Crafting a Vision for Platform Engineering: Aligning Teams and Stakeholders for Success

Imagine you’re in charge of a Platform Engineering team tasked with creating the backbone of your company’s technology ecosystem. It’s an exciting opportunity, but it also comes with its fair share of challenges. How do you ensure that all your engineering teams are working toward a common goal? And how do you get stakeholders—often with competing priorities—on the same page?

From my perspective, crafting a clear vision for Platform Engineering is the cornerstone of solving these challenges. A well-defined vision acts like a north star, guiding your teams and stakeholders toward a shared purpose. It’s not just about defining what you want to build—it’s about aligning everyone on why it matters and how you’ll get there.

Let me give you an example. In one of the companies I worked our engineering teams were scattered, each working on their own priorities without a unified direction. It wasn’t until we developed a clear vision that things began to fall into place. By aligning teams and involving stakeholders early, we streamlined processes, improved collaboration, and delivered a platform that scaled with the business.

In this blog, I’ll walk you through the steps to craft your Platform Engineering vision, align your teams, and engage stakeholders effectively. Whether you’re an engineering leader, a platform engineer, or a stakeholder looking for clarity, these strategies will help you drive alignment and achieve success. Along the way, I’ll share industry best practices and tips to make the process actionable and impactful.

Let’s dive in and explore how to build not just platforms but a shared foundation for engineering excellence.

Understanding the Role of Platform Engineering

If you’ve worked in tech long enough, you’ve likely heard the term Platform Engineering. But what does it actually mean, and why is it so important? At its core, Platform Engineering is about creating the foundational systems and tools that enable development teams to work faster, more efficiently, and with fewer roadblocks. Think of it as building the infrastructure that supports your entire software organization.

In my experience, a strong Platform Engineering function can be transformative. At one company I worked with, we were struggling to maintain consistency across teams. Developers were often spending more time configuring environments and debugging infrastructure issues than writing code. By establishing a dedicated Platform Engineering team, we introduced standardized tools, automated repetitive tasks, and reduced friction across the development process. Suddenly, teams were moving faster and focusing on what they do best: delivering value to customers.

Why Platform Engineering Matters

Platform Engineering isn’t just about solving technical problems. It’s also about creating a culture of enablement. A well-designed platform provides developers with self-service capabilities, reducing dependency on centralized teams. It also establishes guardrails that balance flexibility with security and compliance.

For example, a robust CI/CD pipeline managed by Platform Engineering ensures that developers can deploy code seamlessly, while automated checks maintain high-quality standards. This not only improves developer productivity but also fosters a sense of ownership and accountability.

The Key Benefits of Platform Engineering

Here are some of the reasons why Platform Engineering has become a critical focus for modern tech organizations:

1. Improved Developer Experience: Developers are your internal customers. A well-crafted platform minimizes pain points, allowing them to focus on building features instead of wrestling with tools or infrastructure.
2. Scalability: As your organization grows, having a unified platform ensures consistency and efficiency across teams. It prevents the chaos of “every team does things differently.”
3. Reliability: Centralized platforms often come with built-in monitoring, logging, and alerting, helping teams identify and resolve issues faster.
4. Cost Efficiency: By standardizing tools and infrastructure, you can reduce redundancies and optimize resource usage.

Actionable Recommendations

• Start Small but Think Big: Focus on a high-impact pain point to address first, such as automating deployments or standardizing environment configurations. Build on that success to expand your platform.
• Involve Your Teams Early: Engage your development teams in the process to ensure the platform meets their needs. Their feedback is invaluable in creating something they’ll actually use.
• Measure Success: Define clear metrics like deployment frequency, developer satisfaction, or mean time to recovery (MTTR) to track the impact of your Platform Engineering efforts.

As you reflect on your current engineering practices, ask yourself: are your teams spending more time solving infrastructure problems than building great products? If so, Platform Engineering might be the solution you need. It’s not just about technology—it’s about creating an environment where innovation can thrive.

Defining a Vision for Platform Engineering Success

Every successful initiative begins with a clear vision. Platform Engineering is no different. Without a shared understanding of where you’re headed, it’s easy for teams to become misaligned and for stakeholders to lose confidence in the process. A strong vision provides direction, fosters collaboration, and ensures that everyone is working toward the same goals.

Why a Vision is Essential

A vision for Platform Engineering serves as your guiding principle. It defines what you want to achieve and why it matters. For example, do you want to improve developer productivity, increase reliability, or enable faster feature delivery? Whatever your priorities, your vision should clearly articulate the “why” behind your Platform Engineering efforts.

