How do Support Contracts work for Drupal websites? What’s included?

Posted on 20th Jan 2026
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Drupal websites are powerful and flexible but they require ongoing care to stay secure, performant, and aligned with business needs. A Drupal support contract provides that ongoing care in a predictable and flexible way.

In this article, we explain how Drupal support contracts work, what’s typically included, and how ComputerMinds’ simple, hour-based model removes complexity while giving you direct access to our team of Drupal experts.

 

What is a Drupal Support Contract?


A Drupal support contract is an agreement between a business and a Drupal agency to provide ongoing technical assistance, maintenance, and development work for a Drupal website.

Rather than paying for individual tasks ad hoc, support contracts give you continuous access to our specialist Drupal team for a fixed monthly cost.

 

How ComputerMinds Drupal Support Contracts Work

We like to keep it simple.

You purchase a block of hours each month, which you can use for any Drupal-related work. There are no rigid scopes or artificial boundaries between “support” and “development”.

You simply draw down time as work is completed.  We provide a portal in which you can easily see your remaining hours, and view exactly how time has been used.

Support contract summary (example) - 111 hours allocated, 7 hours used, 104 hours remaining

 

  • Your monthly hours can be used for:
  • Fixing bugs or errors
  • Drupal core and module security updates
  • Performance and stability improvements
  • Small feature development and enhancements
  • Configuration changes
  • Content-related technical support
  • Strategic advice and technical planning
  • Training
  • Content updates

TLDR : If we can do it then it’s included.

 

How You Communicate With Us

A key part of effective Drupal support is fast, human communication. We make it easy to talk to us in the way that best suits you and your team.

Slack: Our Primary Support Channel

Most clients work with us via a shared Slack channel, where our developers communicate as if we’re part of your internal team.
This allows for:

  • Quick questions and answers
  • Ongoing conversations
  • Real-time collaboration
  • Clear visibility of progress

For many clients, Slack offers a quick and convenient way of getting a rapid solution, of course we are also more than happy to discuss the weather and last night’s episode of the Traitors!

Ticketing System and Phone Support

All work we do will be tracked against a ticket in our ticketing system.  Often our developers will create the ticket based on discussions in slack.  The tickets allow everyone to easily track change, and allow us to allocate drawn down time accordingly.

The ticketing system will be made fully available to you, so you can raise tickets and track progress of existing tickets at any time.

And of course we are always just a phone call away, we have clients for whom talking will always trump typing.

You’re free to use whichever channel makes sense at the time.

 

What’s Included in a Drupal Support Contract?

While exact needs vary by site, a typical Drupal support contract includes:

Ongoing Maintenance

  • Security patches and updates
  • Core and contributed module upgrades
  • Dependency management

Issue Resolution

  • Bug fixes
  • Error investigation
  • Site stability and reliability work

Improvements and Enhancements

  • Small feature builds
  • UX or performance tweaks
  • Configuration and workflow changes

Expert Guidance

  • Drupal best-practice advice
  • Upgrade and roadmap planning
  • Architectural input

Because the contract is hour-based, you’re not restricted to predefined tasks — priorities can shift month to month as your business needs change.

 

A recipe for success

Why an Hour-Based Drupal Support Model Works

Traditional support contracts often come with complex scopes, exclusions, and change requests. Our time based model avoids this entirely.

Benefits include:

  • Predictable monthly costs
  • Complete flexibility
  • No renegotiation for small changes
  • A long-term relationship with a team who knows your site


We find this leads to faster delivery, better decisions, and fewer surprises.

An Extension of Your Team, Not Just a Supplier

Because we work with clients continuously, we build deep knowledge of:

  • Your Drupal architecture
  • Your business goals
  • Your internal workflows

Many clients describe it as having an experienced Drupal team “on tap”, without the overhead of hiring internally.

 

Is a Drupal Support Contract Right for You?

A Drupal support contract is ideal if you:

  • Rely on your website for business-critical activity
  • Need regular changes or improvements
  • Want fast access to Drupal expertise
  • Prefer predictable costs over ad hoc billing

If that sounds like you, a simple, flexible support contract can be one of the most effective investments you make in your Drupal platform.
 

FAQs

A Drupal support contract typically includes ongoing maintenance, bug fixes, security updates, small development tasks, performance improvements, and access to expert Drupal advice.

In our case, support is provided through a monthly block of hours that can be used for any Drupal-related work, without rigid task definitions or exclusions.

Support hours are drawn down based on the time spent completing your requests. This may include investigation, development, testing, deployment, and communication.

We track time transparently, so you always know how your monthly allocation is being used.

Support hours can be used for:

  • Fixing bugs and errors
  • Drupal core and module updates
  • Security patches
  • Performance tuning
  • Small feature development
  • Configuration and workflow changes
  • Technical advice and planning

If it helps maintain, improve, or evolve your Drupal website, it can usually be covered by your support hours.

Clients can contact us via:

  • A dedicated Slack channel (our primary communication method)
  • A ticketing system for structured requests
  • Phone support when a conversation is more effective

Slack allows us to work alongside your team in real time, reducing friction and speeding up delivery.

Yes. Slack works particularly well for Drupal support because it enables quick clarification, ongoing discussions, and collaborative problem solving.

Rather than raising formal tickets for every interaction, clients can simply ask questions or share context - much like working with an internal development team.

Ad hoc support is reactive and transactional — each task is scoped, quoted, and approved individually.

A Drupal support contract provides:

  • Ongoing access to Drupal experts
  • Faster response times
  • Predictable monthly costs
  • A team that already understands your site
  • We are able to offer a discounted price on the support contract hours

This makes support more efficient and reduces delays caused by repeated scoping and onboarding.

Yes, we allow unused hours to roll forward (many agencies don't)

If we find that you are building up a huge pot of hours then we will have the conversation about reducing the time commitment and therefore costs.

Yes. While support contracts are often associated with maintenance, our hour-based model allows support time to be used for small enhancements and new functionality as well.

Larger projects can still be handled separately if needed.

Yes. Even smaller Drupal sites benefit from regular updates, security monitoring, and access to expert help when issues arise.

A modest monthly hour allocation can prevent costly problems and reduce downtime. We have clients on support contracts of just 2 or 4 hours per month.

Yes. We regularly take on support for existing Drupal websites, including those built by other agencies or internal teams.

As part of onboarding, we review the site, understand its architecture, and ensure we can support it effectively.

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ComputerMinds are the UK’s Drupal specialists with offices in Bristol and Coventry. We offer a range of Drupal services including Consultancy, Development, Training and Support. Whatever your Drupal problem, we can help.