Platform Engineering Teams Fail by Building Front-Ends First, Ignoring Developer Needs
Summary
Platform engineering teams are failing by prioritizing flashy front-end interfaces over robust back-end systems, while ignoring developer feedback and overengineering solutions copied from larger companies without considering actual user needs or return on investment.
Key Points
- Platform engineering teams commonly fail by building front-end interfaces first instead of focusing on solid back-end APIs and orchestration systems
- Organizations struggle with platform adoption when they lack a product mindset, fail to survey users for their specific needs, and don't provide developers with shared ownership and customization abilities
- Many platform engineering initiatives underperform due to overengineering from day one, copying approaches from larger companies without considering ROI, and simply rebranding existing operations teams without cultural changes