through it.
What if we could change this dynamic? Imagine if Drupal.org became the first place clients visited when looking for Drupal services. Imagine if the platform actively connected potential clients with agencies based on their proven expertise and contributions. Suddenly, being visible on Drupal.org would transform from a community nicety to a business necessity with measurable ROI.
Embracing the Full Ecosystem Pyramid
Industry conversations about Drupal's future often implicitly center on enterprise needs. When examining recent discussions about Drupal's direction and strengths, I've noticed how easily our community conversations gravitate toward the top of the ecosystem pyramid. While no one explicitly dismisses small businesses, the examples, use cases, and language used naturally emphasize enterprise-scale implementations. This implicit focus reflects how our thinking has become conditioned over time to prioritize the enterprise sector.
As I noted in a recent LinkedIn conversation: "We've prioritized [the enterprise] sector and are paying the price. We must preserve Drupal's strengths for decoupled sites, complex data, AI, and large-scale implementations. But we also need to reopen to small/mid-sized projects - the middle and bottom of the pyramid."
This enterprise focus has real consequences. Large agencies sometimes take on smaller projects at premium prices with minimal effort and doing a disservice to them, and the good name of Drupal. US and European pricing models get inappropriately applied to Latin American markets. Companies often seek LATAM talent primarily to reduce costs on US/European projects rather than truly serving local markets. Meanwhile, emerging markets in Asia, Africa, and elsewhere offer untapped potential, and have agencies and customers of their own.
By making Drupal.org a business hub for the entire ecosystem pyramid – not just its peak – we create opportunities for businesses of all sizes across all regions to connect with appropriate clients and partners in their own region or language.
Regional Economic Realities: Opportunities for Growth
The potential for regionalized approaches becomes even more exciting when we consider the economic differences across regions. In my work with Latin American Drupal communities, I've observed how dramatically project scales and economics vary by region.
A $50,000 project might be considered small in North America but represents a major enterprise project in many Latin American countries. Developer rates in LATAM are often a fraction of those in the US or Western Europe, creating different economics for contribution time. The market for Drupal services varies dramatically by region, with some areas having virtually no local enterprise clients, in the sense of an enterprise client in the US.
These differences create unique opportunities for regionally-tailored business approch. For many Latin American companies, becoming a Drupal Certified Partner currently offers limited return on investment. If clients in their region aren't looking at partnership status when making decisions, why invest in it? But what if we created regionally-appropriate partnership programs with benefits tailored to each market's needs?
This isn't just a Latin American opportunity – it extends to Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, and other regions with different economic conditions. By acknowledging these differences in how different areas work, we could create appropriate pathways for companies in every region.
At the same time, we can recognize that not every implementation needs enterprise-scale complexity. While DXP approaches serve important segments of Drupal's market, many organizations have simpler needs that are equally valid. Embracing this diversity of use cases allows Drupal to serve the entire pyramid, creating more opportunities for businesses at every level.
Reimagining Events: From Community Gatherings to Business Opportunities
A colleague recently observed something important about our events: "DrupalCon has evolved to become primarily a place where agencies network with other agencies rather than connecting with potential clients." While this community building is valuable, it highlights a missed opportunity and current problem.
What if DrupalCon became not just a community event but a genuine business development platform? We could explore approaches specifically designed to attract potential clients: free expo days open to local businesses, specialized client registration options with dedicated programming tracks, and facilitated networking between clients and service providers.
The growing interest in regional events like DrupalCon Asia shows promise, and reviving DrupalCon Latin America could particularly benefit the regional community—especially if these events can be structured to create actual business opportunities. As one Latin American agency owner told me, "You need to create something that helps agencies struggle less to maintain themselves, not just contribute more."
Imagine a cycle where regional businesses discover Drupal solutions at DrupalCon events, connect with local agencies that match their needs and budget scale, and then maintain these relationships through Drupal.org. This would create tangible business value for partners while building a stronger ecosystem in each region.
Drupal.org as a Business Hub: Building on Our Foundation
The exciting part is that we already have an excellent foundation for this vision. The Drupal community has built one of the largest most comprehensive contribution recognition systems in open source. Anyone who joins Drupal.org gets a personal profile displaying their contributions, whether that's code, documentation, event organization, or mentorship.
