Infrastructure as code, from templates to APIs: A Platform Engineering Story

A look back at our journey around infrastructure provisioning, from re-usable building blocks to a pure Platform Engineering approach.

Transcript

1. PlatformCon 2025, June 2025 Infrastructure as Code, from templates to APIs
2. WHO ARE WE? As Platform Engineers, we support teams (>200 people in Engineering) that build: • Client-facing APIs • Core Banking Systems • Internal reporting tools • Data • Integrations with other companies and clearing schemes • … In the cloud (Azure), using different languages, architectures, development processes, etc Banking Circle 2
3. 2021 Banking Circle 3
4. 4 Infrastructure as Code Banking Circle 4
5. INFRASTRUCTURE AS CODE – FOR EVERYBODY Banking Circle 5
6. PIPELINE TEMPLATES Banking Circle 6
7. TERRAFORM MODULES Banking Circle 7
8. Banking Circle 8
9. “You build it, you run it” Banking Circle 9
11. 11 The process Banking Circle 11
12. I JUST NEED AN ENVIRONMENT TO DEPLOY MY APP… 1. Create Resource Group 2. Create Entra Id groups and RBAC assignments 3. Create Service Principal 4. Build your terraform project 5. Build your terraform pipeline 6. Run the pipeline to apply terraform Banking Circle 12
13. PROBLEMS • Day 1 operations are hard, day 2 are even harder • Lots of time spent in support • From the same “blocks”, each team builds their own thing • Good luck supporting that… Banking Circle 13
14. 14 We need to do something Banking Circle 14
15. WHAT’S IN AN ENVIRONMENT? • Resource group(s) • Keyvault • Storage account • App Configuration Store • App Insights • Log Analytics • Policies • Integration with Entra Id • Integration with Azure Devops Banking Circle 15 Most teams need the same “package”
16. PLATFORM ENGINEERING “A digital platform is a foundation of self-service APIs, tools, services, knowledge and support which are arranged as a compelling internal product.” “Autonomous delivery teams can make use of the platform to deliver product features at a higher pace, with reduced co-ordination.” Evan Bottcher, What I Talk About When I Talk About Platforms, martinfowler.com, 05 March 2018 Banking Circle 16
17. PLATFORM FOUNDATIONS • Simple • Single • Self-service Banking Circle 17
20. Banking Circle 20
21. Banking Circle 21
22. 22 From interface to API Banking Circle 22
23. Banking Circle THE MAGIC TRIO
25. ADVANTAGES • Versioning • Schema • Discoverability • Reconciliation Banking Circle 25
26. © Banking Circle, 2020 bankingcircle.com bankingcircle.com Thank you