Software Trends - Cycle Looks at DevOps & Platform Engineering

Software engineering is trending, and the latest fads come and go with passionate adoption. Remember the OpenStack craze? Kubernetes? On-prem v cloud? I could go on and on, but one trend in software engineering that has surfaced in the last few years is DevOps & Platform Engineering. You'll get the occasional "DevOps is Dead" or "Platform Engineering is too complicated," but the reality is that most modern companies agree you need a culture or set of processes that are mutually adopted throughout an organization to ensure software is produced efficiently and reliably.

Here at Cycle, we have the unique opportunity to speak with some of the brightest and boldest in the industry. This recently led to a great conversation with Ian Walker, Head of DevSecOps at DoctorCareAnywhere. Ian comes from a wealth of experience in the industry, and has a true passion for DevOps and software delivery.

Our conversation got me thinking—is there a better path for software engineers? Is DevOps dead or has it just evolved? It's important to understand the needs of the market and meet them where they are.

What is DevOps

Before diving into my conversation with Ian, let's lay the groundwork. DevOps, as quoted by The New Stack, is, "a methodology that combines cultural philosophies, practices, and tools to enhance an organization's ability to deliver applications and services at high velocity. It involves the collaboration and partnership between software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops) through the software lifecycle, from development and testing to deployment and monitoring."

DevOps started emerging in the late 2000s and early 2010s when teams began challenging legacy, siloed software practices. A strong foothold for this movement started with the emergence of containerization and Docker. It became obvious that teams who were able to embrace the DevOps philosophy were releasing more often, adding more features, and driving more value for their organizations. The first step toward DevOps adoption is building a culture of collaboration and teamwork.

What is Platform Engineering

Platform Engineering is the newer kid on the block and builds upon the foundation DevOps has laid over the past couple of decades. Some would say platform engineering is the evolution of DevOps. Enterprises have largely driven the adoption of Platform Engineering as they aim to improve developer experience and operational efficiency at scale. By implementing operational guardrails, they have seen increased developer experience and reduced toil from context switching and dependency on others. Unlike DevOps, which is mostly rooted in cultural philosophy, platform engineering is more of a structured approach with specific tools, (containers, CI/CD, observability, etc.) and guidelines to streamline software development.

A Closer Look at DevOps & Platform Engineering

That brings us to my conversation with Ian Walker. He offers a unique perspective that will resonate with many teams currently thinking through DevOps & Platform Engineering.

Ian describes himself as "a veteran of the bad old days." He's a DevOps guy through and through but appreciates the idea of Platform Engineering. While he doesn't have a strong preference for one over the other, he told me, "I think I will always love the idea of the pure DevOps culture."

The goal of our conversation wasn't just to define these concepts but to explore their practicality in real-world applications. I started by asking Ian: What is the biggest barrier to entry for DevOps and Platform Engineering?

His response was incredibly relatable, "To quote Eli Goldratt: 'Tell me how you measure me, and I'll tell you how I'll behave.' So, in order to foster a DevOps culture, the people responsible for development also need to be accountable for operational performance."

He explained further: "The biggest barrier to DevOps is when that accountability is missing or resides far from the point of delivery. The further you separate Dev from Ops, the harder it is to build empathy and trust between them. It's too easy to descend into a 'them and us' situation."

One thing we do really well at Cycle is encourage collaboration between Ops and Dev. As Ian points out, it's difficult to create a cohesive DevOps methodology when Ops and Dev are pulling in opposite directions. Our LowOps platform unifies both in one place, ensuring they move forward as a cohesive unit. Alternatively, Kuberentes requires an expert, and if your team isn't full of experts you are left with a natural divide.

I then asked Ian the same question about Platform Engineering.

He replied:

Platform Engineering, like DevOps, requires buy-in—but in a different way. Your tools and processes must be designed to remove developer friction and increase accessibility. Kubernetes is great, but if only one developer holds the keys to unlocking its capabilities, you're defeating the purpose of Platform Engineering. We have illustrated before what happens when silos form and bus factor is low.

This led me to the question, do you think DevOps and Platform engineering are mutually exclusive?

He responded, "Personally I see Platform Engineering as the "evolution" of DevOps, but I know a lot of people don't like that characterisation. It's useful to remember why DevOps came about in the first place - the complete stagnation of companies where "dev" and "ops" couldn't release even small updates without a lead time of months."

It's important to understand where teams were before DevOps, but he continued, "Platform Engineering, while requiring more effort and organization than DevOps, is an easier "sell" as a complete package with a defined outcome. Therefore I don't really see them as mutually exclusive, since a good DevOps engineer can transition to being a good Platform engineer in a short time, and vice versa."

Finally, I asked Ian what he thought about the future of DevOps and Platform Engineering.

He said, "It's quite plausible that we'll see a fully automated software lifecycle in the next couple of years. Almost every human role will shift from being an active contributor to being a quality checker and supervisor. If anything, that will require more specialist expertise, not less, so roles might become very narrowly focused, such as specialists in certain areas of infrastructure like networking or storage."

Who's to say what's next? But with people like Ian in the industry, the possibilities are endless. As we look ahead, Cycle is uniquely positioned to help organizations embrace DevOps culture or establish the backbone of their platform engineering efforts. Whether you're seeking a Kubernetes alternative or your first DevOps tool, adopting a DevOps culture or building your platform engineering org, our platform caters to a variety of needs and use cases.

So, where do you stand? Are you a DevOps diehard? A Platform Engineering advocate? Somewhere in between? Regardless of your path, defining success, securing buy-in from your team or leadership, and executing effectively are critical. And if you need help at any stage, Cycle is here to partner with you!

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