This document discusses using Drupal 8 for business applications. It provides examples of business applications like intranets, content management, e-commerce, and CRM solutions. It then discusses challenges of integrating apps, managing business workflows and information. Key features that help with business apps in Drupal 8 include entities, services, plugins, and RESTful web services. Specific use cases discussed include optimizing workflows, extending CRM/ERP features, managing production, intranets, and content management. Challenges and how Drupal 8 features can address them are covered for each use case.

1. Drupal 8
Business Applications
Use Cases from our experience
Drupal Day Aveiro 2017
Francisco Almeida
with credits to Filipe Pereira

2. Francisco Almeida
• Software engineer (backend) with a
strong networking background
• Co-founder and manager of
Pictonio
• Drupal Interventions:
• Speaker in Drupal Events (PT & ES)
• Staff member of some Drupal events
in Portugal
www.linkedin.com/in/fralmeida
https://www.drupal.org/u/chicodasilva

3. What changed in Drupal (7 -> 8) ?

4. Business Applications - Examples
• Intranets
• Information management
• Content APIs
• E-Commerce
• CRM Solutions
• Integrations between Apps:
• Invoices
• Payments
• Search
• Notifications
• IoT
• External datasources

5. Business Applications - Problems
• Integrations between Apps:
• APIs
• Information Structure
• Managing events
• Having information with Context
• Excel sheets (import & export)

6. Drupal 8 – Keys features
• Entity Creation
• Easier to map the Data Model
• Example: Map the business model of our project
• Services and dependency injection
• A service is any object managed by the services container.
• Example: Specific tasks, like communication with external APIs
• Plugins
• Plugins implement different behaviors via a common interface.
• Example: Payment methods. Every module that implements that plugin can be
used as a payment method.
• RESTful Web Services
• Expose entities as REST resources either to build a decoupled Drupal
site, to let a native mobile iOS/Android app talk consume/feed a Drupal
site, or to integrate with some web service.
• Example: Employing a different front end from Drupal’s own (most often in a
JavaScript or native application framework).
Benefits
• Less Dependencies
• Less Modules
• Less Code
• More abstraction
• Easier integrations

7. Drupal 8 – Keys features
• Configuration management
• Distributions
• Multisite capabilities
• Strong and flexible API
• Built on standards
• Security
• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
• http://www.eugdpr.org/

8. Business Apps – Example Use Cases
1. Optimize business workflows
1. Extend CRM features
2. Extend ERP features
2. Managing production
1. Services
2. Manufacturing
3. Intranets
4. Federated Authentication
5. E-commerce (not custom products)
6. Managing Content (not news)

9. Use Cases - Challenges
• Optimize business workflows
• Extend CRM features
• Extend ERP feature
• Challenges
• Migrate information
• Drupal – Migrate API
• Manage business workflows
• Manage business information
• Drupal – Workflow
• Drupal – Paragraphs
• Drupal – Flags
• Drupal – Form API
• Integrate with other systems
• Drupal – RESTful Web Services
• Information security
• Data protection
• Testing
• Drupal – Test Driven

10. Use Cases - Challenges
• Managing production
• Services
• Manufacturing
• Challenges
• Manage business workflows
• Drupal – Workflow
• Drupal – Entity types and Bundles
• Manage information
• Drupal – Display information (using
external tools, JS render tools)
• Drupal – Relate content
• Integrate with other systems
• Drupal – Event Driven
• Testing
• Drupal – Test Driven

11. Use Cases - Challenges
• Intranets
• Federated Authentication
• Challenges
• Access levels to information
• Drupal – Roles & Permissions
• Drupal – Entity types and Bundles
• Manage authentication
• Drupal – Authentication tools
• Integrate with other systems
• Drupal – Event Driven
• Drupal – RESTful Web Services
• Business perspective
• How to sell Drupal to big
organizations?
• Testing
• Drupal – Test Driven

12. Use Cases - Challenges
• E-commerce (not custom
products)
• Reservations
• Manage Payments
• Manage Invoices
• Challenges
• Data models
• Drupal – Entity types and Bundles
• Drupal
• Integrate with other systems
• Drupal – Event Driven
• Drupal – RESTful Web Services
• Drupal - Services and dependency
injection
• Decoupled Tools
• Drupal – Decoupled
• Drupal – Content as a Service
• Testing
• Drupal – Test Driven

13. Use Cases - Challenges
• Managing Content (not news)
• Universities
• Public Institutions
• Challenges
• Data models
• Drupal – Entity types and Bundles
• Integrate with other systems
• Drupal – Event Driven
• Drupal - Services and dependency injection
• Tag information
• Drupal – Taxonomies
• Drupal – Content as a Service
• Open Data
• Drupal – RESTful Web Services
• Reusable projects
• Drupal – Multisite
• Testing
• Drupal – Test Driven

14. Conclusion
• Drupal 8 advantages:
• Complete solution out of the box ;
• Better configuration automation;
• Easier collaboration because it is Built on standards;
• Information security that will be a key for the challenges that GPPR brings
(when working with sensitive information);
• Drupal 8 disadvantages:
• Complexity to use in small web projects (may not be the best solution);

15. Questions?
Contribution to the community does not hurt