Vision can also help you set a mission, for example: “create a scalable platform that empowers development teams to deliver value faster, with minimal friction.” This simple statement helps stay focused. It reminds you that everything you build—automated pipelines, centralized logging systems, and self-service tools—is meant to support developers and the business outcomes they are driving.

Key Elements of a Strong Platform Engineering Vision

A compelling vision should be:

1. Aligned with Business Goals: Your platform is not an end in itself. Tie your vision to outcomes that matter to the business, such as improving time-to-market or reducing operational costs.
2. Developer-Centric: Developers are your primary users. Your vision should focus on addressing their needs and removing barriers to their success.
3. Actionable and Measurable: A good vision doesn’t just inspire—it guides action. Break your vision into specific goals and establish metrics to track progress.
4. Future-Oriented: Anticipate where your organization is headed. Design a vision that not only addresses current challenges but also scales with future needs.

Steps to Define Your Platform Engineering Vision

1. Gather Insights from Teams and Stakeholders: Start by talking to developers, product managers, and other stakeholders. What pain points do they face? What would success look like for them? Use their feedback to shape a vision that resonates with everyone.
2. Define Your Core Principles: What values will guide your Platform Engineering efforts? For example, you might prioritize simplicity, scalability, or self-service capabilities. These principles will influence your design decisions.
3. Draft and Refine Your Vision Statement: Write a concise statement that captures your goals. For example: “Our platform will enable development teams to innovate faster by providing secure, scalable, and self-service infrastructure.”
4. Socialize and Iterate: Share your vision with your teams and stakeholders. Encourage feedback and make adjustments as needed to ensure buy-in.

Actionable Recommendations

• Start with the End in Mind: Think about what success looks like for your Platform Engineering initiative. Visualize the outcomes and use them to shape your vision.
• Communicate Clearly: Your vision should be easy for anyone to understand, from junior developers to senior executives. Avoid jargon and keep it simple.
• Revisit and Adapt: As your organization evolves, so should your vision. Schedule regular reviews to ensure the vision remains relevant.

Defining a vision for Platform Engineering isn’t just an exercise in goal-setting—it’s a critical step toward achieving alignment and long-term success. By crafting a clear, actionable vision, you’ll give your teams and stakeholders the direction they need to build a platform that delivers real impact. So, what’s your platform engineering vision? If you haven’t defined it yet, there’s no better time to start.

Aligning Platform Engineering Teams Around the Vision

Even the clearest vision for Platform Engineering won’t go far without team alignment. In my experience, this is often where the real challenge lies. Engineering teams are made up of talented individuals with diverse perspectives, but without alignment, even the best teams can pull in different directions or act without a high-level perspective in mind. Aligning your teams around a shared vision ensures everyone is rowing in the same boat toward a common destination.

Why Alignment Matters

When teams are aligned, collaboration improves, productivity increases, and conflicts decrease. A unified approach helps avoid duplication of effort, ensures consistent standards, and enables faster progress toward the goals outlined in your platform engineering vision.

For example, I once worked on a project where one team was focused on improving deployment pipelines while another was building a monitoring solution. Both efforts were valuable, but without alignment, they lacked synergy. By bringing the teams together to align their work with our broader platform vision, we integrated monitoring into the deployment process, creating a more seamless and effective solution.

Key Strategies for Aligning Teams

1. Communicate the Vision Clearly
   • Start by ensuring everyone understands the Platform Engineering vision. Use simple, concise language and focus on the “why” behind it.
   • Share your vision in team meetings, presentations, and documentation. Make it a regular topic of discussion so it stays top of mind.
2. Create Shared Goals
   • Break down the vision into actionable goals that teams can rally around. For example, if your vision includes improving developer productivity, a shared goal might be “reduce build times by 50%.”
   • Ensure these goals are measurable and directly tied to the vision.
3. Foster Cross-Team Collaboration
   • Encourage teams to work together on shared initiatives. Use tools like Slack channels, Jira projects, or cross-functional regular meetings to keep everyone connected.
   • Create opportunities for teams to share progress, challenges, and learnings with one another.
4. Empower Teams with Autonomy
   • While alignment is important, micromanaging isn’t the answer. Give teams the freedom to decide how they’ll achieve their goals while staying aligned with the broader vision.
   • Trust your teams to make decisions, but provide support and resources when needed.

Overcoming Common Alignment Challenges

Challenge: Resistance to Change

Change can be uncomfortable, especially if it means altering established workflows. To overcome resistance, involve teams in shaping the vision and explain how it benefits them.

