(For site managers, content creators, and the tech-savvy alike, here’s why Drupal 11 is worth the leap.)

Whether you manage content every day, steer digital strategy, or ship code, Drupal 11 delivers a faster, friendlier, and more future-ready platform. Here’s what’s new and why it matters.

Today we are talking about AI, How it can be privacy focused, and What amazee.ai is doing to help with guest Michael Schmid. We’ll also cover LiteLLM AI Provider as our module of the week.

For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/515

• Privacy Concerns with AI
• Amazee's Privacy-Focused AI Solutions
• Foundation Models and Their Importance
• AI-Powered Search in Drupal
• Customizing AI Responses and Search
• Proprietary vs. Open Source Models
• Understanding Neural Networks
• Training and Weights in Models
• Integrating AI with Drupal
• Practical Steps to Implement AI in Drupal
• AI and MCP for Automation
• Open Source Models in AI
• Future Directions for MAI AI
• Conclusion and Contact Information

• amazee.ai
• Foundation models
• amazee ai provider & amazee ai vector db module
• Drupal AI module
• AI Chatbot
• MCP
• DrupalGovCon

Michael Schmid - amazee.ai schnitzel

Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Rich Lawson - richlawson.co rklawson

Matt Glaman - mglaman.dev mglaman

• Brief description:
  • AI provider for using LiteLLM. LiteLLM is a gateway that allows connecting to LLMs without accessing the providers directly using the same API as OpenAI along with other governance goodies.
• Module name/project name:
  • LiteLLM AI Provider
• Brief history
  • How old: created on 24 February 2025
  • Versions available: beta, 1.1.0 and 1.0.0 to track main AI module
• Maintainership
  • Actively maintained
• Usage stats:
  • 439
• Maintainer(s):
  • marcus_johansson, andrewbelcher, justanothermark of FreelyGive
• Module features and usage
  • Basically like OpenAI provider but allows it to work with non-OpenAI models and other logic that’s in the OpenAI provider module.

Organizing your website’s content into categories is easy and intuitive, thanks to Drupal’s taxonomy, one of its best built-in tools. But what if your website has hundreds or even thousands of categories — especially in multiple languages — and you need to update or reorganize them frequently?

Dear Readers,

There is a dangerous complacency settling into the tech job market. Too many candidates are trusting automation to polish their image instead of putting in the work to sharpen their skills. Blake Newman’s recent piece on the bleak state of the U.S. Drupal job market should set off alarms. It is not just about Drupal. It is about what happens when the pressure to get hired outweighs the commitment to be qualified.

The uncomfortable truth is that in today’s hiring climate, credibility is currency. You can train it, certify it, and protect it, or you can squander it in a single click. AI can be a remarkable assistant, but it cannot fix a hollow résumé or invent real-world experience. The people who win in this market will be the ones who treat their professional reputation like it is worth more than any algorithm’s output.

If you are serious about standing out, start now. Identify the skills that matter, get them validated, and put them where the right people can see them. Connect with communities that recognize quality. Show your work, not just your buzzwords. Whether you are in Drupal or any other niche, the same rule applies: you will not beat the noise by adding more noise. You will beat it by being undeniably good at what you do.

INTERVIEW

• “Community is How We Compound Progress” — The Developer Behind the London Drupal Engineering Meetup
• Shayaan Momin on Supporting DrupalCamp Pune 2025 Through Design and Community Involvement

DISCOVER DRUPAL

• U.S. Drupal Job Market Enters Tough Phase, Experts Warn
• AI Agent for Drupal Automates Site Management with Natural Language Commands
• Sanjay Mogra's First Drupal Module to Improve Media Display in Views
• ECA Module 3.0.0 for Drupal Released with Drupal 11.2 Support and Modeler API
• RefreshLess Module Adds Turbo Caching and Gains Recognition in Drupal Community
• Markdown Easy 2.0.0-RC1 Released with New Features and Improved Configuration for Drupal
• WebFirst Releases Drupal Acquia Certification Study Guide

EVENTS

• DrupalCon Vienna 2025 Opens Regular Registration
• International Splash Awards 2025 Nominees Announced for DrupalCon Vienna

ORGANIZATION NEWS

• Adaptive Releases Interact AI Mode for Drupal Sites

We acknowledge that there are more stories to share. However, due to selection constraints, we must pause further exploration for now.

