Building a Common Drupal Platform for Your Organization Using Drupal 7Erik WebbSenior Technical ConsultantAcquia

Agenda

What is a “platform”?Types of platformsAchieving buy-in from customersLeveraging DrupalAcquia platforms

What is a “platform”?Going Beyond the Buzzword

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“A hardware and/or software architecture that serves as a

foundation or base.”- PC Magazine “Yes, Apple's Mac and

Windows are platforms, but so, too, are Internet-based

apps like Facebook.”- John C. Dvorak

“It is a set of stable interfaces and protocols provided by the platform provider so the rest of the world has a sandbox to innovate

and create the next generation of computing

applications.”- Dr. Jeffrey Jaffe

“A 'platform' is a system that can be programmed and therefore customized by

outside developers -- users -- and in that way, adapted to countless needs and

niches that the platform's original developers could not have possibly

contemplated, much less had time to accommodate.”

- Marc Andreessen

Goals

Make people more efficientEmphasize collaboration over isolationIncrease the speed of innovationDecrease risk through repeatabilityHelp businesses be more successful

Types of Platforms

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)Managed servers only

Platform as a Service (PaaS)Optimized configurations, deployed bundles

Software as a Service (SaaS)Fully managed installationUser-level configuration only

University of Drupal

College of Theming

College of Design

College of Security

College of Training

College of Coding

College of Content

College of Translation

College of Hosting

Cloud Hosting

Drupal

.NET

Current Theme

SSO login

Internal developers

Student data

Takes payments

Examples of platforms

Performance infrastructure from a hosting providerContainer hosting from a cloud service

Localized sites for a global companyRegional publications for a publishing company

Artist and movie sites for a media company

Buy-in from CustomersAddition by Subtraction

Difficulties of Buy-in

Common problem affecting internal- and external-billed clientsCultural shift in many organizations

Move from project-oriented to service-oriented offerings

Shared ownership of content and functionalityJoining budgets and initiatives is scaryOverall loss of control in day-to-day management

Tradeoffs

Lower maintenance costs compared to less flexibilityShared features updates compared to fixed release timeframesLess internal resources needed compared to less direct quality control

Unlimited resources contradicts "platforms"Pooling expert resources creates efficiency

“What’s in It for Me?”

Benefit from shared resources with varying web trafficLess total lines of code (development) to maintain and supportCommon code base allows for easier testing and QACentralized personnel grows expertise fasterDocumentation can be created and shared

Leveraging DrupalScaling and Extending

Installation Profiles

Pre-defined configurationsSample contentContent types and ViewsBranding and style guidelinesUser managementSecurity by default

Future updatesDeveloped like a normal Drupal module

Multimedia site

Multilingual site

Internal site

Simple site

University of Drupal

College of Theming

College of Design

College of Security

College of Training

College of Coding

College of Content

College of Translation

College of Hosting

An App is an installable package which solves a concrete task specific use-case. The complexity of its installation should be hidden as much as possible

keeping the process uniform and simple. The goal of the App concept is to make extending the

functionality of a Drupal site with discrete functions in a polished, “user friendly” way its main goal.

Open App Standard

Why apps make sense for platforms

Drupal modules create opportunities, not functionalitiesApps within a single platform can be very specific

Empower non-technical users to add enhancementsRemove risk of misconfigurations and support costs

Centralized deployment and managementVoluntary distribution model

University of Drupal

University of Drupal SSO

CAS module

CAS settings

University of Drupal

Directory

LDAP

Views

LDAP settings

User View

University of Drupal Search

Solr module

Solr settings

Apps Contents

Acquia platformsAcquia Cloud and Drupal Gardens

Acquia Cloud

High performanceFully managed platformUnparalleled developer experience

Optimized for DrupalSimplified Drupal infrastructure

Managed Cloud

What is Managed Cloud?Built on EC2, Acquia Managed Cloud is a highly-available, elastic hosting environment that gives customers one single support number to call for their entire Drupal infrastructure.

What do you get?Single support number & process for all hosting and application support.Fully redundant, high-availability environment at all hardware configuration levelsAutomated monitoring of more than 25 system statisticsOn-demand elasticity to respond to planned or unexpected bursts in traffic24x7 hosting operations and Drupal application emergency support (Web, Email, Phone)A full Enterprise level Acquia Network subscription (search, advisory support, etc)

Enterprise Drupal Gardens

Management dashboardUnified member management

Feature-rich site templatesNo code to updateNo servers to manage

!   Create and deploy compelling online experiences!!   Reduce the operational cost of maintaining websites!!   No vendor lock-in!

The only OpenSaaS website publishing platform available for the enterprise.!

Questions?