DevOps practices can get complicated as companies scale. Platform engineering is shifting operations from many different approaches to a more centralized and product-focused way of thinking to ease some of those pain points.
What is platform engineering?
Platform engineering promises a world where your developers can focus on what they do best—building elevated and innovative platforms and applications apps—without getting bogged down in the nitty-gritty of infrastructure management, deployment pipelines, or toolchain configurations. Platform enginnering is helping organizations speed up software delivery and reach new levels of efficiency.
Platform engineering is a software discipline focused on improving developer efficiency and the overall experience by championing an internal developer platform, or IDP. This platform gives developers a self-service layer of reusable tools, services, and workflows so they can manage their infrastructure, deployments, and operations with more autonomy and efficiency.
While DevOps encourages teams to take ownership of their operations, platform engineering provides the infrastructure and support to make that ownership smoother and more efficient. It’s like giving developers a well-organized library instead of expecting them to search through piles of random books.
This shift towards a product-centric approach is significant. Instead of seeing infrastructure and tools as different things, platform engineering treats them as one product designed for internal customers—the developers. This product mindset is all about the user experience, reusability, and scalability, ensuring that the platform meets the changing needs of development teams and encouraging a culture of self-sufficiency.
You may also be interested in DevOps transformation guide for software development companies
What is the Internal Developer Platform (IDP)?
The Internal Developer Platform (IDP) is the heart and soul of platform engineering. The IDP serves as a centralized command center and empowers developers to navigate the complexities of the software development lifecycle with ease and efficiency. It is a self-service hub that combines all the essential tools, services, and workflows into a unified experience.
While DevOps tools can be powerful in their own right, sometimes they can exist in silos, requiring developers to juggle multiple interfaces, configurations, and access controls. This fragmentation can lead to frustration, wasted time, and inconsistencies in development practices. The IDP eliminates these hurdles by consolidating everything developers need into one cohesive platform.
This streamlined approach offers numerous benefits. Developers can access and manage resources effortlessly, eliminating the friction and frustration of navigating a labyrinth of tools and technologies. Workflows are streamlined, and automated processes accelerate deployment times, enabling faster and more frequent releases of new features and applications.
Moreover, the IDP provides a centralized view of all development activities, enhancing visibility and fostering collaboration. This transparency allows developers to track progress, identify bottlenecks, and work together more effectively.
The IDP also ensures consistent quality and compliance across all development projects by standardizing tools and processes. This reduces the risk of errors, improves code quality, and helps organizations adhere to industry standards and regulations.
You may also be interested in DevOps transformation guide for software development companies
Getting started with platform engineering
Building an IDP can seem daunting, but we’re here to help. You start with a solid foundation and gradually build on it, layer by layer, to create a platform that truly empowers your developers. From there it’s an ongoing process of making improvements and adapting as you go.
The first thing you need to do is assemble a team dedicated to building the platform. This team, made up of people who know DevOps, software engineering, and infrastructure inside out, will be the architects and stewards of your IDP. They’ll be in charge of designing, building, and maintaining the platform, ensuring it keeps up with the changing needs of your development teams.
Next, it’s essential to do a thorough needs assessment. Get together with your developers and find out what’s bothering them and what they’re struggling with at each stage of the development process. Then, you’ll know where you can make things easier for them by introducing standardization and automation. This assessment will help you figure out what to focus on first when you’re building your platform. It’ll also help you focus on the areas that will impact your developers’ productivity and efficiency.
Building an IDP is an ongoing process. Start with the areas most impacting your developers, like CI/CD automation. This will give them a simple and effective way to build, test, and deploy their code. As the platform grows, you can gradually add critical features like infrastructure provisioning, self-service portals, and monitoring tools. This phased approach lets you deliver value quickly and get feedback from your developers to guide future development.
Throughout the process, keep the user in mind. Get developers involved in designing and developing the platform, ensuring it meets their needs and encourages adoption. Collect feedback regularly and make changes to the platform based on user input to create a genuine, developer-centric experience.
Key components of a successful platform engineering strategy
A successful platform engineering strategy creates a smooth and empowering developer experience. It’s not just about putting a bunch of tools together; it’s about integrating them to form a unified platform that makes workflows easier, encourages collaboration, and speeds up innovation.
Let’s take a look at some of the critical parts that make up a thriving platform engineering ecosystem:
- CI/CD Automation: Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) pipelines are the backbone of modern software development. CI/CD enables rapid and reliable releases of software updates and new features by automating the build, test, and deployment processes. Tools like Jenkins, GitLab CI/CD, and CircleCI can be integrated into your IDP to streamline workflows and empower developers to deliver value quickly and efficiently.
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is a paradigm shift in infrastructure management, allowing you to define and manage your infrastructure through code rather than manual processes. This approach brings numerous benefits, including scalability, consistency, and version control. IaC tools like Terraform, Ansible, and Pulumi can be integrated into your IDP to empower developers to provide and manage their infrastructure quickly and confidently.
- Service Catalogs: A service catalog is a centralized repository of pre-approved services and resources that developers can readily access and provision as needed. This self-service approach eliminates the need for developers to request resources manually, reducing friction and accelerating development cycles.
- Self-Service Portals: These portals provide a user-friendly interface for developers to access and manage resources, deploy applications, and monitor their performance. They empower developers with autonomy and control, allowing them to perform tasks without relying on the platform team for every request.
- Monitoring and Observability Tools: Real-time visibility into your applications and infrastructure’s health and performance is crucial for maintaining operational efficiency and preventing downtime. Monitoring and observability tools, such as Prometheus, Grafana, and Datadog, can be integrated into your IDP to provide developers with the insights they need to identify and resolve issues quickly.
- Security and Compliance Automation: Security should be baked into every stage of the software development lifecycle. By integrating security and compliance checks into your workflows, you can ensure that your applications meet industry standards and regulatory requirements. This proactive approach minimizes risks and fosters a culture of security awareness within your development teams.
By incorporating these key components into your platform engineering strategy, you can create a robust and empowering environment for your developers. This, in turn, leads to faster development cycles, improved software quality, and increased innovation, ultimately driving your business forward.
Platform engineering is changing how companies build software. It gives developers the tools they need to work faster and wiser. Using it right can make your development teams more efficient, productive, and collaborative.
Ready to try platform engineering? Contact us today to learn how Ceiba’s DevOps and platform engineering expertise can help you build a self-service highway for your developers and accelerate your software delivery.
