The Role of Platform Engineering in Streamlining SDLC
In today’s fast-paced IT landscape, maximizing productivity is paramount for driving value creation and staying ahead of the competition. One crucial aspect of this is optimizing the software development lifecycle (SDLC) to ensure swift and efficient application deployment.
Traditionally, SDLC involves segregating teams into silos such as “dev” “ops” or “infra” which often leads to communication barriers and hampers decision-making. This fragmented approach results in frequent escalations and slows down the development cycle and impacting team morale.
Moreover, burdening development teams with managing a plethora of responsibilities — from Kubernetes and cert-manager to service mesh and container scanning — only adds to inefficiencies. While developers should understand these aspects, their primary focus should be on innovation rather than infrastructure management.
Enter Platform Engineering teams — the unsung heroes of modern SDLC.
These teams abstract infrastructure management and complexity, allowing developers to concentrate on what they do best: coding and creating.
By introducing abstraction layers and standardized services and tools (probably powered by AI), Platform Engineering teams simplify workflows and reduce cognitive load, enabling development teams to work more efficiently.
It’s crucial to recognize that Platform Engineering teams aren’t just another internal service provider; they’re integral parts of the organization. By fully integrating with the company, they align with the broader goals and enhance developer workflows and productivity.
In essence, Platform Engineering bridges the gap between development and operations, unlocking the full potential of SDLC and accelerating application deployment.
By embracing this approach, organizations can streamline their processes, boost productivity, and ultimately deliver better products to market faster.
Some useful links to understand the context:
1 - https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/application-development/richard-seroter-on-shifting-down-vs-shifting-left
2 - https://www.infoworld.com/article/3715061/better-application-networking-and-security-with-cakes.html
3 - https://www.gartner.com/en/articles/what-is-platform-engineering
