As someone who has spent years navigating the intersection of development, operations, and platform engineering, I’ve seen firsthand the challenges and rewards of building internal developer platforms (IDPs).
In my recent presentation, "Engineering Resilience into the Foundations: Key Strategies for Building Robust Internal Development Platforms," I shared key strategies for designing resilient platforms. Here, I’d like to provide a behind-the-scenes look at the ideas and motivations that shaped this talk.
I’ll offer a big thank you to Tech.Rocks for inviting me to speak! The entire event was a lot of fun, and the quality of the presentations and discussions was superb. You can also learn more about my platform engineering career journey in an accompanying podcast!
Resilience is Non-Negotiable within Platform Engineering
Resilience is a concept that’s often relegated to the realm of disaster recovery or security. However, in the context of internal developer platforms, resilience is foundational. A resilient platform doesn’t just survive adverse conditions (such as platform decay); it thrives under pressure, enabling developers to maintain momentum and deliver value consistently. When failures occur—and they inevitably will—a resilient platform ensures minimal disruption, keeping the focus on innovation rather than firefighting.
This belief stems from my experience of the cascading impact of fragile systems. Whether it’s a misconfigured deployment pipeline or a critical service outage, the cost of resilience gaps often lands squarely on developers, undermining both productivity and morale. That’s why resilience isn’t an afterthought in platform engineering; it’s a guiding principle.
Key Strategies for Building Resilient Platforms
During the presentation, I highlighted several strategies that are central to designing resilient IDPs. Here’s a deeper dive into why these strategies resonate so strongly with me:
Modularity and Decoupling
Platforms are inherently complex, and this complexity can become a liability if not managed well. By adopting a modular architecture, platform teams can isolate failures, enabling individual components to fail gracefully without taking down the entire system. I’ve seen teams achieve incredible agility by leveraging tools like Kubernetes and Kratix to manage modular components effectively.
Embracing Observability
Observability is more than monitoring; it’s about gaining actionable insights into system behaviour. During my consulting days, I encountered countless scenarios where the lack of visibility into platform operations led to prolonged outages. Embedding observability into the platform’s design is a game-changer, allowing teams to identify and resolve issues proactively.
Automating for Reliability
Automation has been a consistent theme in my career because it reduces human error and ensures repeatability. Platform teams can empower developers by integrating Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and self-service workflows while enforcing governance. This balance of autonomy and control is critical for fostering trust between developers and platform teams.
Learning from Failure
One of the most memorable lessons in my career came from leading a post-mortem after a significant system outage. The insights gained from that experience reinforced my belief in failure-informed design. Chaos engineering is an approach I’m particularly passionate about, as it enables teams to prepare for the unexpected by testing recovery mechanisms in controlled environments.
Balancing Governance and Developer Experience
One of the recurring challenges in platform engineering is striking the right balance between governance and developer experience. Developers want freedom, while organisations need control. In my talk, I emphasised how platforms can meet both needs through thoughtful design. By embedding guardrails into self-service tools, we can give developers the autonomy to innovate without compromising security or continuous compliance.
What Platform Success Looks Like
To me, a successful platform is one that developers trust and love to use. Measuring that success goes beyond technical metrics; it’s about understanding the human impact. Are developers happier? Are they more productive? Are they able to focus on delivering business value instead of wrestling with the platform?
Resilience plays a vital role in achieving these outcomes. By building robust, adaptable, and user-centric platforms, we create an environment where developers can thrive.
The Journey Ahead
As organisations continue to adopt and evolve their internal developer platforms, resilience will remain a cornerstone of their success. At Syntasso, we’re committed to helping teams build platforms that are not only technically sound but also a delight to use. I’m excited to see how these strategies will shape the next generation of resilient platforms—and I’m grateful to be part of that journey.
For those embarking on this path, I encourage you to prioritise resilience from day one. It’s not always the easiest route, but it’s undoubtedly the most rewarding. After all, a resilient platform is the foundation of resilient teams—and resilient teams are the key to enduring success.
Additional Resources
You can view and download the slide deck from Speakerdeck:
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