Development partners

Choosing a development partner

Your organisation may need help to build a new website or migrate an existing one.

GovCMS hosting plans don't cover the cost of building, modifying or migrating websites. However, there are a number of service providers who can help get your website off the ground.

Find out below how your organisation can procure Drupal expertise.

Drupal Services Panel

We created the Drupal Services Panel to help your team help itself. There are 19 GovCMS approved Drupal specialists on the panel.

The Drupal Services Panel Products and Services Guide will help you research and compare suppliers.

Accessing the panel simplifies contract management processes for your organisation.

Supply Nation service providers

Engage Indigenous ICT specialists by searching the Supply Nation panel of pre-verified businesses. These providers have experience delivering Drupal and GovCMS projects.

The Digital Marketplace

Run your own procurement process and approach the market directly. There are suppliers on the Digital Marketplace that have experience developing Drupal projects. The marketplace is managed by the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA).

About the Drupal Services Panel

The Drupal Services Panel (DSP) is a list of approved suppliers including small to medium enterprises and individuals with Drupal and GovCMS expertise. The panel was created to help organisations find Drupal specialists and to simplify contract management arrangements.

Important notice

The panel has been extended to 30 June 2021 and can be used by Australian Government, state or territory government, local government, government educational institutions and other government bodies.

What's on offer?

If you are looking to engage suppliers with specific skills sets, you can access Drupal services based on specialised Drupal skills. If you are looking for multiple services to deliver a larger scope of work, you can bundle and access service packages.

Contact the GovCMS team for a copy of the Services Catalogue.

Not on offer

• Service packages not found in the Services Catalogue
• Partial delivery of a service package with multiple providers
• Development of non-Drupal websites
• User research that's not part of a Drupal project
• Content editing and writing

How to access the Drupal Services Panel

Approach the panel

Use the requirements template to help define your statement of requirements and approach the panel for quotes.

The project scope is the responsibility of the buyer, not the supplier, the GovCMS team or the Department of Finance.

Evaluate quotes

Suppliers bid for projects by providing a quote and will include a draft work order or statement of work.

A supplier may offer discounts on a contract-by-contract basis and the buyer can also seek to negotiate a cheaper rate. You are required to make your own value for money assessment on quotes received.

Prepare a draft contract

Draft a contract using the template provided under this panel and add to it as needed.

Make sure the contract is correct and reflects all activities purchased from the supplier(s) and anything that's excluded e.g. work you're going to do yourself.

Project kick off

The project can start. Make sure you manage the delivery and acceptance of the services defined in the contract.

Project changes

During the project, you may need to make changes, for example extending the scope of deliverables or timeframes. Use the change order template to define your new requirements.

All contract change orders will need to be approved by the GovCMS team prior to the change.

Important notice

Please send all draft Contract and Change Order forms to GovCMS@finance.gov.au to ensure that they are valid and protected under the provisions of the Panel Head Agreement. All Contracts and Change orders are invalid and cannot be executed without a unique tracking number provided by the GovCMS team.

Once the supplier has signed and executed the contract, countersign the contract and send a copy back to the supplier and to GovCMS@finance.gov.au within seven business days.

Project finish

If your project includes migration to GovCMS hosting, either SaaS or PaaS, there is an extra step required to finish your project.

The GovCMS team manages the SaaS platform and is responsible for coordinating the upload, configuration and launch of all new websites.

Approved panel suppliers

Specialised Drupal skills

You may like to engage suppliers with specific skills sets:

• Solution design and technical architecture advisory services
• Drupal application programming services
• Build and migration services
• Quality assurance services
• Integration services
• Application support services
• Documentation services
• Agile services

Drupal Services packages

You may like to choose from our list of predefined service packages where you can buy service packages at a fixed price:

• Website assessments and advisory services - one, three and five day workshops to help you plan your project
• Website re-hosting and installation - perfect if you've already got a Drupal website and want to use GovCMS PaaS hosting
• Drupal theme development and enhancement - create the look and feel for your website, or make some changes
• Content migration and consolidation - great for moving content from your old website to your new Drupal website
• Site audits and technical reviews - for existing Drupal websites that might need some fine-tuning
• On-going Drupal application support - blocks of hours you can use over time, including after-hours support

You could also choose to buy multiple service packages to deliver a larger scope of work or mix and match services from different suppliers to take advantage of different specialist skills, specific periods of availability, or commercial discounts.

Contact the GovCMS team for a copy of the Services Catalogue to see full details of services and packages. Prices shown in the catalogue are maximum prices - discounts can be offered on a contract-by-contract basis.

If you are ready to use the panel and your request is urgent, please ensure you tell us up front in your initial contact.