Operations → Orchestration
Platform Engineering
The discipline of building internal self-service platforms that help software teams develop, deploy, and operate systems safely and efficiently.
Motivation
Platform engineering reduces repeated operational work by turning infrastructure and delivery capabilities into a coherent internal product.
Where it fits
It sits between infrastructure engineering and application teams.
Mental model
Infrastructure provides raw capabilities; a platform provides paved, supported ways for developers to consume them.
Important details
Strong platforms emphasize self-service, sensible defaults, APIs, templates, documentation, feedback, adoption, and measurable developer outcomes.
Common mistakes
- Building a platform without treating developers as customers.
- Renaming an operations team without creating self-service product capabilities.