Platform Engineering

Internal Developer Platforms, Golden Paths & Self-Service

Infrastructure | Technical Operations Excellence

80%
Golden Path Use
<10m
Env Provision
0
Tickets to Deploy
IDP
Internal Platform

Platform Engineering Goals

GoalOutcome
Reduce cognitive loadDevs focus on features
Standardize toolingConsistency at scale
Self-serviceNo ticket queues
Paved roadsEasy path for 80% cases

Internal Developer Platform

Developer Portal

Backstage, Port, Cortex - service catalog & docs

CI/CD Pipeline

Standardized builds, tests, deployments

Infrastructure Abstraction

Crossplane, Terraform modules, GitOps

Golden Paths

Pre-built, tested, supported paths for common tasks:

  • New service: Template → CI/CD → observability
  • Database: Request → provision → connect
  • Secrets: Vault integration → auto-rotation
  • Deployment: Git push → canary → production

Optional, not mandatory. Compelling, not mandated.

Platform Team Model

AspectApproach
MindsetTreat devs as customers
FeedbackRegular user research
RoadmapBased on dev pain points
SuccessAdoption rate, not features

Self-Service Capabilities

CapabilityNo Ticket
Environment✓ API/CLI provision
Database✓ Catalog request
Secrets✓ Vault self-serve
Monitoring✓ Auto-instrumented
Domains/TLS✓ Cert-manager

Platform Maturity

LevelCharacteristics
1. ProvisionalTribal knowledge, manual
2. ManagedDocumented, some automation
3. DefinedSelf-service, golden paths
4. OptimizedMetrics-driven, evolving

Platform Success Metrics

  • Time to first deploy: New dev productivity
  • Golden path adoption: >80% target
  • Ticket reduction: Fewer ops requests
  • Developer NPS: Platform satisfaction

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

  • Mandated use: Force kills adoption
  • No feedback loop: Building in isolation
  • Feature bloat: Too much, too complex
  • Shadow IT: Teams route around you

Paved Roads, Not Walled Gardens

Make the right way the easy way.