Building Better Workflows: How Platform Engineering Complements DevOps
Photo by Christina Morillo
The term "platform engineering" has gained traction, but it’s often misunderstood, leading to poor management and ineffective implementation in many organizations. A platform, in this context, refers to a collection of tools, services, and environments that help developers efficiently build, deploy, and manage applications. It forms the backbone of the software development lifecycle, streamlining processes and enhancing developer productivity.
What is Platform Engineering?
Platform engineering is the practice of designing and building the infrastructure, tools, and environments that allow development teams to work more efficiently. The goal is to create a reliable and consistent foundation that supports the entire software development process.
A core aspect of platform engineering is its direct impact on the developer experience. There’s growing attention around adopting a “platform as a product” mindset, where the development environment is treated as something to be user-friendly, reliable, and tailored to the needs of developers. However, not every organization finds this approach practical, and when misunderstood, it can lead to rigid implementations that don’t fit developer needs. A well-engineered platform can reduce friction and accelerate development, but it requires thoughtful integration and constant iteration to meet the demands of those using it.
A misconception is that platform engineering is limited to managing Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines. While CI/CD is an essential element, platform engineering goes far beyond that. It encompasses building an ecosystem that supports the full software lifecycle—everything from automating infrastructure with code to integrating security practices and fostering cross-team collaboration. Organizations that focus too narrowly on CI/CD risk overlooking essential components like automated infrastructure provisioning, monitoring, and building a user-friendly developer environment. A holistic approach is necessary to deliver a platform that empowers teams to work more efficiently and productively.
Key Components of Platform Engineering
Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Using tools like Terraform, platform engineers manage infrastructure through code, ensuring consistency and enabling easy replication of environments.
CI/CD Pipelines: Automated pipelines are crucial for ensuring that new features or fixes can be deployed reliably and quickly.
Observability and Monitoring: Platform engineers implement observability solutions like Prometheus to maintain system reliability and catch issues before they escalate.
Security and Compliance: Security practices are integrated into the platform, often referred to as DevSecOps, ensuring compliance and automated security checks throughout the development lifecycle.
Communication with Devs: It is understated how often the Platform Engineering team will be meeting with developers to hear their current painpoints and how to assign the severity of these tasks. It is a balance of ensuring your team is creating impact for your organization while also making sure that the products and features are what your developers need and to not impede their current workflow.
The Role of DevOps in Platform Engineering
DevOps focuses on bridging the gap between development and operations teams, fostering collaboration and improving software delivery. Platform engineering plays a vital role in supporting DevOps practices by providing the underlying infrastructure and tools that enable smoother workflows and better communication between teams.
As a tech lead for a Platform Engineering team, I experienced firsthand the consequences of misunderstanding platform engineering. When our company launched a new platform initiative, management expected it to solve deployment issues quickly. However, they approached it as a one-off project, rather than recognizing it as an ongoing, collaborative effort. This disconnect caused confusion among developers, who felt left out of the process, resulting in frustration and slow adoption of the new tools. This experience highlighted how essential it is to integrate platform engineering with DevOps and prioritize the developer experience. When these two disciplines work together, teams can embrace the tools and work more efficiently, leading to better outcomes.
Key Benefits of Integrating Platform Engineering with Developer Experience
Collaboration: A well-designed platform promotes communication and collaboration between teams, breaking down silos and enabling shared ownership across the development lifecycle.
Automation: By automating tasks like infrastructure provisioning and deployments, platform engineering helps developers focus on higher-value work, improving both efficiency and satisfaction.
Standardization: A unified platform ensures that best practices are followed across teams, reducing errors and increasing consistency in processes.
Continuous Feedback: With integrated observability tools, platform engineers provide developers with real-time insights into system performance, allowing for faster iterations and improvements.
Conclusion
Platform engineering is often misunderstood, leading to poorly managed and implemented initiatives that fail to meet developer needs. However, when executed correctly, platform engineering becomes a critical foundation for enhancing the developer experience and fostering collaboration across teams. By providing the right tools, automating repetitive tasks, and creating a user-friendly environment, platform engineers empower developers to deliver high-quality software quickly and efficiently. It’s crucial to recognize that platform engineering goes beyond CI/CD—it’s about building a comprehensive system that supports and enhances the entire software development lifecycle.