Challenge: Silos and Miscommunication

Silos often form when teams focus only on their specific goals. Break down these barriers by promoting transparency and collaboration. Regular all-hands meetings or huddles can help bridge communication gaps.

Challenge: Competing Priorities

Teams may have competing priorities that make alignment difficult. Resolve this by tying all priorities back to the overarching vision and showing how each contributes to the bigger picture.

Actionable Recommendations

• Hold Alignment Workshops: Organize workshops or offsites where teams can collaborate on how their work aligns with the vision. This also creates buy-in and excitement for the shared goals.
• Visualize Progress: Use dashboards or visual tools to track and share progress toward goals. Seeing the bigger picture helps teams feel connected to the vision.
• Celebrate Wins: Recognize and reward milestones achieved in alignment with the vision. Celebrating success reinforces the value of working together.

Aligning teams around your Platform Engineering vision is not a one-time effort—it’s an ongoing process. By fostering clear communication, shared goals, and collaboration, you’ll create an environment where teams work cohesively toward success. Take a moment to reflect: Are your teams aligned with your vision, or are they pulling in different directions? The time you invest in alignment now will pay dividends in the long run.

Engaging and Aligning Stakeholders

While aligning your engineering teams is critical, it’s equally important to engage and align your stakeholders. Stakeholders—including developers, engineering managers, senior technical leaders, business leaders, and even external partners—often have diverse priorities. Without their buy-in and support, even the best Platform Engineering vision can falter.

In my experience, involving stakeholders early and often is the secret to success. When stakeholders feel heard and understand how your platform initiatives will benefit them, they’re more likely to champion your efforts. Let’s explore how to build this alignment.

Why Stakeholder Engagement Matters

Stakeholders influence the resources, priorities, and success of your Platform Engineering initiatives. By aligning their goals with your vision, you can:

• Secure funding and resources more easily.
• Avoid conflicting priorities that derail progress.
• Foster trust and collaboration across the organization.

For example, during a Reliability initiative I led, we faced initial resistance from engineering managers concerned about delayed feature releases. By demonstrating how our efforts would reduce unplanned work and speed up future development cycles, we turned skeptics into supporters.

Strategies for Engaging and Aligning Stakeholders

1. Understand Their Needs and Priorities
   • Schedule one-on-one conversations with key stakeholders to learn their goals, pain points, and concerns. This can be the CTO, Head of Security, tech directors, etc.
   • Ask questions like: “What challenges are your teams facing?” or “What outcomes would be most valuable to you?”
2. Show How the Vision Aligns with Their Goals
   • Connect your Platform Engineering vision to the outcomes stakeholders care about.
   • For example, if a stakeholder prioritizes faster time-to-market, emphasize how automation and standardization will enable quicker feature delivery.
3. Communicate the Vision Clearly
   • Avoid technical jargon when speaking with non-technical stakeholders.
   • Use visuals, examples, and real-world analogies to make your vision relatable. For instance, describe the platform as a “digital highway” that accelerates development while ensuring safety and efficiency.
4. Involve Stakeholders in the Process
   • Invite stakeholders to planning sessions, retrospectives, or demos.
   • Solicit their feedback and incorporate it when possible. This not only builds trust but also ensures the platform meets their needs.
5. Address Concerns Proactively
   • Acknowledge potential downsides and offer solutions. For instance, if stakeholders worry about initial delays, present a phased approach that delivers incremental value.
   • Transparency goes a long way in building credibility.

Overcoming Common Stakeholder Challenges

Challenge: Misaligned Priorities

Stakeholders often have competing interests. To address this, focus on shared goals and demonstrate how the platform serves the organization as a whole.

Challenge: Lack of Understanding

Some stakeholders may struggle to grasp the technical aspects of Platform Engineering. Simplify your explanations and focus on outcomes rather than processes.

Challenge: Resistance to Change

Change can be intimidating, especially for stakeholders used to existing workflows. Highlight quick wins to show tangible benefits early on.

Actionable Recommendations

• Create Stakeholder Dashboards: Use dashboards to provide stakeholders with real-time visibility into platform progress and impact. Focus on metrics that matter to them, such as deployment speed or cost savings.
• Host Regular Updates: Schedule recurring stakeholder meetings to share progress, celebrate milestones, and discuss roadblocks. Keep the tone collaborative and solution-oriented.
• Frame the Narrative Around Value: Always tie your updates and conversations back to the value the platform delivers. Use concrete examples to illustrate the benefits.

