For years, there’s been a lingering perception that open source software is the “small player” in the technology world—fine for hobby projects or start-ups, but not quite up to enterprise demands.
When large organisations think about “enterprise-ready,” they picture security, scalability, governance, and long-term stability. They need platforms that can integrate across complex systems, manage high volumes of traffic, and keep sensitive data safe.
So, is open source up to the task? If we look at Drupal, the answer is a confident “yes”.
Understanding the perception
Commercial software vendors have been quick to market their products as “enterprise solutions,” often positioning them as the only safe bet for big organisations. This has fed a long-standing narrative: community-developed software can’t operate at scale.
Murray Woodman, Managing Director at Morpht, has seen this perception play out.
“Over the years, a lot of fear, uncertainty and doubt has been thrown at the open source community. Our competitors are really well capitalised with massive marketing and sales teams. Drupal can’t compete with that on a sales level - but it can compete on its track record and its commitment to innovation, quality and reliability.”
For procurement teams, commercial licensing often feels like a safer choice, but that safety is often more perception than reality. The real test is whether the platform can meet enterprise requirements in live, high-stakes environments.
What Drupal brings to the enterprise table
Drupal has been running mission-critical websites for governments, universities, and large organisations worldwide for more than two decades. That longevity means it’s had time to solve complex problems many times over, building a wealth of patterns, best practices, and proven approaches into the platform.
Drupal offers:
- Enterprise workflows: From complex, multi-department approvals to highly customised publishing processes, Drupal supports the kinds of intricate workflows that large organisations depend on.
- Security: Drupal’s dedicated Security Team reviews core and contributed modules, and security patches are regularly rolled out, covering not just core but the wider contributed ecosystem.
- Integration-ready architecture: Drupal’s APIs and contributed modules connect with CRMs, ERPs, analytics platforms, search tools, and marketing automation systems.
- Governance and direction: The Drupal Association maintains a clear roadmap, with recent initiatives like the Experience Builder, Drupal Recipes, and the Drupal AI Initiative aimed at meeting the needs of ambitious site builders, editors, and marketers.
“Drupal is battle tested. It’s had the time to develop the patterns and functionalities enterprises need, backed by a rich ecosystem of modules and an experienced global community,” said Murray.
Evidence in action
Drupal has been the CMS of choice for many enterprise clients for many years. Today Tesla, Warner Music Group, General Electric and many others use Drupal. Tesla uses Drupal for its website to manage a large user base and handle e-commerce needs. Warner Music Group uses Drupal for its entertainment portal and online store, managing extensive multimedia content and integrating with music distribution and payment platforms. General Electric uses Drupal for its primary corporate and numerous child websites, handling a wide range of content for its diverse business areas.
Across Australia and New Zealand, Drupal powers many high-profile government and enterprise sites. Kurt Foster, CTO at Salsa Digital, points to the Victorian Government’s Single Digital Presence project as a prime example of Drupal’s scalability.
“During COVID-19 - a period of intense, daily public updates - we didn’t have a single outage. The cache management system meant we could handle massive traffic spikes without overwhelming the infrastructure,” Kurt said.
“One Drupal instance powered over 30 sites, with hundreds of content editors working simultaneously.”
This wasn’t just about serving static pages - government communications during a pandemic meant constantly updated, dynamic content. Drupal’s cache system intelligently invalidated only the relevant pages, keeping everything fast without compromising accuracy.
Globally, Drupal is trusted by the United Nations, large corporations, and national governments, often in situations where uptime and security are non-negotiable.
Drupal’s enterprise advantages
- Flexibility without vendor lock-in
You own the code base and can customise as needed. If a feature doesn’t exist, you can build it, rather than waiting years for a vendor to prioritise it. - Composable architecture
Drupal’s open, adaptable foundation lets you integrate best-of-breed SaaS tools without being tied to a monolithic platform, reducing the risk of overpaying for unused features. - Cost structure
There are no software licensing fees; investments go into implementation, hosting, and support. The result is often a more competitive procurement process with more supplier choice. - Future-proofing
Regular, easy-to-adopt updates keep the platform modern without forcing disruptive rebuilds. Current initiatives are improving editor experience, supporting AI-assisted workflows, and defining reusable “recipes” for common site patterns. - Mature local ecosystem
In Australia and New Zealand, there’s a diverse pool of experienced Drupal agencies and hosting providers, giving enterprises multiple options for delivery and ongoing support. - Enterprise security
Drupal's security model is transparent and well governed, with a dedicated global security team, formal disclosure processes, and predictable patch cycles. Enterprises can verify the controls rather than trust marketing. See the detailed overview at https://drupalsouth.org/news/2025/open-source-secure-heres-how-drupal-approaches-risk.
Enterprise-ready, proven in the field
Drupal isn’t just capable of handling enterprise demands - it’s doing it every day. It’s secure, scalable, flexible, and supported by a mature, collaborative community that understands the needs of large organisations.
If you’re an enterprise decision-maker, don’t let outdated perceptions hold you back. Drupal is already RFP-ready for complex, high-traffic, and high-security environments.
Explore what Drupal can do for your organisation. Visit the DrupalSouth partners page to connect with experienced providers across Australia and New Zealand.