Source URL: https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/application-modernization/new-platform-engineering-research-report/
Source: Cloud Blog
Title: Is your platform ready for 2025? New research on platform engineering reveals the secret to success
Feedly Summary: Platform engineering, one of Gartner’s top 10 strategic technology trends for 2024, is rapidly becoming indispensable for enterprises seeking to accelerate software delivery and improve developer productivity. How does it do that? Platform engineering is about providing the right infrastructure, tools, and processes that enable efficient, scalable software development, deployment, and management, all while minimizing the cognitive burden on developers.
To uncover the secrets to platform engineering success, Google Cloud partnered with Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) on a comprehensive research study of 500 global IT professionals and application developers working at organizations with at least 500 employees, all with formal platform engineering teams. Our goal was to understand whether they had adopted platform engineering, and if so, the impact that has had on their company’s software delivery capabilities.
The resulting report, “Building Competitive Edge With Platform Engineering: A Strategic Guide,” reveals common patterns, expectations, and actionable best practices for overcoming challenges and fully leveraging platform engineering. This blog post highlights some of the most powerful insights from this study.
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Platform engineering is no longer optional
The research confirms that platform engineering is no longer a nascent concept. 55% of the global organizations we invited to participate have already adopted platform engineering. Of those, 90% plan to expand its reach to more developers. Furthermore, 85% of companies using platform engineering report that their developers rely on the platform to succeed. These figures highlight that platform engineering is no longer just a trend; it’s becoming a vital strategy for organizations seeking to unlock the full potential of their cloud and IT investments and gain a competitive edge.
Figure 1: 55% of 900+ global organizations surveyed have adopted platform engineering
Three keys to platform engineering success
The report identifies three critical components that are central to the success of mature platform engineering leaders.
Fostering close collaboration between platform engineers and other teams to ensure alignment
Adopting a “platform as a product” approach, which involves treating the developer platform with a clear roadmap, communicated value, and tight feedback loops
Defining success by measuring performance through clear metrics such as deployment frequency, failure recovery time, and lead time for changes
It’s noteworthy that while many organizations have begun their platform engineering journey, only 27% of adopters have fully integrated these three key components in their practices, signaling a significant opportunity for further improvements.
AI: platform engineering’s new partner
One of the most compelling insights of this report is the synergistic relationship between platform engineering and AI. A remarkable 86% of respondents believe that platform engineering is essential to realizing the full business value of AI. At the same time, a vast majority of companies view AI as a catalyst for advancing platform engineering, with 94% of organizations identifying AI to be ‘Critical’ or ‘Important’ to the future of platform engineering.
Beyond speed: key benefits of platform engineering
The study also identified three cohorts of platform engineering adopters — nascent, established, and leading — based on whether and how much adopters had embraced the above-mentioned three key components of platform engineering success. The study shows that leading adopters gain more in terms of speed, efficiency, and productivity, and offers guidance for nascent and established adopters to improve their overall platform engineering maturity to gain more benefits.
The report also identified some additional benefits of platform engineering, including:
Improved employee satisfaction, talent acquisition & retention: mature platforms foster a positive developer experience that directly impacts company culture. Developers and IT pros working for organizations with mature developer platforms are much more likely to recommend their workplace to their peers.
Accelerated time to market: mature platform engineering adopters have significantly shortened time to market. 71% of leading adopters of platform engineering indicated they have significantly accelerated their time to market, compared with 28% of less mature adopters.
Don’t go it alone
A vast majority (96%) of surveyed organizations are leveraging open-source tools to build their developer platforms. Moreover, most (84%) are partnering with external vendors to manage and support their open-source environments. Co-managed platforms with a third party or a cloud partner benefit from a higher degree of innovation. Organizations with co-managed platforms allocate an average of 47% of their developers’ productive time to innovation and experimentation, compared to just 38% for those that prefer to manage their platforms with internal staff.
Ready to succeed? Explore the full report
While this blog provides a glimpse into the key findings from this study, the full report goes much further, revealing key platform engineering strategies and practices that will help you stay ahead of the curve. Download the report to explore additional topics, including:
The strategic considerations of centralized and distributed platform engineering teams
The key drivers behind platform engineering investments
Top priorities driving platform adoption for developers, ensuring alignment with their needs
Key pain points to anticipate and navigate on the road to platform engineering success
How platform engineering boosts productivity, performance, and innovation across the entire organization
The strategic importance of open source in platform engineering for competitive advantage
The transformative role of platform engineering for AI/ML workloads as adoption of AI increases
How to develop the right platform engineering strategy to drive scalability and innovation
Download the full report now.
AI Summary and Description: Yes
Summary: The text discusses the increasing importance of platform engineering as a strategic technology trend for 2024, highlighting its role in enhancing software delivery and developer productivity. It emphasizes the synergistic relationship between platform engineering and AI, pointing out that a majority of organizations view AI as critical to their platform engineering success.
Detailed Description: The text provides insights from a comprehensive research study conducted by Google Cloud and the Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) concerning platform engineering among 500 global IT professionals and application developers. Here are the significant points:
– **Platform Engineering as a Strategic Trend**:
– Recognized as one of Gartner’s top 10 strategic technology trends for 2024.
– 55% of surveyed organizations have adopted platform engineering, showcasing its relevance.
– **Key Findings from the Research**:
– 90% of organizations that have adopted it plan to expand its reach to more developers.
– 85% report that their developers rely on platform engineering for successful outcomes.
– **Components for Success**:
– Close collaboration between platform engineers and other teams.
– Adoption of a “platform as a product” approach, with a clear roadmap and feedback mechanisms.
– Clear metrics to define success, including deployment frequency and lead time for changes.
– Only 27% of adopters have fully integrated these components, indicating opportunities for improvement.
– **Synergistic Relationship with AI**:
– 86% of respondents see platform engineering as essential for realizing the full business value of AI.
– 94% consider AI as critical or important for the future of platform engineering.
– **Benefits of Platform Engineering**:
– Improved employee satisfaction and talent retention due to positive developer experience.
– Faster time to market, with leading adopters experiencing significantly reduced timeframes (71% vs. 28% for less mature adopters).
– **Collaboration and Innovation**:
– A significant majority (96%) of organizations use open-source tools, with 84% partnering with external vendors for support.
– Co-managed platforms show more innovation, with 47% of developer time dedicated to innovation compared to 38% for internal-only platforms.
– **Further Insights in the Full Report**:
– Discussion on centralized vs. distributed platform teams.
– Drivers behind platform engineering investments and priorities aligned with developer needs.
– Anticipating pain points on the path to platform engineering success.
– Platform engineering’s transformative role for AI/ML workloads and the strategic importance of open source.
This analysis underlines the critical impact of platform engineering on the acceleration of software delivery, developer productivity, and the integration of AI, making it a vital area for professionals in security, compliance, and related fields to monitor and adapt.