In the fast-paced and ever-changing world of technology, the term “Platform Engineering” is often subject to a narrow interpretation, limited to the spheres of infrastructure and systems management. Because of this, it could be perceived as a purely technical area, dominated by servers, clusters and networks.
This limited view, however, does not do adequate justice to the inherent richness and complexity of this field, a universe where technology, innovation and human engineering converge. Platform engineering extends far beyond infrastructure foundations, encompassing a broad spectrum of technologies, practices, and philosophies that define the modern landscape of software development and system architecture. In particular, cloud infrastructure management is only one piece of the puzzle.
In this article, we’ll briefly explain the relationship between infrastructure and platform engineering, and then focus on other foundational pillars that aren’t always immediately considered.
In this digital age, infrastructures have become more agile, scalable and distributed, evolving towards increasingly sophisticated computing models such as cloud computing, multi-cloud and hybrid cloud. Without a doubt, infrastructure management is one of the primary aspects to consider (and probably one of the most important). Tools like Kubernetes and infrastructure as code (IaC) tools have revolutionized the flexibility with which platform engineers can build and manage these infrastructures, freeing them from traditional constraints and allowing them to focus on innovation and adding value.
But what distinguishes a platform engineering environment is not only the architecture on which it is based (or enables management), but also how that architecture is used to empower and simplify the work of developers and operations staff so that their work is not only efficient, but also more profitable and more creative…
Read the full article, which originally appeared on ITOps Times, here, ito learn more about Kubernetes and the cloud native ecosystem, attend KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe in Paris March 19-22.