To get timely updates, follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Bluesky, and Facebook. You can also join us on Drupal Slack at #thedroptimes.

Thank you, 
Sincerely 
Alka Elizabeth 
Sub-editor, The DropTimes.

Orchestrating Development Teams Like Kubernetes

The pricing conversation has been interesting to watch, especially as it relates to development team orchestration and resource allocation. The comments, the ecosystem convergence discussion, and industry thoughts on agency transformation all point to the same thing: we're in the middle of a shift in how development work gets organized.

I mentioned thinking there might be a better approach to this. Here's what I had in mind.

The Orchestration Model

Think about how Kubernetes works - it's a container orchestration system that automatically manages where and how applications run across multiple servers. You don't manually decide "we need 3 web server pods on server A and 2 database pods on server B."

Instead, you define what services you need (web servers, databases, caches) and how they should scale based on demand. Kubernetes figures out how many of each type to run based on current load and metrics, then figures out where to place them based on available resources and constraints.

What if we applied that same orchestration model to development teams?

Instead of throwing senior-level rates at routine maintenance, or abandoning smaller projects because they don't fit traditional agency economics, we coordinate talent based on what each task actually requires.

A technical architect acts like that Kubernetes orchestration system. They look at project requirements and figure out what types of expertise are needed and how much of each. Then they coordinate between client requirements, available talent, and project constraints to assign the right people to the right tasks. Whether that's a senior developer handling complex architecture decisions, a mentored developer working on implementation tasks, or AI handling routine code generation.

It's about matching the right resource to the right task.

Why This Matters Now

The ecosystem pieces we've been discussing are reducing coordination costs: affordable hosting, professional themes under $500, mentored developers through the IXP (inexperienced) program, Drupal CMS for less technical users, Experience Builder for visual personalization. We still need someone to orchestrate how these pieces work together.

That's where the technical architect orchestration model becomes important. It's not about cheaper labor. It's about intelligent resource allocation.

The Human Element

This connects to what Dries wrote about the "accountability gap" in his analysis of AI and agency transformation. AI can generate code and automate processes, but someone needs to own the results and make sure everything's going the right direction. Sometimes AI gets confused. Someone has to guide it.

The technical architect fills that accountability layer while coordinating the broader team.

Looking Ahead

I've been working on how this orchestration model works in practice - the tools, the processes, the communication patterns that make cross-cultural, multi-skill-level teams effective.

The economics are promising. The client gets better value through intelligent resource allocation. The developers get meaningful work that matches their skill level and expertise. And projects that used to be impossible become viable again.

I'll dive into the implementation details in upcoming posts. But first, what's your experience with these kinds of orchestrated approaches? Have you seen coordination models that work well for distributed teams?

The conversation's just getting started.

Add new comment

Stop paying for emergency fixes and start investing in features that grow your business

Most organizations still treat website maintenance like building maintenance: waiting for something to break before fixing it. But digital platforms are living systems that require continuous evolution to stay secure, performant, and competitive. Unlike a building’s HVAC system that might run for years without attention, websites face constant new security threats, changing user expectations, and evolving technology standards.

Here’s what changes when you shift to proactive operations and maintenance:

• Instead of losing revenue during emergency downtime, your site stays available.
• Instead of paying developers overtime for crisis patches, you’re investing in implementing new features.
• Instead of explaining security breaches to stakeholders, you’re preventing them entirely.

The resources you save on emergency fixes can be reinvested in improvements that actually grow your business.

