Abstract

With the emergence of platform engineering, there is a high risk of over-engineering internal solutions for problems that are either low value or low frequency. Small short term gains can become long term weaknesses due to accidental complexity and/or poor return on investment, making the platform fragile. Successful long term platform engineering approaches require: 1) a focus on reducing cognitive load first and foremost ; 2) collaborative design and evolution of the platform through adequate interactions that truly accelerate teams; and 3) treating the platform as a product. But what does it mean to treat a “platform as a product”? What benefits does this give, and why would an organization adopt this approach? In this talk, Manuel Pais, co-author of the book Team Topologies, explains why the “platform as a product” approach can be a powerful “engine for fast flow”, if done right. You will see how some forward thinking organizations like Adidas or Uswitch successfully followed this path to accelerate and simplify the delivery of software at scale.