[consulting] Who exactly is this list for?

[Andrew R. Kelly]

/In my mind, this group should never tell someone NOT to use Drupal if 
it's a possible solution, because we're here together to promote/extend 
Drupal and penetrate as many markets as we can. Its Drupal first on this 
list right?/

I have to disagree with this statement.

Drupal is a very flexible CMS. We all know that. However, there are some 
projects for which Drupal is not the best solution. I think more damage 
is done by encouraging someone to use Drupal when it is not the best 
solution for a project than by referring them to another project. Making 
someone pound a square peg into a round hole is only likely to frustrate 
them, cast a poor light on Drupal.

Brian

[ak] I'd like to pursue this point for a bit, it hits to the culture of the
list. Are we here to simply qualify Drupal as the "best" solution and if
not, advise against it?  Or do we support each other if Drupal is a "viable"
solution?  I see the world through competitive lenses and there is only one
leader in every market, the followers don't typically back off because they
aren't the "best" solution, it's the nature of business.  If this group is
focused and aggressive, it can be a formidable force against competing FOSS
products and COTS products with very small consulting departments.  I would
love to tell a prospect "So, its between Drupal and Jive Clearspace eh?
Well, Jive has a 10 person consulting group, we have a 1000 person strong
group :)"

I do want to mention that I find this list content valuable and applaud
those responsible for it - these comments are not meant to be criticism of
those efforts at all.

Andrew