Platform engineering vs DevOps

Platform engineering and DevOps are related, but are not the same thing. They can often be confused, but if you’re thinking of applying for roles in either discipline, it’s important to understand the difference and know where one position starts and the other ends.

It’s also worth acknowledging that the two roles may be slightly blurred in some organisations. Make sure you’re clear on what a company deems to be the responsibility of a platform engineer or DevOps professional before accepting a job.

DevOps roles involve a development approach to help developers and IT operations teams work collaboratively. Platform engineering jobs design separate processes to create a single, central platform for DevOps tools.

What is platform engineering?

Platform engineering is a relatively new role, which has evolved from DevOps. It utilises tools to improve software delivery, bridging the gap between the developer and the end user. Platform engineers use a variety of techniques to automate infrastructure and promote more efficient working.

What is DevOps?

The clue to understanding DevOps is in the name, as it’s a combination of software development (dev) and operations (ops). This software engineering methodology integrates the work of development teams and their operations counterparts by promoting a culture of collaboration and shared responsibility.

The interaction between platform engineering and DevOps

Platform engineering has emerged to make software development more efficient. In the past, DevOps engineers were responsible for the entire process. This increased their cognitive workload and meant there were occasions when they were doing tasks that took them away from their specific areas of expertise.

Delegating such tasks, such as developing and maintaining infrastructure tools and processes, leaves DevOps with more time and resources to focus on their core skills. These include designing the continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) process, creating the infrastructure for development environments and ensuring compatibility with production areas.

The main focuses of platform engineering and DevOps

When comparing platform engineering with DevOps, it’s worth looking at the major differences in the focuses of each job role.

For platform engineering, they are:

• Developing and maintaining a shared platform or suite of tools for software deployment.
• Managing the infrastructure to support software development and deployment.

For DevOps, they are:

• Prioritising CI/CD practices.
• Shortening the software development lifecycle.
• Facilitating collaboration between development and operations.

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