TeamTopologies.com
@TeamTopologies
From Fragile to
Antifragile
Internal Platforms
Manuel Pais
co-author of Team Topologies
PlatformCon - 10-14 June 2024
@manupaisable
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A product
has clear revenue
and unclear costs
(usually)
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A platform (as a product)
has clear costs and
unclear revenue
(usually)
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clarify platform value
(and product costs)
Photo by Piret Ilver on Unsplash
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A valuable platform
reduces the cognitive load
of stream-aligned teams.
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teamperature.com
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwaRKcjkAAo
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The platform acts as an
engine for fast flow by
increasing capacity & speed
of engineering teams
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Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
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Establishing solid platform
engineering is a journey,
requires long term funding.
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Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
Fragile platforms
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“ Antifragility is a property of systems in
which they increase in capability to thrive
as a result of stressors, shocks, volatility,
noise, mistakes, faults, attacks, or failures.”
Nassim Taleb
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Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
Stressor #1: Unhappy internal customers
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Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
Stressor #1: Unhappy internal customers
Stressor #2: Hard to quantify
business impact
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Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
Stressor #1: Unhappy customers
Stressor #2: Hard to quantify
business impact
Stressor #3: Decision makers
unaware of platform value
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Four pillars for
platform
sustainability
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1
Trusted
platform
Platform
(services
and
team
s)
are
trusted
by
product team
s
2
Shared
success
stories
Successes
using
the
platform
need
to
be
shared
w
idely
(qualitative
value)
3
Internal confidence
M
etrics
on
platform
adoption,
user satisfaction, reliability
4
External confidence
P&L
m
etrics
around
ROI, cost
(control), tim
e
to
m
arket, flow
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwaRKcjkAAo
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwaRKcjkAAo
BIZ
LANGUAGE
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● teams onboard the platform
● applications using the platform
● traffic served by the platform
● ...
Adoption Metrics
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● teams onboard the platform
● applications using the platform
● traffic served by the platform
● revenue served through platform services
👀👀👀
Adoption Metrics
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● new engineers shipping to production on
week 1
Shared Success Stories
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● new engineers shipping to production on
week 1
● reduced cloud costs by 10% across
services thanks to cheaper instances
👀👀👀
Shared Success Stories
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Focus on the “last mile” of
platform as a product:
measure generated value.
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Understand business cycles
and incentives for funding.
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Show past ROI and (forecast)
future value of platform.
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“ transforming internal platforms from
mere technical solutions into strategic
assets, fostering a collective understanding
and appreciation across stakeholders”
Sridhar Kotagiri & Ajay Chankramath
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Measuring the Value of Your Internal Developer Platform Investments
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Growing Internal Platforms as Engines
for Fast Flow (1-day training)