inShare Drupal is what people want People requiring high quality are willing to pay more on order for that precise quality level is achieved. A curious fact: Drupal sites tend to be about ten times more expensive than their closes competitor WordPress. Thus we are with a curious picture here. Despite the fact that a Drupal site might take 50% more time to be constructed and still will be more profitable. Why does such a happening take place? Have you ever heard of stereotypes like: Stability and reliability of Drupal is off the charts Drupal scales better Development does tend to require some exquisite skills from Drupal developers thus it is of better quality If it is good enough for governmental sites it is safe and good enough for me Sure you have heard at least one of them, when all is more likely. Why did these stereotypes appear?
Because, as all other stereotypes, they tend to have a strong background. Drupal is the choice of people that are so high in their career letters that it seems they can’t possibly be wrong. But why did all those CEOs, CTOs, gush, even governmental officials from the White House choose Drupal. As, apparently, they have done the math and here is what I believe the equation was: A quality platform + developers of highest skill (as only those are capable of granting you a job as a Drupal developer. And that will be our reason number 1) + superior results delivered = something worth every extra dime spent on Drupal. How’d the equation pop up and what makes people sure that all the data in it is correct? Let’s get a bit deeper and find out. What has Sponge Bob to do with Drupal? Do you remember the Sponge Bob cartoon? I often am forced to see it in the morning as my junior family members love it even more than, I don’t even know, more than pizza!? So how’s it related to Drupal developers? There is this character in the cartoon called Mr. Crabs.
He has a place that is selling burgers made by a secret recipe with a secret ingredient. And everybody loves those burgers. And there is Plankton, Mr. Crabs’ competitor who can’t succeed with his burgers and is constantly after the formula of the secret ingredient. So does Drupal have one of such formulas? Let’s just compare Drupal to something that will be the first in mind and… We are back to comparing Drupal and WordPress. Sorry, it’s so banal, yet such a comparison is the best we have at our disposal. WordPress has posts when Drupal may reply with nods. Equal! Both of the mentioned CMS are using taxonomy in order for the content to be organized. Equal! Both are into using fields for extending basic content. Equal! GUI that allows the content to be easily managed, template systems, front-end content display, filters, hooks, PHP, several kinds of supported databases, great caching plugins and so many more.
Equal! Perhaps there is no particular success formula alike the one Mr. Crabs possesses? Maybe it’s the cook that is making those burgers so delicious? What are the sharks from giant companies willing to pay extra money for? Ok, these people are in no way stupid and if they are willing to pay $50+K per a project and they want everything to be done via Drupal, they know what they mean and are having more than one good reason to make such a decision. What is a website of a company? It is the visit card, the center of the marketing strategy, a source of new customers as well as any other extremely relevant things. No doubt it is important. So if we will be talking marketing only even then the value of the project is easy to understand.
With a big enterprise the marketing strategy is like an advanced mechanism where every piece has to be on its precise place for everything to work well. Imagine the effort ant the money the company has spent on marketers. And the effort of marketers, in turn, has to be transformed into the site exactly as planned. Thus the last thing any enterprise needs it the project going in other directions than originally planned due implementation issues. Thus if you are into a $50K project and the deadline is in 6 weeks you are sure that there is a part of those money spent as an insurance that all will be prepared in time and accordingly to specs. Drupal developers along with Drupal itself may guarantee it.
That is why they are earning more money. It’s just that the process of development evolves usage of various modules like bricks, thus all is very flexible and may be adjusted to the requirements. The same process is with WordPress? Maybe, yet Drupal has its reputation thanks to Developers, who are building with more bricks and are using something prefabricated way less. Thus the outcome is under control and the client is not worried. The part where modules are connected is of highest importance as well if anybody is looking for the best results. That is why Drupal developers rock!