<html><body><span style="font-family:Verdana; color:#000000; font-size:10pt;">I am generally looking to use this forum to find consultants to assist with a Drupal deployment. I'm looking for experts who can tell me what Drupal can do well, but I also need people that can sort out when it can't.<br><br>I think as long as the focus is kept on Drupal and people are trying to find ways to solve problems in Drupal first, then my needs are met.<br><br>Thanks,<br><br>Mark<br><br>
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-------- Original Message --------<br>
Subject: Re: [consulting] Who exactly is this list for?<br>
From: "Darrel O'Pry" <darrel.opry@gmail.com><br>
Date: Wed, March 04, 2009 10:51 am<br>
To: "A list for Drupal consultants and Drupal service/hosting<br>
providers" <consulting@drupal.org><br>
<br>
<div>At the end of the day you have to meet a clients business needs and budget, regardless of the tool you use... This list just happens to be populated with people who prefer Drupal.. I don't think it is toxic by any means to analyze other products... Heck It probably even helps illustrate which parts of Drupal are behind the rest of the market...<br> </div><div><br></div><div>I think the whole `Who is this list for` discussion is a waste of time. I don't think it's really in need of an identity crisis.. It's a list for consultants who use Drupal. Keep it open and inclusive. Nothing good comes of elitism or exclusiveness, it slows the exchange of ideas and experience.</div> <div><br></div><div>.darrel.</div><div><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 1:20 PM, Andrew R. Kelly <font dir="ltr"><<a onclick="return true;if(window.location==top.location){Popup.composeWindow('pcompose.php?sendto=arkelly%40cognisync.com');}else{top.Popup.composeWindow('pcompose.php?sendto=arkelly%40cognisync.com');}; return false;" href="mailto:arkelly@cognisync.com" target="_blank" mce_href="mailto:arkelly@cognisync.com">arkelly@cognisync.com</a>></font> wrote:<br> <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Brian,<br> <br> Your response is in line with what I was thinking about after my last post,<br> that there are varying types of business models on this list, from<br> individual Drupal experts to tool-agnostic experts (like yourself) to<br> Drupal-based solution providers (like my firm). These different models are<br> manifesting themselves in conversations, which I believe is harmful. IMO<br> conversations on this list should not be aligned with member business<br> models, they should be aligned with proliferating Drupal in a responsible<br> manner. So as an example, I'd be disappointed if someone posted to this<br> list "I have a lead on an engagement to provide discussion forums to a<br> client, how do I position Drupal against vBulletin?" and have "They really<br> should use vBulletin it's a better product" be an acceptable response. Why?<br> Because Drupal forums are a viable market player and this group, in this<br> particular setting, cares about proliferating the use of Drupal, not<br> ensuring that Company X (who we don't even know) has a good discussion<br> forum.<br> <br> I mean no disrespect, just trying to gauge the culture of this list. If I'm<br> in a minority that has Drupal as a cornerstone of their business then so be<br> it I'll shut up :)<br> <br> Btw the vote is a good idea but I think this conversation is worthwhile<br> along side it.<br> <font color="#888888"><br> Andrew<br> </font><div class="im"><br> <br> Andrew,<br> <br> As much as some day I hope Drupal is able to be everything to everyone,<br> it still does not match up to standalone solutions in some areas such as<br> wikis or forums. *puts on asbestos underwear*<br> <br> The work I do isn't necessarily about promoting Drupal. It's about<br> providing my clients the best solution to their needs at the best price.<br> In most situations, Drupal is the solution of choice. However, I can't<br> in good conscience recommend a client use Drupal if all they want is a<br> forum (for instance). The costs of making a pure Drupal solution match<br> up to the feature set of VBulletin is cost prohibitive if that is what<br> the client wants.<br> <br> Like I said above - I love Drupal, and will use it as far as is feasible<br> to accomplish my clients' objectives. But it's just one tool in the<br> toolbox, and occasionally, it's not the right one from a cost/benefit<br> perspective.<br> <br> Brian<br> <br> <br> </div><div><div></div><div class="h5">_______________________________________________<br> consulting mailing list<br> <a onclick="return true;if(window.location==top.location){Popup.composeWindow('pcompose.php?sendto=consulting%40drupal.org');}else{top.Popup.composeWindow('pcompose.php?sendto=consulting%40drupal.org');}; return false;" href="mailto:consulting@drupal.org" target="_blank" mce_href="mailto:consulting@drupal.org">consulting@drupal.org</a><br> <a href="http://lists.drupal.org/mailman/listinfo/consulting" mce_href="http://lists.drupal.org/mailman/listinfo/consulting" target="_blank">http://lists.drupal.org/mailman/listinfo/consulting</a><br> </div></div></blockquote></div><br></div> <hr>_______________________________________________<br>
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