Outsourcing and Open Sourcing in the Academy

Track: 
Business and Strategy
Experience: 
Intermediate

"Bridging the gap between research institutions and external developers"

Outsourcing Drupal development at research universities can lead to a culture clash with Drupal developers used to working in a startup mentality. At its best, this tension results in enhanced creativity and productivity, and leads to successful projects.

At its worst, this tension can create miscommunication, finger-pointing, and disappointment with the final product.

The founders of the Jasper Group, a Stanford University Drupal consulting group, describe their method of working with campus departments and outside Drupal developers to create:

  • Better clients
  • Better developers
  • Better websites
Intended audience: 

Drupal developers (freelance and larger shops) looking to expand into higher education; Higher education administrators

Questions answered by this session
Question 1: 
How can developers win contracts at large research institutions?
Question 2: 
Understanding the client: Why does Stanford prefer the RFP process, and how can developers deal with jumping through institutional hoops?
Question 3: 
What do developers need to craft a killer proposal?
Question 4: 
How can developers be better at providing Drupal services to higher education institutions?
Question 5: 
What do research universities and Drupal both stand to gain from academic deployments?
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