Building on ideas like those in "Five Ideas for the Drupal Association", we could strengthen this foundation in several specific ways:
Regionalized Partnership Programs with Direct Business Benefits
The current Drupal Certified Partner program provides recognition, but many regional agencies struggle to see its practical business value. As one Latin American agency director asked me, "If local clients aren't looking at partnership status when making decisions, why invest in it?"
We need partnership programs that reflect regional economic realities and deliver tangible business benefits. This means:
- Partnership tiers with costs and requirements proportional to regional economics
- Region-specific business development benefits, like lead-sharing programs for local markets
- Local client education initiatives that actively direct businesses to Drupal.org for finding partners
- Facilitated connections between regional agencies and potential clients
A company in Colombia hiring Colombians for local market projects should have a partnership path that makes economic sense for their context and delivers real business value, just as a company in Brazil should have options appropriate for their market.
Supporting the IXP Initiative Globally
The IXP Initiative offers a promising framework for bringing new developers into the ecosystem. By connecting it directly to Drupal.org's systems, we create additional value for both companies and new developers. Companies gain a reliable way to identify entry-level talent, developers gain documentable career progression, and mentors receive recognition for their contributions.
When applied globally, this initiative could significantly strengthen regional ecosystems by creating appropriate entry points for developers at all economic levels.
The Open Curriculum: Beyond Traditional Training
The Drupal Open Curriculum was created as another attempt at creating training material for Drupal. I talked to the creator, and I want to propose to change the focus of the initiative, based on my experience as a certified elementary teacher in the past.
This change offers an opportunity to create something more fundamental than just another training resource. Drawing inspiration from educational standards systems like the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and similar frameworks used by education agencies across different states, this initiative could establish a common framework of knowledge and skills while supporting regional adaptations.
Rather than focusing solely on creating training materials, this approach would define the foundational knowledge that Drupal professionals should master at different levels, provide the basis for consistent assessment and verification, and allow for regional adaptation to different market contexts.
By connecting this curriculum directly to training materials, this opens the opportunity to actually create a certification system managed by the DA with appropriate levels based on those standards. Including the capacity to be a "developer" I am thinking workflows, best practices, local development, etc. with also the typical areas of site building, front end, backend. And maybe doing marketing with Drupal? Or SEO?
Centralized Review of Expertise
Drupal.org could evolve into the place where clients and employers easily review claims of expertise. This means creating clearer standards for what constitutes different expertise levels, providing simple tools to review these qualifications, and establishing ways for how agencies can accurately represent their capabilities.
Conclusion: Taking the First Steps
Throughout this exploration of how Drupal.org could evolve into a business hub, I've focused on practical challenges that agencies face, particularly in regions outside North America and Western Europe. The regional economic differences, the potential for targeted business connections, and the opportunity to make contribution economically viable across the entire ecosystem all point to an exciting possibility: a Drupal community where contribution and business growth naturally align.
I recognize that these ideas may seem ambitious or even naive to some. We're at a crossroads for Drupal, and initiatives like Drupal CMS show that we're already adapting to new challenges. The chicken-and-egg conundrum is real—agencies need business success to contribute, but contribution is what makes the platform evolve and attract business. Yet within this challenge lie genuine opportunities to reimagine how we connect contribution with tangible business value.
This post is the third in a series exploring how we might rebuild and strengthen the entire Drupal ecosystem pyramid.
Previous posts:
Makers, Takers, and What I Call 'Fakers': A Nuanced Look at Drupal Contribution
Rebuilding Drupal's Ecosystem Pyramid: A Path to Sustainable Growth
What do you think about these initial ideas? How do you see the connection between business success and contribution playing out in your region or organization? I'd love to hear your perspectives.
Note: Throughout this post, I've referenced conversations with numerous colleagues and community members from across the Drupal ecosystem. While I've kept these references anonymous for this discussion, I'd be happy to properly attribute specific ideas to individuals who would like to be credited for their insights.
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