The tech landscape is evolving, and software development is no exception.
Many teams are looking for ways to speed up the development process through automation and simplification. One potential answer to this need for efficiency is an internal developer platform.
What are internal developer platforms?
Internal developer platforms give businesses a structured approach to improve their software development process through simplification and automation.
Software development is not always time efficient
The traditional software development process can be quite complex, to say the least.
Many organizations try to juggle multiple products and systems for a variety of tasks. Companies must invest their time and money into installing several development tools and then train employees on how to use each system.
This creates a variety of potential headaches for everyone involved.
Developers utilize separate platforms to understand and manage coding, software testing, continuous integration, and continuous delivery. They are forced to work on and maintain several systems and ensure they all integrate properly with each other.
For the business side, having several tools is not only expensive but slows down productivity across the board.
Internal developer platforms enhance productivity across the business
Internal developer platforms help developers and the teams around them move efficiently.
Instead of separate systems for every step of the development process, internal developer platforms bring them together. These platforms include tools for testing, coding, version control, and much more. This allows developers to move faster, which boosts efficiency in the application development process.
Internal developer platforms are not only great for individual productivity but also come with key benefits for the business at large. These platforms are often self-service, which means an individual developer can complete many of the steps in the development process on their own.
This frees up time for IT, management, and other teams around them as well. Developers no longer have to turn to these teams for answers to their data needs, get permission to access different systems, or manage log-in information across disparate systems.
Challenges of internal developer platforms
The main challenge with internal development platforms comes from the newness of not just the technology but the concept as well. The idea of one platform for everything a developer could need sounds idealistic—and could very well be for some organizations.
Developers need to relearn their entire way of thinking, as they are used to going from system to system for different needs. They also need to work independently more often than they are likely used to since the tools are self-service oriented. While this freedom is a benefit for developers, it could also be challenging, as they may now be accountable and responsible for more than ever before.
Organizations will likely also need to spend significant time, money, and energy to migrate all of their prior systems to the internal developer platforms. For companies using many different tools, migrating all of the necessary data to the internal developer platform will take time.
Internal developer platforms and the future of software development
Internal developer platforms are relatively new in the software development market, and it will be interesting to see how much they catch on with the typical development team.
As the realities of the modern business environment push teams to move more efficiently, internal developer platforms might just be one of the key solutions.
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Edited by Jigmee Bhutia
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