The future of Drupal CMS: an agency perspective
The launch of Drupal CMS, a preconfigured CMS product designed to empower ambitious site owners and marketers, marks a significant step in the evolution of the platform. It has the potential to reshape the whole ecosystem and will broaden Drupal's appeal in the CMS market.
We reached out to selected decision-makers at Drupal agencies around the world and asked them to share their insights to get a better understanding of their view of this changing environment.
In this article Christoph Breidert from 1xINTERNET, Tiffany Farriss from Palantir.net, Stella Power from Annertech, and Imre Gmelig Meijling at React Online share their perspective on Drupal CMS.
How do you expect Drupal CMS to impact the Drupal ecosystem?
Christoph Breidert, 1xINTERNET
Christoph is one of the founders and managers of 1xINTERNET where he leads innovation, research and development.
Christoph, Tiffany, Stella, and Imre agree that Drupal CMS will make Drupal more accessible to a broader audience, including non-technical users, marketers, and content creators. They believe it will simplify website building, making Drupal less intimidating and more user-friendly, while future innovations will further empower a wider audience to create websites using Drupal CMS and Drupal-based platforms.
These experts see Drupal CMS as a powerful tool for attracting new users by showcasing Drupal's capabilities, including its no-code approach, AI integration, and streamlined site-building tools, making it a stronger competitor in the CMS market.
Christoph explained that introducing Drupal to a new generation of web developers will dispel outdated views that Drupal has a steep learning curve. Indeed when equipped with the new Drupal AI functionality, many tasks traditionally in the developer domain are now easily achieved by marketers.
What opportunities and challenges does Drupal CMS present for agencies?
Tiffany Farriss, Palantir.net
Tiffany is the CEO of Palantir.net and serves her team and her clients through mentoring, facilitation and coaching about agile leadership and strategy.
Drupal CMS, with its pre-built recipes and no-code approach, promises faster and more cost-effective website delivery for agencies. It also presents an opportunity to attract new clients, especially those migrating from platforms like WordPress or seeking simpler sites. However, agencies will need to adapt their offerings and clearly define their value proposition as Drupal CMS may reduce the demand for deep technical expertise in certain projects.
The agency leaders concur that Drupal CMS is not a universal solution. Complex and enterprise-level projects will still be built using Drupal Core or custom pre-configured Drupal systems.
Tiffany emphasizes that Drupal needs to be cautious to prevent the Drupal CMS from overshadowing Drupal's enterprise-level capabilities.
What are your implementation plans for Drupal CMS?
Stella Power, Annertech
Stella is the founder and CEO of Annertech. She is a strong advocate of the promotion of women in both tech and business, and is an alumni member of EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women.
Each company has a distinct plan for utilizing Drupal CMS within their organization.
Stella mentions that Annertech is currently evaluating Drupal CMS for pro-bono charity projects. Additionally, they plan to develop recipes to address common use cases they have.
Imre reveals that React Online is currently testing Drupal CMS to determine how it can best be integrated into their service portfolio in a way that adds sustainable value to clients.
Christoph expresses cautious optimism about Drupal CMS. 1xINTERNET's future contributions to the project will depend on the emergence of a healthy and sustainable recipe ecosystem.
Tiffany is excited about integrating Palantir’s collaborative editing solution, EditTogether, into Drupal CMS. She sees this as an opportunity to highlight the innovative capabilities of Drupal CMS.
How will you position Drupal CMS in your marketing strategy?
Imre Gmelig Meijling, React Online
Imre is CEO of React Online and Member of the Board of Directors of the Drupal Association and part of the Executive Committee of DrupalCon Europe.
The consensus is to position Drupal CMS as a powerful and flexible solution, appealing to clients who value ease of use alongside advanced features.
Imre envisions targeting midmarket clients, highlighting Drupal CMS's reliability compared to WordPress or cloud-based alternatives.
Christoph plans to establish 1xINTERNET as a Drupal CMS expert, leveraging their experience with reusable Drupal solutions.
Stella and Tiffany will position it as a user-friendly WordPress alternative, with Tiffany also planning to introduce it to existing clients as a platform extension.
How should the community organize collaboration around Drupal CMS?
Official Community Version
The official community version of Drupal CMS is a flexible, open-source platform developed by a global community. The standard installation of Drupal CMS contains a variety of customisable modules that are necessary for a robust starting point of your digital project.
Christoph, Tiffany, Stella, and Imre emphasize prioritizing an intuitive editorial experience alongside a polished frontend design. They stress the importance of core features including Single Sign-On (SSO), privacy compliance, and integrations with third-party systems such as CRM platforms that a majority of their clients demand.
Additionally, they point out that a streamlined evaluation and demo process will be crucial for Drupal CMS adoption.
Drupal CMS can be tested with and without demo content on a demo experience provided by 1xINTERNET.
What are the key factors that would drive your long-term support of Drupal CMS?
All company leaders agree that Drupal CMS's growth and adoption are crucial to their long-term commitment and contributions. They emphasize the need for Drupal CMS to understand and respond to market needs for continued success.
Factors that will influence their commitment include a clear value proposition for clients, an evolving roadmap with strong leadership, and transparent decision-making.
For Christoph a well-maintained repository of Drupal Recipes on Drupal.org is crucial to unlocking significant long-term benefits.
Participating agencies
1xINTERNET, a leading German digital services provider, is renowned for its expertise in building scalable and high-performance Drupal solutions. Based in Frankfurt, Germany, they have a strong track record of contributing to the Drupal community and advocating for open-source technologies. 1xINTERNET's involvement in projects like Drupal CMS demonstrates their commitment to advancing the Drupal ecosystem and providing innovative solutions for their clients.
Palantir.net is a woman-owned digital consultancy that has served healthcare, higher education, technology, and the public sector since 1996. Based near Chicago, USA, they are Drupal and open source experts who have contributed key modules now integrated into Drupal core. Palantir team members are also active in the Drupal community and frequent speakers at DrupalCons and other events.
Established in 2008, Annertech is Ireland's leading Drupal agency working with a range of clients across the commercial, higher education, and public sectors. In 2021 they opened Annertech UK to service their growing number of clients and staff members in the UK. With staff located all across Europe, Annertech are active participants in the Drupal community, regularly contributing code, helping to organise events, and speaking at DrupalCon. Their philosophy is to never hoard their knowledge, but share it - with clients, partners and the open-source community.
React Online creates groundbreaking digital solutions that make people's lives easier. This full service digital agency is based in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, homebase of ASML and Philips. React Online helps organizations from midmarket to enterprise with creating or optimizing digital brand experiences. React Online actively participates in the Drupal open source ecosystem with code, contributions, sponsorships and event organizers. React Online is Drupal Certified Partner in the Netherlands. In 2025 React Online celebrates their 25 years anniversary.
Other highlights
Why building on a preconfigured Drupal CMS is a wise investment
Drupal is a versatile CMS with extensive customization options. Configuring it correctly can be...
Why choose open source over proprietary software for enterprise projects
We often get asked what open source software is and why companies prefer it over proprietary...