What is Platform Engineering? From Chaos to Control in Software Development

Organizations today face mounting pressure to balance innovation with operational efficiency while delivering technical solutions that meet business goals. Platform engineering has emerged as a transformative discipline to address these challenges, yet its meaning is often misunderstood or oversimplified.

So, what is platform engineering? At its core, platform engineering is a multi-faceted approach that encompasses three distinct use cases:

1. Using a platform to solve a business problem

Businesses often face challenges that require tailored solutions. In this scenario, platform engineering involves leveraging existing platforms like Salesforce or Mendix to solve business problems. These platforms may range from fully pre-built solutions requiring minimal configuration to hybrid low-code/no-code platforms that offer a balance between customization and scalability. The goal is to optimize the solution to deliver maximum value while integrating seamlessly with existing infrastructure.

2. Developing a purpose-built platform

In this use case, the platform itself becomes the product. Organizations design and deliver robust, scalable, and user-friendly platforms that enable external users—typically customers—to build their own solutions. For example, a company might develop a platform that empowers users to create custom applications or manage workflows, thereby driving innovation and enhancing customer engagement.

3. Supporting a company’s development team

Internal Developer Platforms (IDPs) are designed to empower engineering teams within high-tech organizations. These platforms provide developers with the tools, environments, and processes needed to build, test, and deploy software efficiently. By standardizing workflows and automating repetitive tasks, IDPs enable teams to focus on innovation while maintaining compliance and quality.

Platform engineering is not just a technical discipline; it is a strategic enabler that helps businesses solve problems by transforming chaos into control. A platform solution may help an organization achieve efficiency gains, scalability, and faster time-to-market, ultimately driving both technical and business success.

Why Platform Engineering is Important for Enterprises

For corporations, platform engineering is more than just a technical discipline—it’s a strategic enabler that addresses some of the most pressing challenges in modern software development. It’s all about going from chaos to control.

Platform engineering benefits include:

• Efficiency Gains: By providing a unified platform, engineering teams can focus on innovation rather than infrastructure.
• Scalability: Platforms enable organizations to scale their engineering efforts without compromising quality or speed.
• Compliance and Standardization: Platforms enforce policies and standards, ensuring that all teams adhere to best practices.
• Faster Time-to-Market: Streamlined processes and tools allow for quicker software delivery, giving organizations a competitive edge.

At its core, platform engineering is about building the right tools for developers to build the right tools for the business.

Why Platform Engineering Matters for CTOs

While enterprises as a whole benefit from platform engineering, for CTOs, platform engineering is not just a technical initiative but a strategic tool to manage complexity, foster innovation, and align engineering with business goals. It enables CTOs to establish strategic oversight by standardizing tools, processes, and workflows, ensuring compliance and consistency while creating a scalable IT infrastructure.

Platform engineering also empowers engineering teams by balancing developer autonomy with organizational standards. Self-service capabilities with built-in guardrails allow developers to innovate freely without compromising quality or compliance. As organizations grow, it provides the tools needed to scale effectively, such as pre-configured environments and automation, reducing inefficiencies and chaos.

Moreover, platform engineering bridges the gap between technical execution and business objectives, ensuring engineering efforts directly contribute to faster time-to-market, better customer experiences, and cost optimization. It also helps CTOs navigate cultural and organizational change by offering a framework that minimizes resistance and fosters collaboration, productivity, and continuous improvement.

Core Components of Platform Engineering

Integrated Developer Platforms (IDPs)

The concept of IDPs, which aligns closely with the third type of platform engineering I outlined above, has evolved significantly over the past five to six years. Historically, IT organizations relied on static resources like wikis or Confluence pages to guide developers in setting up their environments. While functional, this approach often led to inconsistencies, inefficiencies, and a lack of standardization across teams.

The advent of modern IDPs helps take the development process to a new level of maturity and has become the backbone of platform engineering for internal teams. Instead of static documentation, they provide an interactive experience for developers, architects, QA teams, and other stakeholders. These platforms are designed to streamline workflows and enhance developer productivity by offering key capabilities such as:

• Pre-configured environments that eliminate the need for developers to set up their own tools and infrastructure manually.
• Access to tools and resources like shared libraries, templates, and blueprints that accelerate development.
• Automated workflows for building, testing, and deploying software, ensuring consistency and reducing manual effort.