In this article, you’ll discover:

• The four pillars of modern operations and maintenance (O&M)
• The costs of reactive maintenance and a business case for a proactive approach
• Key components of modern O&M services and the specialized expertise Drupal platforms require
• Whether to build an in-house team, outsource, or adopt a hybrid approach
• The tools and metrics that separate high-performing operations from those just keeping the lights on
• A practical roadmap for transforming your maintenance strategy from firefighting to strategic enablement

Ready to see how proactive maintenance can transform your Drupal platform? Palantir is a Drupal Top Tier Certified Partner and has extensive experience in post-launch maintenance for enterprises, with flexible, integrated teams that keep your site secure, fast, and continuously improving.

What are operations and maintenance services for digital platforms?

When facility managers talk about operations and maintenance, they’re thinking about HVAC systems, plumbing, and electrical grids — physical infrastructure that degrades predictably over time. Digital platforms operate in an entirely different reality. Your website doesn’t rust or wear out. While a building’s roof might need replacing every 20 years, your website’s security patches can’t wait even 20 days. Digital platforms must contend with an ever-shifting landscape of security threats, browser updates, API changes, and user expectations that evolve at the speed of the internet. 

As a result, operations and maintenance in the digital realm call for a unique strategy: a move from break-fix crisis management to continuous improvement. Instead of waiting for problems to surface, modern operations and maintenance anticipate and prevent issues while continuously enhancing platform capabilities.

Indeed, the distinction between operations and maintenance becomes clearer in this digital context:

• Operations ensure your platform runs smoothly day-to-day: monitoring uptime, managing traffic spikes, responding to user issues, and keeping services available.
• Maintenance evolves and improves the platform: updating modules, patching security vulnerabilities, optimizing performance, and adding new capabilities.

Let’s take a look at what a modern digital operations and maintenance service should provide.

The four pillars of modern operations and maintenance

Effective digital operations and maintenance rest on four interconnected pillars, each addressing different aspects of platform health:

• Corrective maintenance handles the inevitable issues that arise despite best efforts. When a module conflict breaks functionality or a server configuration causes errors, corrective maintenance rapidly diagnoses and resolves the problem. Unlike the old break-fix model, modern corrective maintenance includes root cause analysis to prevent recurrence.
• Adaptive maintenance keeps your platform compatible with the changing digital ecosystem. When PHP releases a new version, browsers update their standards, or third-party APIs change their endpoints, adaptive maintenance ensures your site continues functioning seamlessly. This pillar is unique to digital platforms — buildings don’t need updates when Chrome releases a new version!
• Perfective maintenance enhances your platform based on user needs and business goals. This includes improving page load speeds, streamlining content workflows, adding new features, and optimizing user journeys. This is where maintenance transitions from cost center to value creator, directly impacting user satisfaction and business metrics.
• Preventive maintenance proactively protects against future problems through regular health checks, security audits, performance monitoring, and systematic updates. By addressing potential issues before they impact users, preventive maintenance dramatically reduces both downtime and emergency repair costs.

These four pillars work together to create a comprehensive maintenance strategy. Organizations that master all four see improvements in reliability, user satisfaction, and total cost of ownership. 

The business case for proactive operations and maintenance services

Reactive maintenance isn’t just stressful — it’s also expensive. It’s stressful for your developers to scramble to patch systems over the weekend, and it costs you a fortune in overtime. Understanding the true costs of reactive maintenance versus proactive care reveals why forward-thinking organizations are transforming their approach.

Preventing catastrophic failures starts with recognizing how small issues compound. A minor module incompatibility ignored today becomes tomorrow’s site crash during peak traffic. An unpatched vulnerability dismissed as “low risk” becomes next month’s data breach. Technical debt accumulates interest like credit card debt — what seems manageable now can spiral into a crisis that requires a complete platform rebuild in the future. A single unpatched vulnerability could expose your entire user database, leading to breach notifications, legal fees, and diminished customer trust.

