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?