Examples of IDPs include Backstage by Spotify, a widely recognized open-source platform, and custom-built solutions like those developed by companies such as Target.

CI/CD Pipelines and Infrastructure Automation

Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines are essential for automating the software delivery process. They ensure code changes are automatically tested, integrated, and deployed. Infrastructure automation complements CI/CD by automating the provisioning and management of resources, enabling teams to deliver high-quality software at scale.

Monitoring Tools for Operational Efficiency

Monitoring tools are critical for maintaining the health and performance of platforms. They provide real-time insights, helping teams:

• Detect and resolve issues proactively.
• Optimize resource utilization.
• Ensure compliance with service-level agreements (SLAs).

Challenges in Implementing Platform Engineering

While platform engineering offers numerous benefits, its implementation is not without challenges. One significant hurdle is complexity. Building and maintaining platforms, whether for internal teams or external customers, requires a high level of expertise and careful planning. The technical intricacies involved can make it difficult to ensure seamless integration and scalability, especially in large organizations.

Another common challenge is cultural resistance. Teams may hesitate to adopt new tools or processes, particularly if they perceive these changes as restrictive or disruptive to their established workflows. Overcoming this resistance often requires clear communication, training, and demonstrating the tangible benefits of platform engineering.

Additionally, organizations must navigate the delicate balance between control and flexibility. On one hand, enforcing standards is crucial to maintaining consistency and compliance. On the other hand, teams need the freedom to innovate and adapt to unique project requirements. Striking this balance is a complex but essential aspect of successful platform engineering.

Finally, there is the matter of cost. The initial investment in platform engineering can be substantial, encompassing both financial resources and time. However, while the upfront costs may seem daunting, the long-term benefits—such as improved efficiency, scalability, and faster time-to-market—often outweigh the initial expenditure.

The Role and Future of AI in Platform Engineering

The integration of AI into platform engineering is a transformative shift that is shaping the future of how platforms are built, maintained, and optimized. By integrating AI into IDPs, organizations can achieve not just operational efficiency but also strategic agility, enabling them to respond to market changes faster.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is poised to revolutionize platform engineering. Its potential applications include:

• Automating Repetitive Tasks: AI can handle routine tasks like resource provisioning and system monitoring, freeing up engineers for strategic work.
• Enhancing Security: AI-driven tools can detect and respond to security threats in real-time.
• Predictive Analytics: AI can analyze historical data to predict future trends, enabling smarter decision-making.

Hexaware’s RapidX™ is an example of how AI can be seamlessly embedded into platform engineering to deliver improvements across the software development lifecycle (SDLC). RapidX is designed to inject AI capabilities into an Integrated Developer Platform (IDP). This creates a foundation for smarter, more efficient workflows by improving code comprehension and search, enabling the co-creation of user stories, and delivering a unified knowledge base. Ultimately, RapidX™ establishes a future-ready AI foundation for your development processes.

How Hexaware Can Support with Platform Engineering Services

Hexaware has the expertise and experience to support organizations in all three dimensions of platform engineering that I’ve outlined:

Engineering for a Platform

We specialize in optimizing solutions for specific platforms, such as low-code/no-code environments like Mendix. Our platform engineering services teams have the knowledge to ensure your software operates seamlessly within the constraints of your chosen platform.

Building Platforms for Customers

Hexaware can help you design and develop platforms that become products in their own right. Whether it’s creating a custom platform for your customers or enhancing existing solutions, we have the tools and expertise to deliver.

Integrated Developer Platforms (IDPs)

For organizations looking to build internal platforms, Hexaware offers end-to-end solutions. We can help you design, implement, and maintain IDPs that empower your engineering teams to work more efficiently and deliver better software faster.

Tensai®: Hexaware’s Proprietary Platform Engineering Accelerator

Tensai®, our proprietary solution, offers customizable implementations, accelerators for CI/CD and automation, and alignment with IDP principles. It streamlines workflows, supports collaboration, and ensures scalability, helping organizations achieve consistency and quality in software delivery.

Partnering for Platform Engineering Success

Platform engineering is a multi-faceted discipline that plays a critical role in modern software development. Whether it’s engineering for a platform, building platforms for customers, or creating internal developer platforms, the impact of platform engineering is profound.

At Hexaware, we’re uniquely positioned to support organizations with digital platform engineering services. If you’re ready to take your platform engineering to the next level, let’s start the conversation.