The real-world costs of reactive maintenance tell a compelling story:

• Data breaches average $4.4 million globally, not counting reputational damage that can persist for years.
• Downtime costs enterprises $5,600 per minute on average — that’s $336,000 per hour of lost productivity and revenue.
• Performance matters: Every 100ms of added latency can cost 1% in sales, a lesson learned from Amazon’s extensive testing.
• Technical debt consumes 25% of development time in large software enterprises on average.
• GDPR violations can reach 4% of global annual revenue or €20 million, whichever is higher.
• HIPAA penalties start at $100 per compromised record and can reach $2 million annually for repeated violations.
• Accessibility is also a major topic: In the United States, Section 508 non-compliance can lead to lawsuits and legal action. 

Regular accessibility audits, security updates, and compliance monitoring through proactive maintenance cost a fraction of violation penalties — while protecting your organization’s reputation and maintaining customer trust.

Palantir’s Continuous Delivery Portfolio helps organizations transition to a proactive approach, turning maintenance from a necessary evil into a strategic advantage.

Core components of enterprise operations and maintenance services

Modern operations and maintenance for enterprise digital platforms involve a comprehensive approach that addresses security, performance, and continuous evolution:

• Security and compliance management
  • Continuous vulnerability scanning and patch management
  • Compliance monitoring dashboards and reporting
  • Incident response planning and execution
• Performance optimization
  • Database optimization and query tuning
  • Advanced caching strategies and CDN management
  • Core Web Vitals monitoring and improvement
• Feature and content evolution
  • Systematic module testing and updates
  • Continuous feature deployment without disruption
  • Content workflow optimization for editorial teams

These components apply to any enterprise platform — but if you’re running Drupal, its architecture and ecosystem demand specialized knowledge that generic web maintenance providers can’t always offer.

Why Drupal sites require specialized operations and maintenance expertise

• Module ecosystem complexity: Managing dependencies across hundreds of contributed modules requires understanding not just individual modules, but how they interact, which combinations cause conflicts, and how updates cascade through the system.
• Core update strategies: Taking advantage of innovative features in new versions needs to be balanced with maintaining stability across Drupal’s release cycle. You need to know when to apply security updates immediately versus waiting for minor releases, and planning major version migrations years in advance.
• Custom code maintenance: Ensuring your unique functionality evolves with core requires deep understanding of Drupal’s APIs, coding standards, and deprecation timelines to prevent custom solutions from becoming tomorrow’s technical debt.
• Multi-site governance: Coordinating updates across complex Drupal architectures demands expertise in configuration management, deployment strategies, and understanding how changes propagate across shared codebases.

Working with a certified parter is the best way to manage a Drupal setup. Palantir’s Top Tier Certified Partner status represents our continuous contributions to Drupal core, deep involvement in the community, and proven expertise across hundreds of implementations. This means our operations and maintenance teams don’t just know how to use Drupal, but help shape its future, giving you insights into upcoming changes and best practices that only come from being at the forefront of platform development.

Building your O&M team: In-house vs. managed services

The skills required for comprehensive operations and maintenance span multiple disciplines:

• Security and compliance specialists who stay current with vulnerability management  and ensure compliance with regulations like HIPAA, GDPR, or Section 508 accessibility standards.
• Performance engineers who optimize database queries, implement caching strategies, manage CDN configurations, and monitor Core Web Vitals that directly impact search rankings and user experience.
• DevOps specialists who implement automated testing pipelines, manage CI/CD deployment workflows, configure monitoring systems, and maintain the infrastructure that keeps your platform running smoothly.
• Strategic consultants who translate business objectives into technical roadmaps, evaluate emerging technologies, and ensure your platform investment continues supporting organizational growth.
• Drupal architects who understand module dependencies, core upgrade strategies, custom code maintenance, and how to evolve functionality through platform updates without breaking existing features. You’ll need analogous specialists for any other CMS you might be using.

Finding all this expertise within a single team represents a significant investment and ongoing challenge. For this reason, outsourced and hybrid models are proving popular. These alternative models can also offer significant financial benefits.

