Professional Web Development from Austria: Drupal, Nuxt, Headless Stack, and Managed CMS at drunomics

Context: Our take on “Professionelle Web Entwicklung aus Österreich” with Oliver Berndt (drunomics GmbH)

At a tech talk in Linz, we listened closely as Oliver Berndt, Managing Partner at drunomics GmbH, presented “Professionelle Web Entwicklung aus Österreich.” He walked through how the team delivers enterprise‑grade web projects: an agile organization in Squads, Scrum for iterative delivery, a decoupled stack around Drupal and Nuxt, their own open‑source headless solution (Lupus Decoupled Drupal), and a managed cloud CMS with AI features (MOSPO).

The emphasis was steady and practical: simple usability, optimal performance, technical quality, and data security. From our DevJobs.at editorial vantage point, this was a concise glimpse into a deliberately open‑source stack with a proven operational model.

Who is speaking, and how does the team operate?

Oliver Berndt is Managing Partner at drunomics and, as CEO, covers HR, marketing, product, and account management. His background is in Business and Transformation Management and Public Relations, studied in Vienna. He also holds Certified Scrum Product Owner and Scrum Master credentials—useful both for customer‑facing project development and for work within the team.

His partner, Wolfgang Ziegler, is CTO at drunomics, responsible for development and serving as technical architect for Drupal, cloud, and AI projects. He studied Information Management and Software Engineering at TU Wien, is a founding member of Drupal Austria, and is a Drupal Core, subsystem, and module maintainer.

Squad‑based agile team setup

The team is organized into Squads—a structure that reflects the agile mindset described throughout the talk:

• Drupal Squad
• Frontend Squad
• DevOps Squad
• Project Management Squad
• Marketing Squad

The team composition mentioned in the talk includes two managing partners (Oliver Berndt and Wolfgang Ziegler), one development manager, two project managers, one product manager, UX/UI experts, accessibility experts, six backend developers, four frontend developers, and one DevOps engineer.

A concrete example: even though there is “only” one DevOps engineer, the DevOps Squad is cross‑functional—bringing in backend developers and the CTO. Similarly, the Marketing Squad covers responsibilities without a single dedicated marketing role; the squad shares it.

Agile delivery with Scrum

For project development, drunomics uses Scrum. Projects are split into smaller phases, and results become visible early. Initially, only a few basic functions are fixed; they are then continuously added or removed. That’s where the strengths of agile development become tangible: early feedback, incremental evolution, and clarity on priorities.

Goals and quality bar: usability, performance, technical excellence, security

The talk spelled out quality goals explicitly:

• simple usability
• optimal performance
• technically high‑quality development
• security of data

These guide architecture choices (e.g., a decoupled CMS) and team setup (e.g., Squads with clear responsibility). They also frame UX/UI design, accessibility—“a topic that’s becoming increasingly important”—and DevOps principles.

The stack: Drupal, Nuxt, Lupus Decoupled Drupal, and MOSPO

“Powerful technologies for ambitious solutions”—that’s how Oliver Berndt summarized the stack. Core elements:

• Drupal – “the best CMS in the world”
• Nuxt – “the intuitive web framework”
• Lupus Decoupled Drupal – their own headless Drupal stack
• MOSPO – the managed cloud CMS with AI features

Drupal—the foundation

The advantages of Drupal called out in the session:

• “the largest open‑source community by users worldwide”
• performant and scalable
• intelligent caching system
• used on high‑traffic sites, including “internationalbetter.com” and, in Austria, “courier.at”

The message is straightforward: Drupal is a robust, extensible foundation proven in large environments.

Modern frontend with Vue.js and Nuxt

On the frontend, drunomics chooses Vue.js and Nuxt. The stated benefits:

• better UX via fast user feedback
• improved frontend performance
• decoupling frontend from backend—enabling parallel development
• separate upgrades of frontend and backend

This decoupled architecture directly supports the quality aims mentioned earlier: clear responsibilities, faster development, and an ability to optimize the frontend without touching the CMS core.

Lupus Decoupled Drupal—headless with practical extensions

Lupus Decoupled Drupal is built on Drupal and Nuxt. The goal: publish content (“articles and more”) and create pages easily. The talk mentioned:

• simple page creation (e.g., via a layout builder)
• extensions such as a Nuxt frontend
• a form builder
• monitoring
• multilingual
• a content pool for larger projects
• integration of OpenSearch

Taken together, Lupus Decoupled Drupal comes across as a pragmatic headless base that anticipates common enterprise needs (multilingual, monitoring, search, content structuring across bigger setups).

