We’ve recently shared some thoughts on how platform engineering shapes the API landscape. One of the ways it is doing so is by altering the balance between site reliability engineering and platform engineering. But these two disciplines don’t need to be gearing up for some epic battle. Embracing both could lead to exciting outcomes for your API products and business. Let me explain…
What are the differences between SRE and platform engineering?
Site reliability engineers (SREs) and platform engineers perform distinctly different and hugely valuable roles. SREs work across an organisation to ensure that systems are reliable, performant and scalable. They monitor and observe various metrics and implement reliability-boosting measures based on the results. They also respond to incidents, promote a policy-based approach and may also handle security, depending on the size and approach of the business in question.
On the other hand, the newer role of platform engineer is all about delivering an internal developer platform that can boost engineering efficiency and upgrade the developer experience. Developers are the platform engineers’ customers, while the platform is their product.
So, are SREs and platform engineers destined to clash eternally? Absolutely not. The two roles have distinct and unique responsibilities that can complement each other within a DevOps environment when balanced well and managed proactively. This can result in seamless operations, robust system maintenance, greater engineering efficiency and happier teams.
How to promote collaboration between SREs and platform engineers
There’s a lot to be gained by balancing site reliability engineering and platform engineering. But no magic solution applies to every business. Different resources, budgets, goals and a hundred other factors mean that this balance will be unique to each business.
Of course, that doesn’t mean we can’t apply some general thinking to help businesses get to their happy place by balancing these teams. There are some key areas of overlap. SREs and platform engineers are focused on the customer experience – where the opportunity lies.
By including SREs as customers of the internal developer platform, platform engineers can ensure the platform serves the SREs’ end goal. They can bake site reliability policies and practices into the processes and tooling available through the platform. This can embed reliability best practices into new features and functions from their inception. When a developer uses the platform to efficiently and speedily spin up a new API, database, Kubernetes cluster or whatever they need, doing so will be precisely in line with the SRE team’s standards.
This collaboration does not only deliver the standardisation of SRE principles but also does so without a constant flow of queries and support tickets from developers to site reliability engineers. The automation delivered by the internal developer platform thus reduces the daily demands on SREs’ time while embedding reliability best practices.
The platform engineering team benefits, too. By winning over the SREs and treating them as customers, the platform engineers gain greater internal buy-in to the platform, enhancing its position as the foundation stone of all new developments.
DevOps done right
When the integration of site reliability and platform engineering is approached this way, everyone wins. Not just these two teams but the developers using the platform, the wider business and its customers, who are served new products faster while being able to trust their reliability.
A happy DevOps team can mean greater scope for innovation, enhanced enthusiasm for being the first to market, and so much more. If your organisation is ready to learn how to strike the perfect balance between site reliability engineering and platform engineering, why not find out more about Tyk’s role in building a platform strategy your teams want in on?
