Who looks after your website once it's live?
A website keeps needing work long after launch. Drupal and the modules your site uses release updates all year, some of them security fixes, and someone has to apply and test each one. Meanwhile your team has changes in mind, like a new form or a different layout for a page, and once in a while something goes wrong on a page people rely on and the fix can't wait until next week.
Plenty of organisations don't have a Drupal developer on staff, and the work doesn't add up to a full-time role. Others have their own web team and want specialist help with the jobs that arrive unevenly, such as an update that won't apply cleanly or a build pipeline that stops working. Both are easier with someone who already knows the site and can pick up each request where the last one left off.
A support plan gives your website a team that already knows it, with a prepaid block of hours for the monthly upkeep and the changes your team asks for, and a faster tier for anything urgent.
How we support your website
Every plan follows the same 4 steps. The first happens once, at the start, and the other 3 repeat for every request.
1. We start from a site we know
We support the Drupal websites we've built or upgraded, and Drupal websites we take on after a site audit. Either way, we know how your site fits together before your first request arrives.
We set up access to your code and hosting, and agree how you'll reach us: by email, or on Slack if that suits your team. From the first month, we take care of the routine maintenance without waiting to be asked.
2. You send us a request
Whenever something comes up, send it through and tell us how urgent it is. Routine work goes on Standard, and work that can't wait goes on Rapid Response. Requests come straight to us, and someone who knows your site responds within 24 hours on Standard, or within 4 hours on Rapid Response.
3. We estimate it, and you approve
We reply with an estimate of the time and cost, and work starts once you've approved it.
4. We do the work and log every hour
Standard requests have a lead time of 3 business days, and Rapid Response requests the same business day. We log every piece of work against your block, with the date and the hours it took.
What you get
A plan covers the routine upkeep of your site and the work your team asks for, and a monthly report shows you both.
Monthly maintenance
Each month, we update Drupal core and the modules your site uses, including security releases, and keep the tools and configuration your site is built and deployed with up to date. We do this whether or not you've asked for anything else that month.
Fixes and improvements when you need them
Your hours go wherever your site needs them. Requests we handle under a plan include:
- Investigating and fixing bugs
- Security patching, including writing a patch for a module when it needs one
- Configuration changes and fixes in the admin interface
- Enhancements and new features
- Improvements to the pipeline that builds, tests and deploys your site
- Critical incidents, on Rapid Response
A monthly report
Early each month, you get a report on the month before. It lists each piece of work with its date and hours, the work coming up with an estimate for each, and the hours used and left in your block. A chart shows how quickly the block is being used, so whoever approves the spend can see where the hours are going.
Alongside those, a plan includes:
- Direct contact by email, or on Slack if you prefer
- Performance monitoring, with recommendations when something is worth improving
- A heads-up when your balance is getting low
Where we've done this
We've worked on an Australian dual-sector university's website since 2017, alongside the university's own web team, much of it on prepaid blocks of support hours. In 2026 that has included Drupal core and editor updates, fixes to the build pipeline, help with production deployments and a performance monitoring dashboard.
Over those years, we also cut the time a published change takes to appear on the site from as long as 18 hours to 20 minutes, and made the site's database 63% smaller, which means smaller backups and quicker copies to test environments.
For a state emergency services agency, working through a global digital agency, the recurring work on the public website people turn to during floods and storms has sat with us since launch: security updates, dependency updates and releases. We work to a defined service level agreement inside an incident process the client runs.
What it costs
Support runs on a prepaid block of hours. The smallest block is 50 hours, it's valid for 12 months, and each month uses at least 4 hours of it. You choose the tier for each request, depending on how quickly you need it.
| Standard | Rapid Response | |
|---|---|---|
| For | Security updates, routine changes and bug fixes | Critical incidents, urgent security patches and other priority work |
| Response | Within 24 hours | Within 4 hours |
| Lead time | 3 business days | Same business day |
| Support hours | Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm AEST | Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm AEST |
| Rate | $185 an hour + GST | $275 an hour + GST |
Response and lead times count within each tier's support hours.
Bigger pieces of work, such as a redesign or a large new feature, are quoted on their own, at our published rate of $185 an hour plus GST or as a fixed-price quote for a defined scope. You approve the scope and cost before any work begins.
Where support fits
For a site we haven't worked on before, support starts with a site audit. If you'd like the same team to look after your hosting, managed hosting runs alongside a plan. Moving to a new major version of Drupal is its own project, a Drupal upgrade. And if your site has automated testing, every update we make is checked before it reaches your live site.
FAQs
Do you support websites you didn't build?
Yes. Support usually follows a build or an upgrade we've delivered, and other Drupal websites start with a site audit, so we know what we're looking after before your first request.
Can we combine both tiers?
Yes. Routine work runs on Standard, and you can put any request on Rapid Response when it's urgent. Standard is $185 an hour and Rapid Response is $275 an hour, both plus GST.
Can unused hours roll over?
Yes, within the 12 months the block is valid. Each month uses at least 4 hours, and any hours left over carry into the next month. Your monthly report shows the balance.
What happens when our hours run out?
You buy another block, and we carry on. We'll let you know when the balance is getting low, so there's time to arrange the next one.
Is hosting included?
Hosting is a separate service. Our managed hosting can sit alongside your plan, so the same team answers for the site and the infrastructure it runs on.
Are Drupal upgrades included?
Updates within your current major version of Drupal are part of your plan. Moving to a new major version is a bigger job, so we scope it with you and quote it before any work begins. Our Drupal upgrades page explains how that works.