Comparing in-house teams, outsourcing, and hybrid models

Building an in-house team with comprehensive O&M capabilities requires significant investment. For enterprise-level expertise across all required disciplines — security specialists, performance engineers, Drupal architects, DevOps specialists, and strategic consultants — in-house teams can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in salaries alone, before benefits, training, and infrastructure costs

Complete outsourcing offers cost predictability, but that cost varies widely based on scope and complexity. A fully outsourced approach for an enterprise Drupal platform is likely to cost thousands of dollars per month, but this is still significantly less than building equivalent capabilities in-house. However, complete outsourcing creates risks around knowledge transfer, potential vendor lock-in, and loss of internal institutional knowledge about your platform and business requirements.

Hybrid models combine internal knowledge with external expertise. Your internal team retains institutional knowledge, understands business priorities, and maintains day-to-day operational control. External specialists then provide deep technical expertise, stay current with rapidly evolving best practices, and offer the surge capacity needed for major updates or strategic initiatives.

This hybrid model typically costs 40–60% less than building equivalent capabilities in-house, while avoiding the knowledge transfer risks of complete outsourcing. Your organization maintains control and develops internal capability while accessing specialized expertise that would be prohibitively expensive to hire full-time.

How Palantir’s Continuous Delivery Portfolio works

At Palantir, we take a hybrid approach. Our Continuous Delivery Portfolio offers friction-free integration with your existing team structure — functioning as an extension of your team rather than an external vendor relationship.

Our Continuous Delivery Portfolio (CDP) offers:

• Dedicated client success teams: Senior Drupal developers, security specialists, performance engineers, and strategic consultants who become genuine members of your extended team, participating in planning sessions and working toward shared success metrics.
• Flexible engagement models: Services scale from focused monthly retainers for routine maintenance to comprehensive strategic partnerships, adapting to your specific requirements and budget.
• Seamless integration: Our team members embed within your internal teams, organize sprints, and contribute to strategic decisions while ensuring knowledge transfer and leveraging our Certified Partner expertise. We also have close relationships with leading Drupal hosted infrastructure providers, like Acquia and Pantheon.
• Knowledge transfer commitment: Every decision is documented, your team gains capability rather than dependency, and we ensure you can manage your platform independently. Our goal is empowerment, not vendor lock-in.
• Strategic roadmapping: Regular planning and feedback sessions identify emerging business needs and align technical developments with organizational objectives, transforming maintenance from reactive crisis management into proactive strategic enablement.

Read more about Palantir’s Continuous Delivery Portfolio and find out if it might be the best model for your business.

Measuring operations and maintenance success

Effective operations and maintenance requires measurement beyond simple uptime percentages. While 99.99% uptime sounds impressive, it doesn’t capture whether your platform is actually supporting business objectives or providing excellent user experiences.

You’ll need to define more meaningful KPIs, including:

• Security metrics: Track vulnerability remediation speed, compliance audit results, and security posture improvements over time, not just the absence of breaches.
• Performance metrics: Monitor Core Web Vitals scores that impact search rankings, page load times that affect conversion rates, and database optimization that reduces infrastructure costs.
• User experience metrics: Measure task completion rates, user satisfaction scores, and accessibility compliance that ensures your platform serves all users effectively.
• Business impact metrics: Connect technical improvements to organizational outcomes: revenue impact from performance optimization, cost savings from automated processes, and risk reduction from proactive security measures.
• Development velocity metrics: Track how O&M services enable your team to focus on strategic initiatives rather than firefighting, measuring feature delivery speed and technical debt reduction.

Regular reviews analyze metrics trends, assess whether current services meet evolving needs, and identify opportunities for optimization or automation. This ensures O&M investments continue delivering value as your organization and platform mature.

