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Looking for a way to distinguish yourself among the many Drupal developers out there? Look no further than the Acquia Triple Certification. Representing excellence across Drupal and Acquia, the Drupal Certification exams are for developers, front-end specialists, and back-end specialists that want to demonstrate their advanced expertise.
From "Drupal Grand Master" to "Triple Certified"
Since 2015, Acquia has been using the term "Drupal Grand Master" to acknowledge those who completed Drupal Certification exams for developer, front-end specialist, and back-end specialist.
With help from the Drupal community, Acquia decided to rename this high level of qualification to "Acquia Triple Certified Drupal Expert" or the shortened version, "Triple Certified." This change was made to reflect more inclusive language. Dries Buytaert, Co-Founder and CTO of Acquia said, "The words we use matter. They make a big difference toward eliminating subtle forms of racism, sexism, and more in the technology industry." The technology industry and Drupal are making huge strides towards improving diversity and inclusion within the open source community.
In 2022, Acquia renamed its highest level of Drupal certification, formerly "Drupal Grand Master," to reflect more inclusive language. Learn more about this name change here.
What Is Drupal?
Drupal is one of the leading open source Content Management Systems (CMS) and one of the largest open source communities in the world. Founded back in 2000 by Dries Buytaert as a chat platform for college students, today it stands alone as the most flexible, adaptable system on the market, enabling anyone to create advanced websites and applications.
Based on Drupal’s latest stats, 1.5 million sites, 38 percent of Fortune 50 companies, and more than 23,000 developers use Drupal every day to power the sites we interact with regularly. Bounteous has been using Drupal to build websites for customers since 2009.
The Establishment of the Drupal Certification Program
Just as mentorship is ingrained into the DNA of the Drupal community, it was a driving factor in establishing the "Acquia Triple Certification," formerly "Drupal Grand Master Certification," program. Buytaert saw the need to provide a valuable distinction among the community and thus launched the Acquia certification program in 2014. While extremely resource-intensive to create a global certification program, Buytaert says, "We believe that effort is worth it, given the overall positive effect on our community."
Regularly relied upon for guidance and expertise, Acquia Triple Certified Drupal Experts relish the honor to further the Drupal community. As of 2022, Bounteous has 13 Acquia Triple Certified Drupal Credentials, 8 Acquia Triple Certified Drupal Experts, and over 100 developer certifications—the most of any organization in North America outside of Acquia.
Where does Acquia fit in?
Acquia delivers a cloud-based digital experience platform built on Drupal that enables organizations to build experiences that scale and is also led by Buytaert. A preferred partner of Bounteous, Acquia empowers brands to embrace innovation and create customer moments that truly matter.
Recently named a leader by both Gartner and Forrester, Acquia is committed to facilitating certification programs allowing developers to validate and promote their Drupal skills year after year.
Acquia Certifications
Getting certified is a great way to validate and promote your Drupal skills while helping you stand out from the crowd. Acquia is working towards making it easier to access free training to gain Triple Certification, as well as other Drupal and Acquia certifications. Learn more about how to get Acquia Certifications here.
Acquia Certified Site Builder
The Acquia Certified Drupal Site Builder is a credential intended for professionals who build Drupal sites using core and contributed modules. This exam is designed to validate the skills and knowledge of a Drupal Site Builder.
Acquia Certified Developer
The purpose of the Acquia Certified Developer exam is to validate the skills and knowledge of a Drupal developer in the areas of fundamental web concepts, site building, front-end development (theming), and back-end development (coding).
Acquia Certified Front End Specialist
The purpose of the Acquia Certified Front End Specialist exam is to validate the skills and knowledge of a Drupal developer in the area of front-end development (theming).
Acquia Certified Back End Specialist
The Acquia Certified Back End Specialist exam validates the skills and knowledge of a developer in the areas of building and implementing Drupal solutions using code (module development).
The Ultimate Triple Certified Achievement
To achieve the prestigious Acquia Triple Certification, a candidate must pass the developer, Front End, and Back End Acquia certification exams within a year. Each exam validates skills and knowledge in different areas from fundamental web development to Drupal Core API. This is no easy feat! It is the highest-ranking Drupal certification available, the triathlon of development, and requires expertise in multiple areas of focus.
Why Does This Matter to Me?
Whether you're a developer, a Drupal agency, or an Acquia customer, the Acquia Triple Certifications are a trusted benchmark in the industry. The real-world scenarios included in the exam ensure a breadth of prior experience that helps enhance development. Many companies even require Acquia Certification which speaks volumes to the respect this program has established.
We recommend all Acquia Triple Certified Drupal Experts add this credential to their LinkedIn profile under certifications, or if you already have "Drupal Grand Master" listed, make sure it is updated to reflect the new and inclusive language.
Ultimately, Triple Certified designation allows developers an edge in the development world and provides an enormous amount of credibility in the Drupal community. While no doubt a significant undertaking, the achievement is well worth the investment. With more knowledgeable and engaged developers bettering the community, Drupal’s power increases and in turn supports the companies that leverage Drupal for their digital experiences.
Drupal is one of the leading Content Management Systems (CMS) and one of the largest open source communities in the world, with more than 1 million passionate developers, designers, trainers, strategists, coordinators, editors, and sponsors.
As an open source community, organizations and individuals have many ways they can support the community, contribute thought leadership, and advocate for the principles of open source technology. Bounteous and team members have been Drupal users, contributors, and creators for more than a decade and have found several ways to help contribute to Drupal’s continuous innovation.
