We often meet companies that have come a long way on the development side, but still struggle to keep the platform stable and secure. The result is technical debt, high operating costs and frustrated developers, a pattern we see across industries. In a world where development speed and flexibility are critical, cloud native and Kubernetes have become industry standards.
Nevertheless, many companies still focus mainly on development, while the platform is downplayed. This leads to technical debt, unstable operations and developers spending time on infrastructure instead of product development.
Platform Engineering changes this by providing robust, self-service platforms that give developers freedom while safeguarding operations and security. And through open source and CNCF projects, companies can build scalable, secure and flexible solutions without locking themselves into proprietary technologies.
From DevOps to Platform Engineering
DevOps was long seen as the solution to infrastructure challenges, but in practice it often gave developers more responsibility for operations. We still see developers spending time manually configuring Kubernetes manifests, time that could have been spent on product development.
Platform Engineering is about building a layer between developers and infrastructure. A good platform provides self-service solutions for CI/CD, observability, security and scaling without developers having to understand all the technical details behind it.
The strength of the open source community
The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) is behind some of the most important projects in modern infrastructure. Kubernetes is at the core of this ecosystem, but tools such as Prometheus (monitoring), Argo CD (GitOps), Linkerd (service mesh) and OpenTelemetry (observability) also play key roles.
Building on open source and a strong community gives companies access to proven solutions, and reduces the risk of vendor lock-in. At Redpill Linpro, we work closely with customers adopting CNCF projects to build robust platforms and we see how this brings both developer satisfaction and operational predictability.
Create a robust infrastructure
Every company should have a platform strategy. Poorly configured systems lead to instability, high operating costs and frustration among developers. We have seen how companies that invest in a solid platform experience fewer production problems and more satisfied developers.
A good platform takes into account application scaling, traffic management and high availability.
Platform over patchwork
Many companies still build solutions where developers have to handle deployment, logging, monitoring and security on their own. The result is often a patchwork of technologies that require heavy maintenance.
With a properly set up platform, developers get a better working day: faster rollouts, fewer errors and more time for product development.
Security and geopolitical control
At a time when cybersecurity and digital sovereignty are more important than ever, platform choice plays a critical role. Open source provides transparency and trust, while giving companies and governments control over their own data and infrastructure. Where data is stored, how applications are secured, and which actors have access to critical infrastructure are no longer just technical questions, but increasingly strategic decisions.
By using open source, companies can reduce the risk of supplier dependence in unstable geopolitical situations. This gives greater predictability and security, and makes it easier to adapt solutions.
The way forward: How to get started with Platform Engineering
- Build a developer-friendly platform: Give developers tools that remove complexity without limiting them.
- Automate everything: CI/CD, infrastructure as code and GitOps should be standard.
- Use open source: CNCF projects and other open solutions provide flexibility and security.
- Think long term: A good platform must be continuously improved and adapted.
Platform Engineering is a prerequisite for succeeding with modern cloud architecture. Companies that prioritise platform as highly as development build more stable, scalable and secure solutions.
At Redpill Linpro, we help organisations navigate the CNCF landscape and build platforms that last. Want to discuss what a modern platform could look like in your organisation? Get in touch, we’re happy to share our experiences.
It's time to put platform first.
