When to Adopt Platform Engineering
In recent years platform engineering has emerged in DevOps. It has become popular in the software development landscape due to the value it provides to the software. Internal Developer Platform (IDP) solves several problems of developers which include:
- Complex problems
- Burnouts and overload
- Lack of tools
Signs Your Organization Needs Platform Engineering#
No doubt platform engineering has emerged as a game changer in the software development landscape.Â
Rapid Growth and Scalability Challenges:#
Organizations experiencing rapid growth encounter scalability challenges. The management of infrastructure and development processes becomes more challenging as demand increases. In this case, your organization encounters outages, performance bottlenecks, delays in the release cycle, and lower customer satisfaction.
Platform engineering helps you address all your scalability challenges with ease. It can provide scalable and automated solutions that you can incorporate in your projects.
If you feel your organization has scalability problems adopt platform engineering.
Increasing Complexity in your Technology Stack:#
The complex technology stack is another sign of platform engineering adoption. Every developer feels comfortable with different tools and frameworks. Your organization may be working with different languages, tools, and frameworks. Different teams are working on different projects, which is why this happens.
Using diverse tools and technologies may have benefits at the individual level. However, this diversity can lead to integration complications. A complex technology stack is also hard to maintain. It becomes hard to keep these tools updated.
Inefficiencies and Bottlenecks in Software Development:#
It might be time to adopt platform engineering if your organization struggles with inefficiencies and bottlenecks in software development and deployment. Inefficiencies and bottlenecks in software development result in poor software quality and longer and infrequent release cycles.
Lack of automation and repetitive manual tasks contribute to inefficiency. Platform engineering addresses this issue by focusing on automation. Inconsistent development practices are another problem. These practices result in a codebase that is hard to maintain and has a high risk of errors.
Inconsistent provisioning of infrastructure can also lead to performance problems. By implementing this in your organization you can tackle inefficiencies and bottlenecks in your software development process.
Competitive Pressures and Market Demands:#
Competitive pressure and market demand within your niche or industry is a sign that your organization should adopt platform engineering. The technology industry is ever-evolving, Every now and then you see innovations and trends. To cope with these market trends and satisfy your customers you need to adopt platform engineering.
Here are some problems, your organization faces if you don’t adopt platform engineering. We live in an era where software releases are faster than ever and the quality bar of software is rising day by day. As a software development organization, you should increase software release frequency and respond to market needs faster than your competitors.
If you feel left behind and cannot compete you need to transform your organization and incorporate platform engineering. Platform engineering provides tools for faster development cycles. Through the use of continuous integration and Continuous Delivery, it ensures software releases are fast and reliable.
Platform engineering integrates monitoring and analytic tools in IDP. You can get insights into your software performance, customer behavior, and changing market needs. You can make informed decisions.
Overload and Burnout:#
One of the crucial reasons to adopt platform engineering is overload and burnout. If your developers feel overloaded with operations and fail to cope, then it's time to make the switch.Â
IDP can make your developer's life way easier. With an IDP your developers can utilize automation and other tools to increase the agility and efficiency of operations.
Cognitive Overload:#
Cognitive overload among developers is another sign that you should adopt platform engineering. No matter how smart a developer is, the human brain has some limitations. A complex technology stack can overwhelm developers when they have to learn different technologies and languages to manage different applications.
Developers spending the majority of their time doing manual repeated tasks can be overwhelmed. The transition between different projects and the use of different technologies and languages in all these projects can also cause cognitive overload. Tight deadlines can also be one of the reasons.
Platform engineering reduces this burden on developers and allows them to work peacefully without cognitive overload. Platform engineering promotes standardized technology stacks and workflow. It embraces automation to increase efficiency.Â
By incorporating CI/CD practices, platform engineering reduces the complexity of manual procedures and streamlines development and deployment.
It can address cognitive overload and related problems. Using IDPs can lead to improved developer productivity, code quality, and employee satisfaction. A satisfied employee can deliver better than an underpressure employee.