The Bridge Between Developers and Infrastructure
Platform engineering is a discipline designed to improve software developer productivity, application cycle time, and speed to market by providing common, reusable tools and capabilities via an internal developer platform. This bridge between developers and infrastructure speeds complex tasks that would normally be challenging, or even impossible, for individual developers to manage independently. In an online interview, Brett Smith, a distinguished software developer at analytics software and services firm SAS, explains the concept: “Ideally, the platform is self-service, freeing the team to focus on updates and improvements.” By standardizing the software development process and making it more efficient, platform engineering advocates the continuous application of practices that provide an improved, more productive developer experience.
A Core Component: Cloud-Native Services Catalog
A core platform engineering component is a cloud-native services catalog that allows development teams to seamlessly provision infrastructure, configure pipelines, and integrate DevOps tooling. This enables teams to create a development environment that optimizes performance and drives successful deployment. Engineering leader at Deloitte Consulting, Faruk Muratovic, emphasizes the importance of this component: “With platform engineering, development teams are empowered to create a development environment that optimizes performance and drives successful deployment.”
A Helping Hand for Development Teams
Platform engineering significantly improves development team productivity by streamlining workflows, automating tasks, and removing infrastructure-related obstacles. By reducing manual effort in deploying and managing applications, developers can focus on writing code and innovating rather than managing infrastructure. According to Vinod Chavan, cloud platform engineering services leader at IBM Consulting: “By reducing manual effort in deploying and managing applications, developers can focus on writing code and innovating rather than managing infrastructure.”
Key Benefits of Platform Engineering
- Streamlines workflows and automates tasks
- Removes infrastructure-related obstacles
- Reduces manual effort in deploying and managing applications
- Improves productivity and reduces costs
Regular Tool Updates and Enterprise Benefits
Platform engineering also provides regular tool updates, a benefit that is often overlooked. According to Brett Smith, this ensures that developers have access to the latest tools and technologies, enabling them to work more efficiently and effectively. Enterprise benefits of platform engineering include:
- Scaling efficiently while lowering costs
- Optimizing resource usage and enabling business growth
- Providing a stable environment for the seamless integration of advanced tools
- Reducing operational friction and increasing monitoring ability
- Enhancing flexibility when deploying workloads into hybrid cloud environments
Building a Strong Platform
A centralized and structured platform also helps organizations strengthen security and compliance by providing better visibility into infrastructure, applications, and workflows. According to Chavan, this enables businesses to quickly detect risks, address security issues before they escalate, and stay up to date with evolving compliance regulations.
Potential Pitfalls
When building a platform, a common pitfall is creating a system that’s too complex and doesn’t address the specific problems facing development and operations teams. Chavan warns against this: “Creating a system that’s too complex can lead to control issues, security problems, and decreased productivity.”
Other potential pitfalls include:
- Over-engineering and failing to align with developer culture
- Overly rigid implementation and providing too many choices for developers
Final Thoughts
Platform engineering isn’t just about the technology; it’s also about creating a collaborative and continuously improving work culture. According to Chavan, equipping developers and operators with the right tools and well-designed processes can streamline workflows and increase space for innovation. Platform engineering’s value lies in creating a development operating model that empowers developers while aligning with business needs. Muratovic notes that this discipline will constantly evolve as needs and goals change, so it’s crucial to create a culture of openness and collaboration between platform engineers, operations teams, and developers. “Platform engineering is how you herd the cats, eliminate the unicorns, and eradicate the chaos from your software supply chain,” Smith concludes. By focusing on the developer experience – particularly self-service, automation, governance, compliance, and security – platform engineering can provide organizations with a flexible, scalable, resilient ecosystem that fuels the agility and innovation that drives sustained growth.
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