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The Power of Platforms

Aligning Technology with Human-Centric Design

Bryan Ross - Field CTO @ GitLab

Rickard Westburg - Manager, Software Factory @ Getinge

Stefania Chaplin - Solutions Architect @ GitLab

Bryan Ross

Field CTO, GitLab

Abstract:

Platform Engineering has emerged as the natural evolution of DevOps, leading the way in optimising and scaling software delivery within modern organisations. This session provides an insightful introduction to platform engineering, tracing its evolution and exploring its core principles. We’ll delve into how technology and human factors intersect, emphasising the importance of team dynamics and user engagement. Leave with actionable insights on aligning with user expectations and strategies to drive sustained platform growth.

When should you adopt Platform Engineering? what are the benefits? bring some stats from devsecops survey - focus on devex. best practices - comms strategy. Crossing the chasm. Comms blueprint.

30-35 minutes including Q&A. There'll be breaks where folks can chat.

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of large software engineering organizations will establish platform engineering teams as internal providers of reusable services, components and tools for application delivery

80%

Source: https://www.gartner.com/en/articles/gartner-top-10-strategic-technology-trends-for-2024

Gartner, Top Strategic Technology Trends for 2024

45k+

20k+

11

80+

Hours

Views

Attendees

Watch Parties

Source: https://platformcon.com/

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B R Y A N R O S S

Introduction

Field CTO, GitLab

@BryanRossUK

GitLab Copyright

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How has software changed?

N-Tier Architecture

Service Oriented Architecture

Cloud Native

Microservices

Monolithic

Logical separation based on technical implementation.

Loosely coupled apps that serve broad business functions.

Lightweight services that provide re-usable capability.

Single code base with all functionality tightly integrated.

Can be more easily secured and scaled as demand grows.

Formal interfaces with an emphasis on governance.

Independently managed components with lightweight interfaces.

Deployed as a single unit, making it difficult to scale.

Components remain tightly coupled, slowing developer velocity.

Develop and scale independently, but high levels of initial design.

Promotes diverse technologies with greater flexibility.

Deployments are more complex, take planning, and prone to failure.

Enable development teams to work in parallel

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How has infrastructure changed?

DevOps

DevSecOps

Traditional

Cross-skilled, high velocity teams focussed on delivering business value.

Integrates other important business functions into the software delivery lifecycle.

Distinct teams with isolated responsibilities and often conflicting priorities.

Bespoke workflows and automation to optimise delivery for the team.

An array of tools to enable collaboration, held together by “digital duct tape”.

Poor communication and coordination causing slow, error-prone deployments

DevOps teams assume more responsibility, creating high levels of cognitive load.

DevSecOps teams are siloed, each with its own tools and ways of working.

Increasing friction between Dev and Ops creating a blame-driven environment.

Emphasis on velocity leads to weak security and poor compliance to corp policies.

“Shift Left” and a proactive approach with an emphasis on resolving issues early.

Manual, project-based delivery with minimal automation or reusability.

Streamline workflow between disciplines

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Redundant tools amplify cognitive load and complexity for developers and engineers.

Complex tool ecosystems are difficult to integrate and a source of fragility.

Strong bias towards local optimisation that rarely aligns to global strategy

Traditional org structures can obstruct the cultural shifts needed for collaboration.

Lack of funding due to perception of CI/CD as a cost, rather than a revenue enabler.

Dev

Ops

Challenges

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CEO

CIO

Business Leads

Others

App Dev 1

App Dev 2

App Dev 3

Infra

Ops

Security

How is your team organised?

😖

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CONWAY’S SECOND LAW

“How Do Committees Invent” 1967

Organizations which design systems … are constrained to produce designs which are copies of the communication structures of their organizations.

Melvin Edward Conway

Author, Computer Scientist & Programmer

”

“

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CONWAY’S SECOND LAW

“How Do Committees Invent” 1967

Organizations which design systems … are constrained to produce designs which are copies of the communication structures of their organizations.

Melvin Edward Conway

Author, Computer Scientist & Programmer

”

“

He’s alive and well!

He was considering developer experience (compilers) back in the 60’s.

We often forget that many of our design decisions are to overcome or resolve human problems.

Conway is saying that your comm structure (i.e. your toolchain) will be reflected in your systems (i.e. software delivery)

Conway understood that software coupling is enabled and encouraged by human communication.

if I can talk easily to the author of some code, then it’s easier for me to build a deep understanding of it, and for my code to interact and be coupled to that code.

Micro-services and platform engineering are examples of an ”Inverse Conway Manoeuvre” – a phrase popularised by Team Topologies

micro-services designed to be supported by a small, long-lived team that have all the skills needed to deliver customer value.
it enables a large number of developers work together with less coupling … but it brings its own challenges/overheads.

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Enabling Teams help others overcome obstacles during key transitions or while building new skills.

Stream Aligned Teams focus on customer needs to drive continuous business change without delays.

Platform Teams use feedback loops to build internal platforms to empower stream aligned teams.

Team Topologies

Understand and improve software team structures and interactions

Complicated Subsystem Teams tackle specialized, complex challenges requiring deep domain expertise.

