Comparison
Internal developer platformvsPlatform team
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 team
another team's product is your deploy pipeline, and you are their customer rather than their ticket queue.
A team whose users are other engineers, providing self-service capabilities that reduce what a product team must know. The distinction that matters is self-service: a platform team that must be involved in every use of its platform is a bottleneck with a nicer name. It succeeds when product teams choose to use it because it is easier than the alternative, not because it is mandated.
Full entry →