The Developer Platform

This paper discusses the emerging concept of the developer platform. It is written for senior leaders, especially on the infrastructure and operations (I&O) side of large enterprises. It has never been easy being an I&O leader. As vividly portrayed in The Phoenix Project, traditional infrastructure organizations are often overloaded, surprised by development initiatives, and prone to destructive multitasking and queuing issues. Infrastructure organizations bear the brunt of criticism from developers and other enterprise stakeholders; their lack of responsiveness leads to frustration. This can result in developers seeking greener pastures elsewhere.

This paper will examine what “good” looks like in terms of current developer platforms and the ways in which many organizations fall short. It will cover how to realize the value of a developer platform from engineering, product, and business perspectives.

This paper provides guidance on: what it takes to extract value from a platform, recommendations of approaches and techniques, model for maturation and scale case studies of enterprises sharing their experience

What's inside

• Clear Guidance — This paper provides guidance on what it takes to extract value from a platform, including clear recommendations of approaches and techniques.
• Case Studies — This paper is full of case studies to help organizations see how others have successfully created their developer platform.
• Expert Authors — This paper is written by experienced leaders across industries who have led large transformations in enterprises across industries.
• All Levels — Change Agents can come from anywhere on the org chart. This paper directly provides guidance on how to lead change no matter your role or title.