Engaging and aligning stakeholders is as much about communication and empathy as it is about execution. By understanding their needs, speaking their language, and involving them in the journey, you’ll turn stakeholders into allies. Reflect on your current approach: Are you keeping your stakeholders informed and engaged? If not, now’s the time to make that connection. A strong partnership with stakeholders can be the difference between a good platform and a great one.

Building Effective Engineering Platforms

Creating an effective engineering platform is both an art and a science. It’s not just about the tools you build but about how those tools empower your teams to deliver value. From my experience, the best platforms are those that simplify complexity, eliminate roadblocks, and scale effortlessly with the needs of the organization. But how do you actually build such a platform?

Let’s explore the foundational principles and strategies that can guide you toward creating a platform that serves your teams and stakeholders effectively.

What Makes an Engineering Platform Effective?

An effective platform is more than just a collection of tools; it’s a cohesive ecosystem that supports your organization’s goals. At its core, an engineering platform should:

• Empower Developers: Provide self-service capabilities so developers can work independently without unnecessary bottlenecks.
• Ensure Consistency: Establish standard practices for deployment, monitoring, and scaling.
• Foster Collaboration: Make it easier for teams to share knowledge and work together.

For example, at AutoScout24, we recently built a CI/CD solution, based on GitHub Actions and Kubernetes, that significantly improved deployment times. Our older Jenkins-based solution was slower, and required more maintenance.

Principles of Building an Effective Platform

1. Keep it Simple
   • Complexity is the enemy of usability. Build tools that are intuitive and easy to use.
   • For instance, a simple dashboard with clear metrics can be far more effective than a complex tool requiring weeks of training.
2. Focus on Scalability
   • Design your platform to grow with your organization. Use modular, cloud-native solutions that can handle increasing workloads without rework.
   • Platforms like Kubernetes exemplify this principle, providing a scalable way to manage containerized applications.
3. Automate Repetitive Tasks
   • Automation reduces errors and saves time. Whether it’s infrastructure provisioning, code deployments, or testing, automate wherever possible.
4. Prioritize Security
   • Security isn’t optional. Build guardrails into your platform to ensure compliance with organizational and regulatory standards.
   • For example, implement automated security checks in your CI/CD pipeline to catch vulnerabilities early. You should also completement those with production scanners.
5. Design for Flexibility
   • No two teams are exactly alike. Provide customization options that allow teams to adapt the platform to their specific needs. At the same time, overcustomization may create a lot of overhead for the Platform Engineering team.

Steps to Build Your Platform

1. Start with a Problem Statement
   • Identify the biggest pain points your teams are facing. Is it slow deployments? Lack of visibility? Frequent outages? Let the problem guide your solution.
2. Engage Users Early
   • Treat your developers as customers. Involve them in the design process to ensure the platform addresses their real-world needs.
   • Hold feedback sessions, beta tests, or pilot programs to validate your approach.
3. Iterate and Improve
   • Platforms are never “done.” Continuously gather feedback, monitor performance, and refine your tools to keep them relevant.
4. Measure Success
   • Define key metrics to track the platform’s effectiveness. Common metrics include deployment frequency, mean time to detection (MTTD), mean time to recovery (MTTR), and developer satisfaction.

Actionable Recommendations

• Create Clear Documentation: An effective platform is only as good as its documentation. Make sure your teams have access to clear, up-to-date guides and FAQs.
• Invest in Onboarding: Provide training and resources to help teams adopt the platform quickly and effectively.
• Celebrate Wins: Share success stories of teams who have benefited from the platform. This builds momentum and encourages broader adoption.

Building an effective engineering platform isn’t just about technology—it’s about enabling people. When you focus on simplicity, scalability, and usability, you create an ecosystem that empowers your teams and drives organizational success. So, ask yourself: Does your current platform make life easier for your teams, or does it add unnecessary complexity? The answer could reveal your next big opportunity for improvement.

Measuring Success and Iterating

Building a Platform Engineering vision and aligning teams and stakeholders are critical steps, but they’re just the beginning. The real test of your platform’s effectiveness comes when it’s put into action. To ensure long-term success, you need to measure its impact, learn from the results, and continuously iterate.

This process isn’t just about tracking metrics. It’s about creating a feedback loop that drives improvement and keeps your platform aligned with evolving organizational needs. Let’s explore how to measure success and use those insights to refine your platform engineering efforts.

Why Measuring Success Matters

Without clear metrics, it’s hard to know whether your platform is achieving its intended goals. Measuring success helps you:

• Identify what’s working and what isn’t.
• Justify investments in Platform Engineering to stakeholders.
• Spot opportunities for improvement and innovation.