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CEO

CIO

Business Leads

Others

App Dev 1

App Dev 2

App Dev 3

Infra

Ops

Security

Platform Engineering

Internal

Developer

Platform

Centre of Excellence

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Pre-architected and supported golden paths to build better software faster with higher quality and greater control

Service Discovery

Templates with Best Practices

Continuous Security

Compliant Workflows

Help & Support

Product Mindset

An IDP provides…

Golden paths help reduce cognitive overload, reduce time to market through standardization, and easier compliance adherence.

Platform team offers pre-architected paths to production without devs having to learn the tech and processes used to create that it (infrastructure, tooling, testing, compliance, etc).

A golden path helps to standardize, secure, and optimize the the software delivery platform so developers can focus on building code and releasing software faster while the platform team can focus on improving efficiency and meeting compliance needs

Features

Service Discovery - is there a reusable component? Finding stuff is hard in big orgs.
Templates - Docs are good, but templates that show how to implement best practice is much better
Compliant workflows - Continous Integration is at the heart of all this. Do it this way for an easy life.
Product mindset - Developed WITH developers, not FOR developers

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Efficiency will �become your competitive advantage

Culture will come before transformation

68%

95%

5x

93%

Believe platform engineering is a step in the right direction

Saw a direct increase

in developer velocity

Market performance for those in top quartile of Developer Velocity

Say platforms help realise the benefits of DevOps

The majority of organisations find platform engineering:

Improves system reliability

Improves efficiency / productivity

Speeds up delivery times

Improves workflow and process standards

Improves overall security

Increases standardisation reduced duplication of work

Benefits of an Internal Developer Platform

Source: State of DevOps Report 2023/24, PuppetLabs

Source: Developer Velocity: How software excellence fuels business performance, 2022, McKinsey & Co

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Speed, quality, and reliability of software

Improve competitiveness, business outcomes, and collaboration.

Standardize, secure, and optimize software delivery platforms

Improve developer productivity, encourage reuse & inner-sourcing, enhance visibility, �and meet compliance needs.

DevSecOps

Platform Engineering

Supports developers

Will Platform Engineering replace DevSecOps?

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Customer Onboarding

Deliver an intuitive customer experience that builds brand loyalty

Product Roadmap

Establish strong feedback loops to prioritise future development

Customer Support

Provide customer-centric

omni-channel communication

Branding & Marketing

Define the scope of the service and its cost

Security & Compliance

Define the policies and standards that will govern consumption

Supporting Systems

Understand the contract of downstream dependencies

Partnership Ecosystem

Grow strategic relationships with other teams and functions

Technology & Innovation

Build a quality product that is continuously improved

Platform

Engineering

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The Diffusion of Innovation

Entering the mainstream

market is an act of burglary,

of breaking and entering,

of deception, often even of stealth.

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Start with a Customer

MVP: Minimum, Viable, Perfectly Imperfect

Build a Landing Zone

Think Ahead

Define your Story

Clearly articulate what you hope to achieve. Define the problems your users are facing and describe how your proposed approach is the best solution.

Focus your efforts on velocity by building features that bring immediate demonstrable value. Aim to provide incredible support, rather than a polished product.

Before you begin to build anything, identify a prospective customer that you can build a solution around and who is passionate about your ideas.

Capturing the Market

Create a beautiful landing page where anyone can learn about what your product, with links to further info. Marketing your product is vital at this early stage.

Begin to collect feedback and success stories from your users that showcase the business benefits they have realised by using your product.

Early Market

INNOVATORS & EARLY ADOPTERS

16%

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Streamline Onboarding

Tailor Your Messaging

Prioritise Scale and Stability

Amplify your Advocates

Deliver Solutions

Build a complete end-to-end solution around your most popular use-case that showcases the level of quality that you aim to deliver across the whole platform in the future.

Adapt and grow your messaging to show the practical aspects of your platform, including risk reduction and ROIs models that appeal specifically to the Early Majority.

Make it easy for users to choose your platform with user-friendly getting started guides for simple tasks and a knowledge base for more complex use cases.

Crossing the Chasm

Ensure your platform is stable, reliable and capable of meeting the demands of a broader, more conservative user base. You must establish and maintain credibility.

Develop opportunities for early adopters to share their success stories through company wide articles, technology roadshows and other events.

Early Market

Mainstream

INNOVATORS & EARLY ADOPTERS

16%

EARLY MAJORITY

34%

THE CHASM

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Build an Ecosystem

Strategic Roadmap

Proven Track Record

Show Transparency

Focus on Quality

Work across your capabilities to bring increased levels of quality and user experience. Take proactive steps to reduce failure rates and the need for human support.

Be mindful of new features are developed and avoid capabilities that only help a small set of users. Build planning maturity to provide a longer-term roadmap.

An expanding customer base will bring a broader set of requirements. Look for opportunities to integrate with existing systems to build an ecosystem around your platform.

Going Mainstream

Develop detailed case studies, reference architectures, and other documentation that reduce friction and reassure risk-averse users of your proven track record.

Build trust by providing more transparency into how the platform is operated. Speak about the challenges, demonstrating that you are able to adapt and improve.

Mainstream Market

LATE MAJORITY

34%

LAGGARDS

16%

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Platform Engineering is about more than building systems, it’s about connecting people to create a foundation that empowers innovation, accelerates development, and enables scalable growth.

Let’s start the conversation

Bryan Ross

Driving transformation

in the FTSE100 🚀

https://bryanross.me/