The Ann Arbor Drupal User’s Group “a2drupal” was formed last year to serve local open source content management system adherents – publishers and geeks, marketers and bloggers – providing a forum for f2f social networking, professional development, mashups, and beer.

a2drupal is only the umpteenth group to emerge from Ann Arbor’s heady IT ecosystem and join the vibrant internetwork of professional organizations that make this town hum.

On the first anniversary of the Drupal User’s Group, Stephen Colson, Mike Monan and Michael Hofmockel announced the launch of Switchback CMS, a new web startup dedicated to packaging Drupal-empowered websites into powerful “switchpacks” – standard feature/functionality profiles – like the LX, DX, EX trim levels on a car.

This approach to delivering websites as templated off-the-shelf products rather than custom stick-built services, has been tried before (whence OrangeBuoy?).  Switchback CMS may have an edge – that edge being a2drupal.

Switchback CMS is positioned to channel the leading-edge learning from a2drupal mashups directly into client value.  It has friends’n'fans – the a2drupalistas – right out of the starting gate, to help it reach its market.  And it has the support of the internetwork to enhance and complement work in Flex/RIA, and Agile Methodologies, e.g.

There will doubtless be more examples of internetworking and entrepreneurship.  Mazel Tov, a2drupal and Switchback CMS.