Boosting developer productivity through innovative platform engineering

The evolution from infrastructure management to platform engineering

As is so often the case in IT, new concepts don't just appear out of nowhere. They are the result of specific requirements and years of development. We also see a clear evolution when it comes to platform engineering.

It all started with the rise of cloud computing, particularly with AWS in 2006, when the classic model still prevailed: developers write code, metaphorically throw it "over the fence" and the operations team has to see how to operate the application stably and securely. No wonder this led to tensions: Devs wanted to deliver new features quickly, while Ops was primarily focussed on stability. True to the motto: "If it runs, don't touch it".

Over time, the DevOps principle became established: Developers should not only deliver code, but also take responsibility for its operation. "You build it, you run it." The cloud made this seem easy. Infrastructure could suddenly be created with just a few lines of code. But this new degree of freedom came at a price: developers suddenly also had to take care of security, monitoring, availability and backups. And to be honest, that's not what most devs are passionate about.

This is exactly where Platform Engineering comes in: It creates a platform that makes life easier for developers without leaving them to deal with infrastructure issues on their own. An Internal Developer Platform (IDP) takes over the operational overhead - so that devs can concentrate on their core competences: Building features and solving problems.

In short, platform engineering is the logical consequence of 20 years of IT transformation. It is the answer to the question: How do we make it possible for developers to work productively without getting lost in the infrastructure jungle?

Why companies need an internal developer platform today

Platform engineering is the approach used by managed service providers such as Claranet to develop and operate platforms in a targeted manner in order to increase the productivity of development teams. Because it is precisely this productivity that is more crucial today than ever before. Studies by DORA and Forrester show: Developers spend up to 40% of their time on tasks that do not add any direct value - such as configuring infrastructure, waiting for approvals or carrying out deployments manually. This time is then wasted on developing new features, improving code quality or increasing the level of security and innovation.

An Internal Developer Platform (IDP) can make all the difference here. Not only does it drastically reduce time-to-market (by up to 60 %), it also helps to significantly reduce operating costs. Why? Because it brings automation, tooling and infrastructure management together in one place - and in a way that frees up developers.

What exactly does an IDP do?

• Self-service: Developers can initiate new services or deployments independently - without tickets, waiting times or coordination rounds
• Standardisation: Security, compliance and availability requirements are built in from the outset - no more manual checklists
• Automation: Repeatable tasks such as CI/CD, monitoring setup or rollbacks run automatically
• Abstracting complexity: The technical depth (e.g. Kubernetes, network, network management) is reduced. The technical depth (e.g. Kubernetes, networking, security policies) remains in the background - developers use simple interfaces or portals

In short: An IDP is not just a set of tools, but an orchestrated platform that brings together workflows, processes and infrastructure in such a way that developers can concentrate on what they do best - developing software.

The ROI of platform engineering: measurable benefits for your organisation

According to recent reports and surveys, companies report significant improvements through platform engineering and internal developer platforms:

• 71% of the decision-makers surveyed who already use platform engineering intensively state a faster market launch of products and services.
• 74 % of the companies surveyed with IDP experience a increased developer productivity through automation and self-service.
• 51 % count lower operating costs among the main reasons for using platform engineering in their organisation.

These figures make it clear that platform engineering not only offers technical benefits, but also enables significant business improvements. By implementing an IDP, companies can optimise their development processes, increase productivity and reduce risks and costs at the same time.

It is important to emphasise that these improvements should not be viewed in isolation. They are the result of a holistic strategy that combines technology, processes and culture. A successful implementation of platform engineering therefore requires not only the introduction of new tools, but also an adaptation of organisational structures and working methods.

The four pillars of successful platform management

In order for an internal developer platform to unfold its full benefits, it is not enough to simply put a few tools together. It requires well thought-out platform management that is orientated towards specific goals. Four aspects have proven to be particularly crucial - they form the foundation for an effective and sustainable platform strategy.

1. Developer productivity

A well-built internal developer platform massively reduces the time spent on tasks that have nothing to do with coding. And self-service doesn't mean "click through some cloud console". It means that developers get pre-configured, tested resources at the touch of a button.

This also includes standardised CI/CD pipelines that simplify the path to production, as well as clear interfaces and standardised workflows that abstract away the complexity of the infrastructure. This allows developers to concentrate on the essentials again: Building features, developing business logic, solving problems.

Typical elements that an IDP contributes to increasing productivity:

• Predefined service templates that implement compliance and security by default
• Standardised CI/CD pipelines that automate deployment, testing and rollbacks
• Integrated observability tools, so that logs, metrics and traces are available centrally and consistently
• Centralised API interfaces to address tools and services uniformly
• Onboarding automation so that new team members can start productively without having to relearn everything

2. Day 2 Operations Excellence

A platform is not finished when it is running - that's when the real work begins. Monitoring, alerting, backups, recovery, logging, performance tuning, scaling: all topics that need to be stable, automated and reliable, ideally without the intervention of the developers.

Day 2 operations means that the platform catches problems before they escalate. It offers observability by default and allows you to sleep soundly at night. For devs, this means more focus on product development and fewer context switches due to Ops issues.

