What is platform engineering? | Google Cloud

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Platform engineering

Shift down with platform engineering on Google Cloud

Unburden your developers by shifting workloads onto internal developer platforms (IDPs). Google Cloud’s comprehensive suite of managed services and Golden Paths make it easy to build, manage, and scale IDPs.

Overview

What is platform engineering?

Platform engineering is the practice of designing and maintaining an internal developer platform (IDP) to equip software engineering teams with Golden Paths.

What is an internal developer platform (IDP)?

An IDP, or internal developer platform, is a set of tools and technologies that abstract away technical complexities so developers can self-service and reduce their cognitive load.

To get the most out of your IDPs, dedicated platform engineering teams should treat them like products—and developers should be treated like customers. An IDP may or may not include a developer portal, which is a central interface for developers to access the platform.

What are Golden Paths?

Golden Paths are templates and automation for commonly performed tasks.

Golden Paths should be self-service via the IDP, well documented, and make it easy for developers to independently execute tasks in a standardized way. A Golden Path should always be defined and built in close partnership with the customers of the IDP—your developers. This collaboration is a core tenet of platform engineering; teams must work together to find, build, and refine the solution that works best for them.

Platform engineering, Golden Paths, and the power of self-service
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Platform engineering vs DevOps: What is the difference?

Platform engineering and DevOps are complementary practices that work together to achieve faster software delivery and improved reliability and security. Platform engineering codifies DevOps practices in Golden Paths, allowing developers to follow best practices without having to be experts.

How does platform engineering on Google Cloud work?

Shifting responsibilities down from the developer to the IDP doesn’t have to stop there—by building your platform on Google Cloud, you can unlock the full potential of automation, enhanced security, increased productivity, and accelerated time to market. With Google Cloud’s robust infrastructure and comprehensive suite of managed services that act as building blocks for IDPs, platform teams can easily and quickly deliver value to their developers.

How to become a platform engineer
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How It Works

There is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to platform engineering—the value and benefits come from the shift in mindset and collaboration between teams that’s required to successfully define and build a platform.

These platforms should be delivered as a product, with ongoing developer feedback, and designed for the full service life cycle.

Shifting down with platform engineering
Common Uses

Increase developer productivity

Unburden your developers by reducing their cognitive load

Shifting responsibilities to the left—a common practice in DevOps—can overburden developers with work that isn’t traditionally within their scope. By shifting down these complexities onto IDPs, you can reduce operational toil and enable developers to focus on building innovative applications. 

Self-service IDPs and automation built on Google Cloud reduce manual work, cognitive overload, and context-switching for developers, improving both productivity and job satisfaction.

    Unburden your developers by reducing their cognitive load

    Shifting responsibilities to the left—a common practice in DevOps—can overburden developers with work that isn’t traditionally within their scope. By shifting down these complexities onto IDPs, you can reduce operational toil and enable developers to focus on building innovative applications. 

    Self-service IDPs and automation built on Google Cloud reduce manual work, cognitive overload, and context-switching for developers, improving both productivity and job satisfaction.

      Improve reliability and security

      Standardize practices to build consistent and resilient apps

      With an emphasis on Golden Paths and standardized practices, platform engineering on Google Cloud makes it easy to ensure more consistent and resilient applications. By using Google Cloud as a foundation for your IDPs, you can embed site reliability engineering (SRE) principles within the platform, leading to fewer errors, reduced downtime, and higher overall system stability.

        Standardize practices to build consistent and resilient apps

        With an emphasis on Golden Paths and standardized practices, platform engineering on Google Cloud makes it easy to ensure more consistent and resilient applications. By using Google Cloud as a foundation for your IDPs, you can embed site reliability engineering (SRE) principles within the platform, leading to fewer errors, reduced downtime, and higher overall system stability.

          Go to market faster

          Reduce operational toil and empower developer self-service

          By empowering teams with efficient, automated workflows, platform engineering on Google Cloud enables organizations to pivot quickly, adapt to changing requirements, and launch new services with speed and ease, driving overall business agility.

          Google Cloud’s robust infrastructure enables efficient deployments and robust observability tools to detect and resolve issues faster. With a proactive approach to managing systems, you can reduce operational overhead and minimize downtime.

            Reduce operational toil and empower developer self-service

            By empowering teams with efficient, automated workflows, platform engineering on Google Cloud enables organizations to pivot quickly, adapt to changing requirements, and launch new services with speed and ease, driving overall business agility.

            Google Cloud’s robust infrastructure enables efficient deployments and robust observability tools to detect and resolve issues faster. With a proactive approach to managing systems, you can reduce operational overhead and minimize downtime.

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              FAQ

              What does “shift left vs. shift down” mean?

              In the context of software development and DevOps, "shift left" and "shift down" are concepts that describe different approaches to managing responsibilities and complexities.

              • Shift left: This refers to moving tasks and responsibilities earlier in the development lifecycle. For example, security testing, performance testing, and quality assurance are traditionally performed late in the process. To shift left means incorporating these activities earlier, such as during the coding or build phases. The goal is to identify and address issues sooner, reducing the cost and effort of fixing them later.
              • Shift down: This refers to moving operational and infrastructure complexities away from application developers and onto dedicated platform teams and internal developer platforms (IDPs). The goal is to reduce the cognitive load on developers, allowing them to focus on building and innovating without being bogged down by infrastructure management.

              Google Cloud believes that a combined approach of shift left and shift down is essential for empowering developers and building better software. By embracing these strategies, you can create a development environment where developers are happier, more productive, and able to deliver more secure and reliable applications.

              • Shift left: Integrating security, compliance, and quality checks earlier in the development process helps catch issues before they become major problems, resulting in fewer errors and more secure applications.
              • Shift down: Abstracting away infrastructure complexities and providing self-service tools empowers developers to focus on innovation and building great features, leading to increased productivity and happier developers.

              Google Cloud provides the tools and services you need to implement both of these strategies effectively, enabling you to create a more developer-centric, secure, and efficient software development lifecycle.

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