Summary

As businesses navigate the complexities of digital transformation, platform engineering offers a compelling solution to the persistent issue of IT setup delays.

Seventy percent of organizations report their platform engineering initiatives are at least three years old, indicating a trend towards maturity in the practice (Puppet).

By focusing on building robust, scalable, and secure platforms, organizations can enhance agility, improve operational efficiency, and achieve strategic objectives more effectively. For CXOs, this approach not only supports immediate technical needs but also aligns with long-term business goals, driving sustained growth and innovation.

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In today’s fast-paced digital era, the phrase "waiting for IT setup" is a significant bottleneck that delays critical projects and stalls innovation. For the C-suite, these delays translate into lost opportunities, increased costs, and frustrated teams. The solution?

According to Gartner, by 2026, about 80% of software engineering organizations will establish platform teams as internal providers of reusable services, components, and tools for application delivery.

Prolonged IT setup times pose a compelling case for platform engineering

Imagine this: A product development initiative is delayed because developers are waiting for environments to be provisioned. Or, your marketing team is ready to launch a new campaign, but the project is stalled because the necessary IT infrastructure, such as servers and databases, isn't in place to support the digital components of your campaign.

These prolonged IT setup delays are not just operational hiccups; they can have significant strategic implications, affecting time-to-market, competitive positioning, and overall business agility and performance.

What is platform engineering?

Platform engineering involves creating and maintaining a self-service, standardized infrastructure that development and operations teams can use to build, deploy, and manage applications. It focuses on automation, standardization, and scalability, providing teams with the tools and environments they need without the traditional wait times.

Key benefits

  • Accelerated development cycles: About 20% of organizations' interest in platform engineering is driven by the need for efficient continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines (DevOps.com). Automated CI/CD pipelines enable continuous integration and delivery, enhancing development speed and productivity.
  • Consistency and reliability: Standardized platforms provide consistent development and production environments, reducing configuration drift and minimizing errors. This consistency ensures that applications perform reliably across different stages of the deployment pipeline.
  • Scalability: Platforms are designed to scale horizontally and vertically, accommodating business growth without compromising performance. Container orchestration tools like Kubernetes facilitate scalable and resilient application deployments.

Why should the C-suite focus on platform engineering?

The strategic benefits of platform engineering extend far beyond operational efficiencies. For the C-suite, the ability to reduce time-to-market, optimize costs, and enhance productivity directly impacts business outcomes. Here's how:

  • Accelerated time-to-market: Platform engineering enables faster provisioning of resources, allowing teams to move from ideation to execution more quickly. This agility can mean the difference between leading the market and playing catch-up.
  • Risk mitigation: Seventy percent of platform engineering initiatives have security integrated from the start (Puppet). Robust security features and compliance checks embedded in platform engineering help mitigate risks associated with data breaches and regulatory fines. Automated security testing and continuous monitoring ensure vulnerabilities are detected and addressed promptly.
  • Cost efficiency and resource optimization: Platform engineering minimizes waste by ensuring resources are used efficiently and reducing the need for overprovisioning. This approach not only cuts costs but also maximizes the value of existing investments.
  • Enhanced developer productivity: Enhancing developer productivity accounts for approximately 21% of the reasons for the growing popularity of platform engineering (DevOps.com). By streamlining operations, developers can deliver better products faster, driving innovation and growth.

Current platform engineering trends

The platform engineering market is evolving rapidly, driven by the need for efficient and scalable IT infrastructure. Key trends include:

  • Integration of AI and automation: Organizations are now developing AI internally, and it serves as a platform resource that can be integrated into their products and services. Also, AI and automation are transforming platform engineering by enhancing monitoring, analytics, and decision-making processes. AI optimizes CI/CD processes, significantly reducing testing times and improving deployment accuracy (Gartner).
  • Focus on security and compliance: With growing cybersecurity threats, integrating robust security measures within platforms is paramount. Automated security protocols and compliance checks ensure data integrity and regulatory adherence (Forte Group).
  • Sustainability and the circular economy: Platforms increasingly support sustainability goals by enabling efficient resource management and promoting circular economy practices, like product and material exchanges and asset sharing (Infosys).
  • Enhanced developer experience: There’s a significant push towards improving the developer experience by creating intuitive, user-friendly platforms that streamline workflows and reduce cognitive load. This trend is essential for attracting and retaining top technical talent.

By prioritizing platform engineering, CXOs can turn the inevitability of IT setup delays into a strategic advantage, fostering a more resilient and responsive organizational framework that drives growth and innovation.