How Drupal can cut time and cost for Enterprise Applications

When I first discovered Drupal, I thought it was a very usable CMS (Content Management System) for building dynamic websites. I discovered that it was even truer than I had first thought. Drupal does an excellent job as a CMS. The multitude of modules the Drupal ecosystem provides is amazing. But then I discovered something even better - these modules can be combined to create very powerful applications with complex data models, workflows and screenflows. And when no module provides exactly what you need, you can write your own modules with minimal difficulty. And as I started writing my own Drupal modules, I discovered how powerful and well thought-out the Drupal architecture is. New modules can change the face (and function) of Drupal almost beyond recognition without changing a single line of code in the existing modules. The hook system of Drupal allows you to insert/append your own functions at almost any point in the processing. This gives you a way of manipulating Drupal's behavior in a very non-intrusive manner. The result of all this is that Drupal-based enterprise application development cuts time and cost in a big way. Let me repeat that, because it's worth repeating - Drupal-based enterprise application development cuts time and cost in a BIG way.

• To begin with, Drupal core provides a huge amount of functionality that almost all typical web-applications need. In Drupal 6, you had to use CCK to build your own content types from the browser UI. But with Drupal 7, even that has now been moved into the core - in a very elegant manner.
• The great number, variety and quality of Drupal modules provides for most other needs that most web-applications have. You don't have to include them all. Just take what you need.
• And finally, writing your own modules using Drupal API and hooks allows you to add the functionality that is specific to your application.

Now, the seasoned IT Pros among you might snicker a bit since you have probably heard this pitch before. There have been hundreds of web-application development frameworks or platforms or libraries that were supposed to have solved the problem of writing web-applications. But Drupal is all of those, plus a fully functioning CMS right out of the box. It actually is quite surprising that this kind of innovation didn't come from other well-entrenched web-application technologies first (such as Java and .Net). To be sure, they are watching the success of Drupal and trying to emulate it with their own similar systems. But at this point, they are far behind. So in the meanwhile, we have Drupal.

SpinSpire has the expertise and the experience to quickly understand your enterprise application needs, turn them into requirements, and come up with a functional design. And once that is done, converting that into a robust, working application is made quite manageable (I won't say easy) by Drupal. So contact us and ask us how we can help.