Drupal’s inclusion in both Gartner’s Magic Quadrant and Forrester's Wave of content management systems has shone a spotlight on the open source CMS’s capabilities.
Major corporates are now joining government and not-for-profit organisations by specifying Drupal in their web development RFPs.
But the rates charged by European or North American development companies have encouraged a second wave of outsourcing to lower cost overseas Drupal developers.
And if our experiences are anything to go by, perceptions of outsourcing have evolved as destinations like South Africa have asserted their capabilities.
Outsourcing was always fraught with compromise. Sending work to India or China meant you got more for your money, but you paid in other ways. Language, cultural and time zone differences impacted communication, creating frustration and project overruns.
But, as the Financial Mail records, the recent devaluation of the South African Rand has made it a viable alternative for enterprises looking for value.
It might still be a more expensive destination than the East, but when South Africans’ work ethic, their cultural affinity to the western world, the country’s central time zone, their tech skills and their ability to execute on time are factored in, it makes a compelling case for the outsourcing of Drupal projects to South Africa - or at the very least to include South African companies on tender or RFQ lists.
And that’s something we’re seeing at Rogerwilco. As one of South Africa’s longest established and largest Drupal development studios, we’ve seen a steady increase in interest from overseas organisations looking for support.
In some instances, they're looking for Drupal consulting to help put existing projects back on track; in other cases they're looking at pricing delivery capabilities for new builds.
Recent clients who’ve outsourced work to us include the World Economic Forum, NEPAD, the United Nations, the UK’s largest conference company and Medecins sans Frontieres.
They’ve contracted us because our agile development methodology driven by SCRUM certified professionals has given us a proven track record of on-time, on-budget delivery.
Our active involvement in the Drupal community - which ranges from our membership of the Drupal Association to our partnership with Acquia, Drupal's commercial arm, which has seen all of our developers attain Acquia certification - means we're on top of the CMS's latest developments and releases.
Clients have also appreciated that alongside our core Drupal specialism, we can offer a variety of other services from user experience modelling to search engine optimisation (we’re rated as South Africa’s best SEO company), from content marketing to data analysis and conversion optimisation.
So if you’re looking for value, we’re just an email or phone call away. And you can, of course, read more about our Drupal development capabilities or how we can assist with your Drupal 9 upgrade.
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