MOSPO—managed cloud CMS with AI features

MOSPO is the “newest baby” in the stack. Points highlighted in the session:

• fully managed cloud CMS
• based on Drupal, Nuxt, and Lupus Decoupled Drupal
• uses Drupal AI features and the MOSPO AI server
• “future‑proof thanks to lifelong updates”
• support for selected third‑party services (e.g., newsletter, marketing automation)
• professional operation and maintenance
• secure, robust operation with ISO 27001 hosting

The takeaway: if you trust the drunomics stack, you can consume it as a managed platform via MOSPO—with operations, updates, and integrations covered.

Processes supporting the architecture: UX/UI, accessibility, DevOps

Beyond architecture choices, the talk emphasized disciplines that often determine project success:

• UX/UI design: usability is treated as “simple” by intent—part of the goal, not an afterthought.
• Accessibility: “a topic that’s becoming increasingly important”—anchored as a competency within the team.
• DevOps principles: operations, automation, monitoring, and robustness are integral, not just a final launch step.

Together with Scrum and Squads, this yields short feedback cycles and visible increments—well aligned with a decoupled stack where frontend and backend teams can move in parallel.

References, certifications, and an Austria focus

drunomics is a “Drupal‑certified partner” with Gold status—intended to ensure the company has the Drupal expertise needed for larger projects and proven competency in this space. According to the talk, drunomics is “the only Austrian company” meeting these requirements. It can be read at “drupal.org/dronomics.”

As for references in web projects, Oliver Berndt mentioned work for Burda:

• “Haus.de”—the first site delivered for Burda
• “Burda Food Multisite”

He also referenced “einfach backen” (additional sites around cooking and baking). And he mentioned an Austrian investment firm (“Valuita”), for which “a property” was delivered.

The emphasis of the session remained on architecture and process, yet the message was clear: the stack runs in serious setups, and certification underscores the ability to execute complex projects.

From statement to takeaway: what engineers can apply

A set of technical guidelines emerge from the session, directly actionable while staying within the scope of what was said.

1) Use decoupling deliberately

Separating frontend (Nuxt, Vue.js) and backend (Drupal) brings distinct advantages:

• parallel development of frontend and backend
• separate upgrade cycles for each layer
• fast UX through immediate feedback in the frontend
• performance gains from lean, focused frontends

In teams, this clarifies roles and allows targeted deployments. For complex environments, split release cycles reduce friction.

2) Lean on Drupal as a proven CMS foundation

The strengths highlighted—scalability, intelligent caching, a large community—address common enterprise risks. Relying on Drupal provides a hardened foundation that also runs on high‑traffic sites. That compatibility matters as projects grow and evolve.

3) Start with Lupus Decoupled Drupal for common needs

Lupus Decoupled Drupal packages recurring requirements:

• content creation (including layout composition)
• multilingual capability
• monitoring
• search (OpenSearch)
• a content pool suited for larger projects

Rather than starting from scratch, teams can build on these components and focus on domain‑specific differentiation.

4) Treat operations as a first‑class concern—managed CMS, ISO 27001 hosting, updates

MOSPO addresses operations: fully managed, with an emphasis on security, updates, and integrations (newsletter, marketing automation). The talk made it clear that professional operation and maintenance are central. For teams focusing on product and development, this offers a clear operational path.

5) Integrate accessibility and UX/UI early

Accessibility is “becoming increasingly important,” and drunomics embeds it within the team. Treating accessibility seriously increases usability and reach. Paired with the emphasis on simple usability and performance, the theme is consistent: fast, accessible, and easy to operate.

6) Practice incremental delivery with Scrum

Scrum is used to make results visible early, define a small set of base functions, and iteratively add or remove features. That reduces risk and increases the chance that product decisions are driven by real feedback.

Lines that stick

A few statements structured the session and are memorable as guiding markers:

These are not slogans for their own sake; they signal what the stack stands for: stability, speed, decoupling, and operational safety.

Why this setup matters in Austria’s tech landscape

The session was explicitly framed in and for Austria. Two aspects stood out for us:

• Enterprise‑grade open web architectures are deeply rooted locally—supported by community involvement (Drupal) and active contribution.
• Professionalism is treated as a whole: processes (Scrum, Squads, DevOps), disciplines (UX/UI, accessibility), and operations (managed CMS, ISO 27001 hosting) are all part of the picture.

This is relevant to engineering teams building, scaling, and operating products in Austria.

Conclusion: A clear case for decoupled open‑source architecture and reliable operations

“Professionelle Web Entwicklung aus Österreich” with Oliver Berndt (drunomics GmbH) provided a focused tour of a stack that delivers in practice: Drupal as a stable backend, Nuxt/Vue.js as a modern frontend, Lupus Decoupled Drupal as a headless base with pragmatic extensions, and MOSPO as a managed platform covering operations and updates. Add Scrum, Squads, UX/UI, accessibility, and DevOps, and you have an everyday operational model for professional web delivery.

The message to engineering teams is clear: use decoupling deliberately, leverage open‑source strengths, and plan operations professionally—to create the degrees of freedom that ambitious web projects need.

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