Jack of all trades, master of none
The original idea behind DevOps was to bring development and operations together, but the gap between those two worlds has now become too wide for a single person to fully manage. The amount of knowledge required to manage modern cloud infrastructure is just as demanding today as writing application code. Expecting a single engineer to be an expert in both domains places an impossible mental burden on people. To solve this, we must stop making developers struggle with the underlying technology and instead provide a centralized layer that abstracts this complexity.
A mindset that enables growth
Platform Engineering, as practiced by many high-performing companies such as Spotify, is a discipline focused on building an internal platform-as-a-service. This platform provides generic services and capabilities that are easy to replicate and scale for multiple internal development teams, which act as the platform’s “customers.” This Internal Developer Platform (IDP) is not just a collection of tools; it delivers three core values to engineering teams:
- self-service workflows: Developers get what they need, when they need it, without having to submit a ticket first.
- Common, standardized tools: The golden path: approved, safe, and efficient tools for the job.
- Standardized workflows: Automated, repeatable processes for building, deploying, and monitoring software.
The benefits are considerable and have a direct impact on the bottom line. You reduce costs by eliminating redundant work, enable software engineers to focus on valuable code, and standardize on a few proven methods instead of supporting dozens of variants. This keeps both architectural complexity and maintenance overhead low.
The strategic shift: turn your platform into a product
We have reached a point where virtually all use cases, except for the most complex ones, can be solved with off-the-shelf tooling. The traditional reflex was to build a new, custom solution for each use case, in the belief that it was uniquely optimized.
The modern, efficient approach is to standardize on a limited number of proven methods. You trade small, perceived optimizations for huge, real cost savings and the speed of a reliable, reusable solution.
Consider the feature, not the tool
Your external product is likely a set of standardized features that, together, deliver a single, specific experience. You also don't build a custom system for each individual customer; that would be prohibitively expensive.
Your internal platform works exactly the same way. You need to treat the platform as a full-fledged product, just as you would with commercial software. By creating a standardized, easy-to-use, self-service infrastructure, you ensure that the platform is user-friendly for its customers: your developers.
This standardization ensures that you deliver value faster, drastically reduce development and maintenance costs by focusing on a few core methods, and can effectively change course when the market demands it.
Where do you start?
To get started with Platform Engineering, you need to treat your internal infrastructure as a product and view your developers as real customers. Focus on a few key "products" in your organization that you can "sell" to developers. Just like building a good web store: clear products and a simple checkout. Tools such as Backstack.io or Multistax.com can help you create such a store for developers. for developers. Then build building blocks with industry tools such as Terraform to eliminate manual deployments and standardize the solution.
How can we help?
Working with a specialized cloud native expert like SUE accelerates this transition from theory to practice. For example, we support organizations with the implementation of tools like Backstage and the creation of building blocks that developers can use right away. In addition, we offer our multi-cloud platform tool, Multistax, which provides you with an immediate foundation for self-service infrastructure. Not sure where to start? Our Platform Roadmap Workshop is designed to establish a compelling product vision for your platform and translate it into an actionable roadmap. We involve all stakeholders to ensure that the key objectives align with business priorities and to secure commitment to the platform’s purpose.
You can read about how SUE sets up an internal developer platform on the Platform Engineering page. The Platform Engineering Guide explains when such a platform is worthwhile.
