Elior Group’s Drupal site factory: evolutionary maintenance at the heart of a dynamic web ecosystem

Before going any further, let’s set the stage.

A site factory is a centralized web architecture that allows you to create, deploy, and maintain a large number of websites from a shared technical foundation. Each site shares a common base (code, modules, security, best practices). The factory enables site deployment using templates (installation profiles) that can be adapted for different graphic, editorial, and functional identities.

For large organizations, the site factory addresses several key challenges:

• streamlining a web ecosystem that is often fragmented,
• reducing maintenance and development costs,
• ensuring a high level of security and compliance,
• accelerating time to production,
• providing overall consistency while respecting local differences.

In other words, a well-designed site factory allows you to move away from a collection of isolated sites and adopt a long-term digital platform approach.

Like many international groups, Elior Group was facing a situation that had become increasingly unsustainable:

• dozens of websites developed at different times,
• heterogeneous technologies (WordPress, proprietary CMS, unsupported solutions),
• multiple service providers,
• growing technical debt,
• high costs for sites that were sometimes not very scalable.

The creation of a Drupal site factory has made it possible to regain control over the web ecosystem by providing a common, secure, and scalable framework.
 

Since 2018, we have supported Elior Group in taking over the maintenance of its Drupal sites factory, which then included about thirty sites, orchestrated via Aegir.

The challenge was not only to maintain what already existed, but also to develop the factory over time, on both technical and functional levels, as well as UX and UI.

The key concept: Drupal installation profiles

To ensure the scalability and consistency of the factory, we have designed and maintained several Drupal installation profiles. An installation profile is a pre-packaged Drupal configuration that includes:

• activated and configured modules,
• a child theme, views, blocks,
• content types,
• and technical governance rules.

Each new site is thus created from a profile suited to its use, without starting from scratch.

This profile-based approach is one of the pillars of the sustainability of the site factory: it enables industrialization without rigidity and allows the entire site network to evolve in a coherent manner.

A site factory cannot remain efficient without a structured maintenance and support framework.
In practical terms, this means:

• regular updates of Drupal and its modules,
• continuous performance improvements,
• integration of new shared features,
• evolving UX/UI patterns,
• smooth onboarding of new sites,
• control of technical debt.

Each improvement immediately benefits the entire ecosystem.
This explains the factory’s ability to quickly take on more than 70 new sites in recent months.

Among the latest integrations into the Elior Group site factory, you’ll find the sites of many of the group’s brands, both in France and internationally. For example: 

• caterplus.co.uk, confidence-executivesearch.com, venue-elior.co.uk or edwardsandblake.co.uk in the United Kingdom;
• trenipolaris.it, greyrestaurant.it, icoltiintavola.it or hospesitaly.it in Italy;
• serunion-vending.com, alessa-saludable.com, bitestogo.es  or singulariscatering.com in Spain.

These sites, previously scattered and often on WordPress or not maintained, now benefit from:

• a secure Drupal foundation,
• centralized maintenance,
• better editorial consistency,
• and much greater scalability.

This also significantly reduces the costs inherent to managing the group’s digital ecosystem.

The group's recent news has also been marked by a major change: the replacement of Elior's Services division by Derichebourg Multiservices. This strategic merger had a direct impact on the digital ecosystem, requiring the creation of new communication tools, ensuring technical and editorial continuity, while integrating a new identity into an existing framework.

With a robust Drupal foundation and sustained deployment momentum, the Elior Group site factory is now a true driver of digital performance. It is ready to integrate new scopes, support organizational changes, and sustain the group's large-scale growth. We are currently working on an extension of an installation profile including an e-commerce site template, using Drupal’s suite of commerce modules.

Let's take this opportunity to thank Elior Group, who has trusted us since 2018!

Many large corporations are now facing the same challenges (multiple heterogeneous sites, disparate CMSs, high maintenance costs...). Setting up a Drupal site factory, designed from the outset for scalable maintenance, allows you to regain control and build your web ecosystem on a sustainable foundation. 

Let's talk about your Drupal site factory

Are you managing a complex, multisite, or international web ecosystem?
Are you considering streamlining, a comprehensive redesign, or adopting scalable maintenance?
Contact us to discuss your context, your challenges, and your goals.