3. Security by design (DevSecOps)

Security must not be an afterthought. It must be considered and technically implemented right from the start. This is known as "shift left": security measures are incorporated into the development process and automatically integrated into the CI/CD pipelines. This ensures that potential vulnerabilities do not reach production in the first place.

In concrete terms, this means:

• Automated security checks in the CI/CD pipeline, e.g. static code analysis or secrets scanning
• Infrastructure-as-Code Scanning to detect misconfigurations at an early stage
• Container Image Scanning to find known vulnerabilities (CVEs) before deployment
• Runtime Security protection mechanisms, that recognise and fend off attacks in the production environment

This automation means that security is not just a compliance issue, but becomes an integral part of modern software development - without slowing developers down.

4. Compliance as an enabler

Compliance sounds like bureaucracy and slowness to many people, but if thought through correctly, it can be a real enabler. When platforms consider and automate compliance aspects such as GDPR or industry-specific requirements, many things become easier instead of more difficult.

Policy-as-code, continuous monitoring, audit trails, automatic reporting: if these mechanisms are already included in the platform, the effort involved in audits is significantly reduced and you can still develop quickly. Compliance does not become a brake, but part of the acceleration.

Kubernetes as the foundation of modern platform engineering strategies

Kubernetes has long been more than just a tool for orchestrating containers - it has become the backbone of modern cloud infrastructures. The real value of Kubernetes lies not only in its functions, but also in the extensive ecosystem that has formed around it. Tools such as ArgoCD, Crossplane, OPA Gatekeeper or cert-manager are all based on Kubernetes - and make it a kind of operating system for modern infrastructure.

What makes Kubernetes particularly valuable for platform engineering is its universal abstraction: regardless of whether the platform is running in the cloud or on-prem - Kubernetes offers the same API and the same concepts everywhere. It is declarative, standardised, policy-based and scalable. This means it has exactly the features you need to build an internal developer platform that is both reliable and flexible.

Instead of reinventing the wheel for every feature, modern IDPs use Kubernetes as the basis: for self-service, for GitOps workflows, for security and compliance, for infrastructure as code - in short, for everything that makes for a good developer experience.

From theory to practice: What an optimal container platform looks like

Kubernetes forms the technological foundation - but a production-ready, usable container platform needs far more than a pure control plane setup. Because a bare-bones Kubernetes doesn't help anyone: Developers would still need manual setups, tedious integrations and would have little orientation as to what is "right".

A modern container platform must therefore be integrated above all - uniform    , standardised, automated. It must cover the entire life cycle of the applications, from development to operation. And above all: it must enable developers to work quickly, securely and independently.

To make this possible, it requires, among other things:

Automatic observability: New deployments must be equipped out of the box with metrics, logs and tracing - without additional development effort  .

GitOps-capable CI/CD pipelines: Changes to the infrastructure or applications are made declaratively via Git. Deployments are traceable, reproducible and auditable.

Service catalogues: Reusable, tested service components such as databases, message queues or API gateways are available via self-service - in a standardised and secure form.

Integrated infrastructure management: DNS, TLS certificates, secrets, Ingress - all of this must be automatically provisioned and managed without dev teams having to dive into the details.

Compliance and security by default: Guidelines and standards (e.g. network guidelines, role models, scans) are not optional, but enforced by the system - through policy-as-code, admission controllers or integrated security scanners.

Kubernetes enables all of this - but it is not the goal, it is the means. Only when combined with a specifically curated ecosystem of tools and conventions does Kubernetes become a genuine internal developer platform. A platform that not only works, but is also liked by the development teams.

The right balance: standardisation vs. flexibility

A successful platform must enforce standards - without patronising developers.   Too much standardisation slows down innovation, too much freedom leads to uncontrolled growth and incompatibilities.

A proven way to resolve this tension is a tiered platform model with clear responsibilities and freedom:

• Core Platform: Highly standardised, with binding policies for security, compliance and operational stability. The rule here is: no exceptions.
• Extended Platform: Expandable within defined guard rails - for example through configurable services, feature flags or customisation options.
• Innovation Zone: Maximum freedom for experiments, proof of concepts or new technologies - deliberately decoupled from productive operation.

This model combines the best of both worlds: It protects the integrity of the platform - and at the same time creates space for further development and creativity.

Platform engineering as a strategic success factor

In a time when digital innovations determine business success, platform engineering is not just a technical issue, but a strategic success factor.It enables companies to:

• innovate faster
• ensure operational excellence
• meet security and compliance requirements
• maximise the productivity of their development teams

Investing in professional platform engineering and platform management pays off several times over - through accelerated development cycles, reduced operating costs and minimised risks.

Your next step towards your own internal developer platform

Would you like to increase the productivity of your development teams and benefit from a modern platform engineering strategy? We would be happy to show you how to realise an Internal Developer Platform (IDP) that meets your individual requirements. From the initial evaluation to architecture and implementation through to our managed services - we provide you with holistic support and assist you with our experience and practical expertise.

Contact us for a no-obligation consultation - together we will analyse your requirements and develop your customised platform engineering solution.