Key Metrics to Track

The right metrics depend on your platform’s goals, but here are some common ones to consider:

1. Developer Productivity
   • Metrics: Lead time, deployment frequency, build times, or time spent resolving incidents.
   • Example: If your goal is to reduce deployment time, track how long it takes from code commit to production.
2. Platform Reliability
   • Metrics: Uptime, mean time to detection (MTTD), mean time to recovery (MTTR), or incident frequency.
   • Example: A lower MTTR indicates that your platform enables teams to resolve issues quickly.
3. User Satisfaction
   • Metrics: Developer satisfaction surveys, Net Promoter Score (NPS), or feedback frequency.
   • Example: Regular surveys can help you gauge whether your platform is meeting user expectations.
4. Adoption and Utilization
   • Metrics: Percentage of teams using the platform or a specific Paved Path, number of active users, or usage of specific features.
   • Example: High adoption rates suggest that your platform is delivering value to teams.

The Importance of Iteration

No platform is perfect on day one. Iteration allows you to adapt to changing needs, fix issues, and introduce new features. Here’s how to approach it:

1. Gather Feedback Regularly
   • Conduct regular surveys and feedback sessions with your teams.
   • Create channels for ongoing feedback, such as Slack or an internal platform forum. At AutoScout24 we use Slack, GitHub Project dashboard and regular demo meetings.
2. Analyze Data for Insights
   • Use your metrics to identify trends, bottlenecks, or areas for improvement.
   • For example, if build times remain high despite automation, investigate the root cause.
3. Prioritize Improvements
   • Focus on changes that will have the biggest impact on your goals.
   • Use a framework like ICE (Impact, Confidence, Effort) to prioritize effectively. You may simplify it, by focusing on Impact and Effort first, or go in the other direction and add more parameters. At one point we were using Cost of Delay, Reach, Impact, Confidence and Effort (CRICE), but it proved to me too complicated.
4. Communicate Changes Clearly
   • Keep teams informed about updates and explain how they address their feedback.
   • Celebrate wins to build momentum for further improvements.

Actionable Recommendations

• Create a Feedback Loop: Establish a cycle where metrics are reviewed, feedback is collected, and improvements are implemented regularly.
• Benchmark Success: Compare your platform’s performance before and after key updates to measure progress.
• Stay Flexible: Be prepared to pivot if metrics reveal unexpected challenges or opportunities.
• Involve Teams in Iteration: Encourage your teams to contribute ideas for platform enhancements. Their input will help you build something truly valuable.

Measuring success and iterating isn’t just about fine-tuning your platform—it’s about ensuring it stays relevant and effective as your organization grows. By focusing on the right metrics and fostering a culture of continuous improvement, you can create a platform that evolves alongside your teams’ needs. So, take a moment to reflect: Are you regularly measuring your platform’s success and acting on those insights? If not, now’s the time to build that feedback loop and take your platform to the next level.

Conclusion

Platform Engineering is more than just a technical endeavor—it’s a strategic approach to empowering your teams, aligning your stakeholders, and driving long-term success. Crafting a vision for your platform is the first step, but bringing that vision to life requires collaboration, iteration, and a relentless focus on outcomes.

Reflecting on my own experiences, I’ve seen firsthand how a well-designed platform can transform an organization. Whether it’s simplifying workflows, improving team productivity, or enabling faster delivery, the impact of a strong Platform Engineering vision can be profound. But it doesn’t happen by chance. It takes intentional effort to align teams, engage stakeholders, and continuously measure and improve your platform.

As you embark on or refine your Platform Engineering journey, here are some key takeaways to keep in mind:

1. Start with a Clear Vision: Define what success looks like and align it with your organization’s goals. Make your vision actionable and easy for everyone to understand.
2. Foster Alignment: Bring teams and stakeholders together around shared goals. Communication and collaboration are your most powerful tools.
3. Build with Impact: Focus on creating a platform that empowers developers, ensures consistency, and scales with your needs. Keep simplicity and usability at the forefront.
4. Measure and Iterate: Regularly evaluate your platform’s performance and adapt based on feedback. Success is a moving target, and iteration ensures you stay ahead.

Every organization’s Platform Engineering journey is unique, but the principles remain universal. Start small, stay focused, and don’t be afraid to adapt as you learn. The platform you build today will shape the future of your teams and your organization.

So, what’s next for you? Whether you’re just starting to craft your platform engineering vision or refining an existing one, take the first step toward building a platform that drives real impact. And remember, the most effective platforms are those that not only solve today’s challenges but also prepare your teams for tomorrow’s opportunities.