As advocates of open source software, we also strongly believe in the guiding principles of the Drupal community: collaboration, education, and innovation. Below, we’ve outlined some ways that companies and organizations can contribute to the health and success of Drupal—from hosting community events and volunteering to sponsoring Drupal conferences. We wouldn’t be where we are today without the support of this community and we’re honored to give back in as many ways as we can.
Conferences & Volunteering
One way to contribute to the Drupal community is through attending, volunteering, and speaking at Drupal conferences. With local conferences or “camps” around the world, it’s a great way to share knowledge and expertise with the Drupal Community.
Drupal team members at Bounteous have spoken around the world, at conferences such as DrupalCon North America, DrupalCon Europe, Design4Drupal, Florida DrupalCamp, and MidCamp. We’re also annual sponsors of the Drupal Association and DrupalCon North America, as well as MidCamp.
Events help spread ideas and sharing ideas can benefit everyone. While most Drupal Camps are regional events that happen in-person, we feel strongly about enabling access to thought leadership and helping to educate all those in the community. We’re especially excited about the Drupal Recording Initiative that helps capture Drupal conference presentations and publicly share recordings with the larger Drupal community. If you haven’t taken advantage of these recorded sessions, check out Drupal.TV for many recorded events.
This year’s conference schedule has seen radical shifts, with regional events like MidCamp as well as the national DrupalCon conference shifting to entirely virtual events. While this has certainly been disruptive and changes the experience for attendees, we’re optimistic about the ease of access to information that these virtual events enable, providing extensive opportunities for those who wouldn't be able to attend in person. We’re also excited about new ways to connect and share educational resources using digital formats to their fullest potential.
Conferences, whether online or in-person, always require volunteers and are a great way to connect with other Drupalists. In 2020, a few members of the Bounteous team helped organize MidCamp, making it the first conference in the space to go completely virtual and at the same time meet accessibility needs of all attendees, ensuring a quality experience for everyone.
Open Source Contributions and Insights
Drupal wouldn’t exist without its diverse group of passionate volunteers to move the project forward. With such an inclusive and supportive community, it’s no wonder how such a strong content management system has been sustained for so long and why people keep coming back.
In addition to the events and meet-ups that we host, we also encourage our team to contribute code to the Drupal project, building time into our roles to account for contributions of all kinds. Some team members provide code patches to Drupal core, while others have created and currently maintain Drupal contributed modules and themes.
It’s not just developers who contribute to Drupal. There’s always a need for project managers, bug reporters, QA testers, people to help write documentation, and so much more. At Bounteous, this means getting more people involved than just the Drupal team and using mentors to introduce people to open source concepts and offer ways to make an impact.
Interested in learning more about Drupal migration paths, embedding external JavaScript, or automating Drupal deployment? We, like many others, frequently post about Drupal on the Insights section of our site, featuring Drupal tutorials and resources, and covering the latest advancements in the industry. You’ll find a wealth of Drupal information online, created and shared freely. If you haven’t subscribed to the Weekly Drop, sign up to receive frequent updates and regular posts.
Drupal and the Drupal Association
Behind the scenes, the Drupal Association is responsible for being the caretaker of the Drupal open source project by managing drupal.org, coordinating the promotion of Drupal, facilitating the Drupal Security Team, and many other activities which ensure that the Drupal project remains strong.
Many may know of the Drupal Association through their annual DrupalCon conferences, which is a huge part of raising both awareness and funds to support Drupal and the Drupal Association. These international educational events are jam-packed with curated panels, sessions, keynotes, trainings, and contribution days. Both sponsor and community-supported, these events attract Drupalists from all over the world, with an emphasis on education and collaboration, with sessions and speakers selected from hundreds of submitted topics.
In addition to the yearly conferences, individuals and organizations can become Drupal Association members. The funds contributed go directly to supporting the efforts of the Drupal Association and promoting the open source Drupal community to the world.
Companies can choose from three partner programs: Supporting Partner, Hosting Supporter, or Technology Supporter. Whether you work at a Drupal shop or use Drupal for personal projects, consider joining the Drupal Individual Membership program which comes with a host of benefits.
Sustaining the Drupal Association | COVID-19 Impact
As a company, we are committed to supporting #DrupalCares, which is raising money for the Drupal Association in this time of uncertainty, and continuing to fund the Drupal community—from contributing to Drupal software and volunteering within the open source community to dedicating resources to ensure growth and financial success.
In this time of need, Bounteous has pledged its 2020 sponsorship of DrupalCon North America to support DrupalCon Global (July 14 - July 17), and we look forward to working with the Drupal Association to make the virtual event a huge success.
We encourage everyone in the Drupal community to come together and find creative ways to help the Drupal Association and each other.
- Consider making a donation to the Drupal Association.
- Other DrupalCon sponsors can consider this year's sponsorship as a contribution and pledge their support to DrupalCon Global.
- Individuals can consider becoming a member, increasing their membership level, or submitting an additional donation.
Together, 28 individual @Bounteous employees are donating $2,575 to #DrupalCares. We bundled our donations to receive a match from the Bounteous Charitable Fund. Our donation, its match from Bounteous, and @Dries & Vanessa Buytaert brings an impact of $7,725 for @drupalassoc!
— Scott W (@NodeLoophole) April 17, 2020
About Drupal Sun
Drupal Sun is an Evolving Web project. It allows you to:
- Do full-text search on all the articles in Drupal Planet (thanks to Apache Solr)
- Facet based on tags, author, or feed
- Flip through articles quickly (with j/k or arrow keys) to find what you're interested in
- View the entire article text inline, or in the context of the site where it was created
See the blog post at Evolving Web
