Dries Buytaert

Contributed modules in Drupal deliver the functionality and innovation proprietary content management solutions simply can't match. With every new version of Drupal comes the need to quickly move modules forward from the previous version. For users of Drupal, it's crucial to know they can depend on the availability of modules when considering a new Drupal 8 project or migrating from a previous version.

I'm pleased that many agencies and customers who use Drupal are donating time and attention to maintaining Drupal's module repository and ensuring their contributed modules are upgraded. I believe it's the responsibility of Drupal companies to give back to the community.

I'm proud that Acquia leads by example. It was with great pride that Acquia created a Drupal 8 Module Acceleration Program, or MAP. Led by Acquia's John Kennedy, MAP brings financial, technical and project management assistance to Drupal module maintainers. Acquia kicked off MAP in mid-October and to date we have helped complete production-ready versions of 34 modules. And it is not just any modules; we've been focused on those modules that provide critical pieces of functionality used by most Drupal sites.

When MAP was formed Acquia allocated $500,000 to fund non-Acquia maintainers in the community. In addition, we have so far invested more than 2,500 hours of our own developers' time to support the effort (the equivalent of three full-time developers).

What is impressive to me about MAP is both the focus on mission-critical modules that benefit a huge number of users, as well as the number of community members and agencies involved. John's team is leading a coalition of the best and brightest minds in the Drupal community to address the single biggest obstacle holding Drupal 8 adoption back.

Drupal 8 has already made a significant impact; in the 90 days following the release of Drupal 8.0.0, adoption has outpaced Drupal 7 by more than 200 percent. And as more modules get ported, I expect Drupal 8 adoption to accelerate even more.