Comparison
Internal developer platformvsPlatform as a product
Internal developer platform
you deployed to a new environment without opening a ticket or learning what the infrastructure was.
The self-service layer product teams use to build, deploy and operate without becoming infrastructure specialists. Its value is measured in reduced cognitive load rather than in features, and its worst failure is being built for the platform team's idea of the problem rather than the product teams' actual work. Treating internal engineers as customers — including the part where they can refuse to use it — is what separates the ones that get adopted.
Full entry →Platform as a product
the platform team runs interviews, publishes a roadmap and measures adoption, because their users can always route around them.
Running an internal platform with product discipline — users, research, documentation, versioning, deprecation policy and voluntary adoption. The argument for it is that mandated platforms accumulate resentment and workarounds, whereas a platform teams choose is one that solved their actual problem. The practical test is whether the team could name their users' three biggest complaints without asking.
Full entry →