Drupal Development Company in Houston, TX
DESSS is a Drupal development company serving Houston, Texas. We build custom Drupal 10 and Drupal 11 websites, migrate sites from Drupal 7, 8, and 9, develop custom modules and integrations, and provide ongoing Drupal support and security maintenance for businesses, healthcare providers, schools, and public-sector organizations.
What Is Drupal Development?
Drupal development is the process of designing, building, and maintaining websites and web applications on Drupal, an open-source content management system. It includes content modeling, theme development, custom module programming, third-party integrations, security hardening, and version upgrades.
Drupal is chosen over simpler CMS platforms when a website needs complex user roles, large content volumes, multilingual publishing, strict security, or custom workflows.
Why Drupal 7, 8, and 9 Sites in Houston Need to Upgrade Now
Drupal 7 reached end of life on January 5, 2025, and no longer receives security updates or bug fixes from the Drupal project. Drupal 8 and Drupal 9 are also unsupported. Drupal 10 is scheduled to reach end of life on December 9, 2026, in the same week Drupal 12 is scheduled for release.
What this means for your website:
- Unsupported versions receive no official security patches, which increases the risk of exploitation.
- Newer PHP versions and hosting environments may stop working with old code.
- Contributed modules drop support for outdated core versions.
- Compliance requirements for healthcare, finance, and public-sector sites become harder to meet.
Upgrading from Drupal 7 is a migration, not an in-place update, because Drupal 8 changed the underlying architecture. DESSS plans each migration as a staged project: audit, content and configuration migration, theme rebuild, module replacement, testing, and launch.
Drupal Solutions for Houston Industries
- Energy and Oil & Gas: Corporate websites, investor portals, and technical document libraries.
- Healthcare: Provider directories, patient resource sites, and secure content workflows.
- Education: University and school websites, and multi-site platforms with role-based publishing.
- Government and Nonprofit: WCAG-accessible public websites and citizen service portals.
- Professional Services: Lead-generation websites, client portals, and knowledge bases.
- Enterprise: Intranets, multi-brand platforms, and multilingual websites.
Our Drupal Development Process
- Discovery and Planning: We define goals, audience, content inventory, integrations, and technical requirements.
- Architecture and Design: We create the content model, wireframes, UI design, and module plan.
- Development: We build the theme, custom modules, and integrations using configuration management and version control.
- Testing and QA: We test functionality, browsers, mobile devices, accessibility, security, and performance.
- Launch: We deploy to production with redirects, analytics, and SEO checks in place.
- Support and Growth: We provide maintenance, security updates, and continuous improvements.
Drupal vs WordPress: Which Should You Choose?
Choose Drupal when you need:
- Advanced user roles and permissions built into core
- Flexible content modeling for complex data
- Strong security for sensitive or regulated websites
- Scalability for large, content-heavy sites
- Custom workflows, multilingual publishing, and API-first architecture
Choose WordPress when you need:
- A blog or a simple business website
- A fast, low-cost launch
- A large library of ready-made themes and plugins
DESSS recommends the platform that fits your requirements, even when that platform is not Drupal.
A Drupal development company designs, builds, migrates, and maintains websites and web applications on the Drupal CMS. Typical work includes content modeling, theme development, custom module programming, third-party integrations, security updates, performance optimization, and version upgrades. DESSS provides all of these services to Houston organizations under one engagement.
Drupal development cost in Houston depends on scope, design complexity, custom module requirements, integrations, and the amount of content to migrate. A brochure-style business site costs far less than an enterprise platform with custom workflows, single sign-on, and system integrations. DESSS provides a fixed quote after a free discovery call that reviews your requirements.
Most Drupal projects take 6 to 16 weeks. A smaller site with standard features sits at the shorter end, while projects with custom modules, complex integrations, or large content migrations take longer. Timelines are confirmed in the project plan after discovery, with milestones for design, development, testing, and launch.
Yes. Drupal 7 reached end of life on January 5, 2025, so migrating to a supported version is strongly recommended. Because Drupal 8 changed the core architecture, moving from Drupal 7 is a migration rather than an in-place update. DESSS migrates content, users, media, and configuration, rebuilds the theme, replaces outdated modules, and sets up 301 redirects to protect your search rankings.
For new projects and migrations, Drupal 11 is the recommended target because it is the current major version and will stay supported longer. Drupal 10 is scheduled to reach end of life on December 9, 2026, so a site moving to Drupal 10 now would need another upgrade soon. DESSS reviews your contributed modules and custom code during the audit to confirm Drupal 11 compatibility before the build starts.
Drupal is generally the stronger choice for large or regulated organizations because it includes advanced user roles, granular permissions, flexible content modeling, multilingual support, and a dedicated security team in its core. WordPress suits simpler websites and fast launches. The right choice depends on your content complexity, security requirements, and growth plans.
Yes. DESSS offers Drupal support plans that include security updates for core and contributed modules, version upgrades, uptime monitoring, regular backups, performance tuning, and bug fixes. Plans can also include a set number of development hours each month for new features and content changes.
Yes. You can hire a Drupal developer from DESSS for a fixed-scope project, an hourly support arrangement, or a long-term engagement that extends your internal team. We match the developer to your requirements, whether that is theme work, module development, migration, or integration.
GET STARTED
Talk to a Drupal Development Expert in Houston
Planning a new Drupal website, a Drupal 7 migration, or an upgrade to Drupal 11? Share your requirements with the DESSS team. We will review your project and send a clear plan, timeline, and fixed quote within 1 business day.
DESSS 2825 Wilcrest Dr #608, Houston, TX 77042 Phone: +1-713-589-6496 Email: info@desss.com