Becoming a Drupal Certified Partner: How commitment to open source drives value and success at PreviousNext

DCP: a certification that matters

As one of the co-founders of PreviousNext, I’ve seen firsthand how our commitment to open source and our partnership with the Drupal community has shaped who we are as a company and driven our success. Being a Drupal Certified Partner isn’t just a credential; it’s a core element of our business model and a commitment to our clients, our team, and the open source community we rely on. 

Here’s why being a Drupal Certified Partner matters to us, and why I think other Drupal agencies should consider joining the program too...

The early days: how PreviousNext found its path with Drupal

When we founded PreviousNext back in 2009, my co-founder, Kim Pepper, and I had both been working with web technologies since the early days of the web itself. As we looked at the technologies available, Kim’s background in Java and his interest in “serious tech” like Ruby and Python made those tools a natural focus. Then, a project opportunity arose with a leading public broadcaster and I suggested we pitch Drupal.

At the time, people didn’t necessarily recognise Drupal as a serious player in the enterprise tech stack yet, so I had to convince Kim to take a closer look. We ended up winning that project, and before we knew it, Drupal was opening doors to big, new clients. Our decision to specialise in Drupal was cemented in 2010 during our first DrupalCon in San Francisco. 

Image attribution: DrupalCon SF

Walking into the same keynote room as Steve Jobs would announce the latest Apple products, seeing thousands of people and realising the scale of the Drupal community made it clear that this was something much bigger on a global scale than we had ever imagined. A vibrant community of thousands of people was pushing the platform forward and were enthusiastic to help us become a part of it. That moment changed everything for us.

Fostering a culture of contribution

One of our early initiatives was integrating contribution into new team members’ onboarding and professional development process at PreviousNext. Whether they had prior Drupal experience or not, we introduced new hires to the world of Drupal contribution as part of their journey with our team. This helped build their skills, broaden their professional profiles and connect them to the global Drupal community. Our developers quickly became module maintainers and many grew to play key roles in critical areas of the Drupal project.

Our culture of contribution also extended to encouraging team members to speak at DrupalCon and other conferences. We supported those who wanted to share their expertise, recognising that building their personal and our company profile in the community was a valuable form of marketing and growth.

Contribution as …

A competitive advantage

From early on, we understood the importance of actively contributing to the Drupal community. Contribution became a core part of our company’s culture and a competitive advantage for us. We adopted a policy inspired by Google at the time, allowing our developers to dedicate 20% of their billable hours to contribution and professional development. This policy attracted the best developers and ensured that our team remained engaged, motivated and on the cutting edge of Drupal development outside of their regular client work.

For PreviousNext, contributing isn’t about checking boxes or chasing credits - it’s a key part of our process and commitment to the Drupal community. As contributors, our team members develop and deepen their skills and have opportunities to collaborate with and be mentored by some of the most brilliant Drupal developers globally. This investment in people is the foundation of our reputation as Australia’s most experienced Drupal agency and gives us a competitive advantage both in our region and internationally.

A hiring and retention advantage

Finding and training new talent is costly for everyone in our industry, so supporting contribution and personal and professional development for our team members is a massive win in this regard. Our employee retention across the entire team is up to triple the industry average, with studies I've read indicating tech industry employee tenure is typically 2–3 years in one company. 

A sales advantage

Contribution helps us sell, too. We quickly realised that contribution gave us a significant edge when pitching to clients. By showing our contributions and involvement in the community, we could demonstrate that we weren’t just Drupal users but actively shaping its future. This deep involvement gave us insights and access to networks beyond what other agencies could offer and it helped us win clients by emphasising our commitment to open source and best practices.

A business advantage

Our profit margin is consistently three times higher than the Ibis World benchmark for Web Design Services in Australia, which we get from our annual independent valuation as an employee-owned company. While we might occasionally lose a pitch on price alone, high-end customers are generally happy to pay a bit more for a stable team with a proven track record of deep experience and high quality outcomes.

As you can see, contribution is not something we view as a business cost at PreviousNext, it's a well-proven business accelerator! 

Contribution benefits clients and strengthens projects

We’ve seen that contributing to Drupal isn’t just about the altruism of 'giving back'; it’s a deeply practical business advantage. When our developers fix a bug or add a feature in Drupal core or modules, they improve the tools that our clients rely on. By committing these improvements back to the community, we ensure that future projects can leverage them without reinventing the wheel. That is, without wasting time and effort to recreate work over and over.

Our commitment to contribution is a big reason why our code adheres to the highest coding standards. Sure, we follow best practices, ensuring that every line we write can be picked up by any other Drupal expert and understood. But also, when you know you’re submitting code publicly for review by Drupal’s Core and Security Teams, it's a strong motivator to deliver high quality work. This transparency and adherence to standards offer clients security: they know that if they choose to work with another agency down the road, the work is maintainable and up to the highest standards. It’s a win for our clients, the broader community, and us.

The long-term value of supporting open source

While many agencies might measure ROI in terms of leads generated or short-term gains, we take a very different approach. Our outlook is simple: if Drupal succeeds in the long term, so does PreviousNext. Whether a client picks us or another DCP, the pie grows for everyone if they stay with Drupal. That’s why we invest in the platform and focus on contributing where we can make the most impact.

Our contributions aren’t centrally directed or micromanaged - each developer follows their passions. This approach fosters engagement and allows developers to shape their contributions around both client work and personal development goals. Recently, our team chose to focus on the Experience Builder initiative - which will be incorporated into the new Drupal CMS - a community-driven project dedicated to making Drupal a best-in-class low/no-code CMS for content creators and ambitious marketers. This decision came from the team, driven by their excitement to make a difference in an area they care about and have the expertise to assist.

Why being a Drupal Certified Partner matters

Becoming a Drupal Certified Partner (DCP) when the program first launched was a natural step in our company's journey. The DCP designation is more than a badge; it recognises our commitment to quality, collaboration and the future of Drupal. Clients look to us for our technical abilities, deep understanding of the ecosystem, and active involvement within it.

This partnership with Drupal also gives us a unique advantage when talking with potential clients. At the end of every pitch, we emphasise that we’re not just users of Drupal - we’re contributors. We understand the ins and outs of the platform, influence the roadmap and can leverage our relationships with an entire network of other Drupal developers around the world. This level of involvement is something we would never achieve as a small Australian company if we were simply downloading and using the software. We bring that value to every project we take on and it has been a significant factor in winning business and building client trust.

You should consider becoming a DCP

For any agency working with Drupal, becoming a DCP isn’t just another badge for your website - it’s a way to amplify your connection to the Drupal community, clients, and the future of the platform. The program provides visibility and demonstrates commitment, giving clients confidence in your skills and dedication to Drupal’s success. DCP status has brought us even closer to the Drupal community, helping us build relationships and leverage a wealth of knowledge and expertise. While it might seem counterintuitive for a company to encourage its competitors to boost their expertise and credentials, Drupal itself benefits tremendously when clients know there's an entire ecosystem of highly qualified vendors who can deliver their projects. Find out more about the Drupal Certified Partner program.