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    #32 Clarifying Platform Engineering’s Role (with Ajay Chankramath)

    Ash Patel

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    Episode 32 [SREpath Podcast]

    Show notes

    Platform Engineering is a hot topic right now with some pundits saying it will replace DevOps or SRE or both.

    I don’t think this is the case at all. Neither does Ajay Chankramath.

    He is the Head of Platform Engineering at ThoughtWorks North America, an innovator consulting group. I’d take his word for it since he’s held senior leadership roles in release engineering and more since 2002.

    In this bonus episode of the SREpath podcast, Ajay shared his perspective on the debate about SRE vs DevOps vs Platform Engineering.

    You can connect with Ajay via LinkedIn

    Key concepts we explored

    Other than clarifying that SRE and DevOps are safe and secure as practices, our conversation touched on fascinating concepts like:

    1. Prioritizing Developer Experience (DevEx). We agreed that teams need to go beyond DORA metrics and bring in path-to-production analysis that identify and address areas of friction, to truly improve developer productivity and satisfaction.
    2. Adopt a Platform Product Management Approach. Ajay mentioned viewing platform engineering as products within lifecycles, ensuring stability and understanding of codified processes for effective solution-building.
    3. Engage in Value Stream Mapping. We talked about why engineers should do what business analysts have been doing for decades and engage in value stream mapping to gain a holistic view of problems to improve solution-building.

    You will not want to miss Ajay’s insights that can impact your team and organization’s cost base.

    Related article:  #14 Faster Incident Resolution through Data-Driven Notebooks (with Ivan Merrill)

    In Episode #32 of the SREpath podcast, Ajay Chankramath clarifies Platform Engineering’s role in software operations [Spotify link]

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