Platform Engineering #
Platform engineering creates internal products that enable developers to ship safely and quickly.
Why platform engineering matters #
As systems scale, each product team rebuilding CI/CD, IaC, and observability creates inconsistency. Platform teams provide reusable standards and paved roads.
Core platform capabilities #
- service templates and starter kits
- standardized CI/CD pipelines
- deployment abstractions for Kubernetes/cloud
- built-in logging, metrics, tracing, and alerts
- policy and security defaults
Golden path model #
A golden path is the recommended way to build and operate services:
- fast path for most teams
- secure-by-default controls
- flexibility via escape hatches when needed
Platform product mindset #
Treat platform as a product:
- define users (application engineers, data teams, security)
- measure adoption and satisfaction
- publish clear documentation and SLAs
- iterate based on developer feedback
KPIs to track #
- lead time reduction for new services
- deployment frequency improvements
- incident rate and MTTR changes
- onboarding time for new developers