Essential tools for comprehensive visibility

Of course, accurately assessing your O&M success depends on having the right monitoring and automation tools in place. Here are some you might want to consider:

• Real-time monitoring and alerting platforms like New Relic, DataDog, or Nagios provide immediate notification of performance issues, security events, and system anomalies before they impact users.
• Automated deployment and rollback systems such as Jenkins, GitLab CI/CD, or GitHub Actions enable rapid feature releases with safety nets that can quickly revert problematic changes if issues arise.
• Performance testing and optimization suites including GTmetrix, WebPageTest, or Lighthouse continuously assess site speed, database efficiency, and user experience metrics across different devices and network conditions.
• Security scanning and compliance tools like OWASP ZAP, Qualys, or Nessus provide ongoing vulnerability assessment, compliance monitoring, and threat detection that keeps your platform protected against emerging security risks.

Your operations and maintenance transformation roadmap

Transforming from reactive to proactive operations and maintenance can’t be done overnight. You need a structured approach that addresses immediate risks while building long-term capability.

Successful transformations follow a systematic roadmap:

• Current state assessment: Begin with a comprehensive audit of your existing maintenance practices, security posture, and performance baselines. This includes reviewing current backup procedures, update schedules, monitoring capabilities, and team responsibilities. Document existing pain points, recurring issues, and resources currently dedicated to maintenance activities.
• Gap analysis: Compare your current capabilities against industry best practices and your specific compliance requirements. Identify immediate security vulnerabilities that require urgent attention, performance bottlenecks limiting user experience, and process gaps that create operational risk. Assess your team’s current skills against the expertise needed for comprehensive O&M.
• Prioritization framework: Security vulnerabilities and compliance issues typically require immediate attention. Performance improvements that directly impact user experience and revenue should follow closely. Longer-term initiatives like DevOps transformation and advanced monitoring can be planned for subsequent phases based on available resources and organizational readiness.
• Implementation timeline: Plan realistic phases for O&M maturity, for example:
  • Phase 1 (Months 1-3) an initial site audit to establish benchmarks, identify KPIs, and address critical issues or vulnerabilities.
  • Phase 2 (Months 4-9) focuses on performance optimization, staged deployment processes, and automated testing.
  • Phase 3 (Months 10-18) introduces advanced monitoring and begins measuring business impact metrics.

Working with an experienced external partner can accelerate this transformation by providing immediate access to specialized expertise, proven methodologies, and tools that would take months or years to develop internally. 

The right partner brings not only technical capabilities but also strategic guidance on prioritization and realistic timeline planning.Palantir’s expertise spans all phases of this transformation roadmap. Our Drupal CertifiedPartner status demonstrates our deep platform knowledge, while our 25+ years of open source experience means we understand the unique challenges enterprises face when modernizing their operations and maintenance approaches.

We’ve guided organizations through comprehensive assessments, gap analyses, and phased implementations across the healthcare, government, higher education, and enterprise sectors.

Contact Palantir today or read more about our post-launch maintenance services.

For years, merchants using Stripe with Drupal Commerce have faced a familiar dance: sign up for Stripe, create API keys in the Stripe dashboard, copy them over to Drupal, paste them into the right fields, and hope everything connects properly. Not complicated for a developer or experienced site builder who is familiar with the steps, but it's one of those friction points that makes launching a new e-commerce site more complex than it needs to be.

That changes with the latest release of the Commerce Stripe module. It now integrates with Stripe Connect, which simplifies the payment gateway setup process.

What Changes With Stripe Connect

Stripe Connect changes this entire workflow by acting as a secure bridge between your Drupal Commerce site and your Stripe account. Instead of manually copying credentials, merchants can now authenticate directly through Stripe's interface and automatically establish the connection.

For merchants new to Stripe

When setting up a payment gateway, merchants see a "Connect with Stripe" button. Clicking this button takes them to a Stripe-hosted page where they can create a new account. Once authenticated, they're redirected back to Drupal with the connection automatically configured.

For existing Stripe merchants

The same streamlined process applies. They just need to log into their existing Stripe account to connect without manual key management.

Why This Matters Beyond Convenience

While the improved user experience is the most visible benefit, Stripe Connect brings several strategic advantages that we believe strengthen the entire Drupal Commerce ecosystem.