Platform Engineering Trends 2024: Shaping the Future of Business
In shaping the tech landscape, platform engineering is pivotal. Find out what are the key-trends to anticipate in the year 2024.
Avinash Garud, Co-Founder, Operation and Program Manager at Socium Partners, explains how platform engineering has played a pivotal role in shaping the technological landscape, facilitating enterprises to thrive in the face of evolving challenges. It’s essential to consider the developments of 2023 as we dive into the themes that will shape 2024 since they prepared the ground for the impending changes.
According to Gartner, by 2026, around 80% of software engineering companies may incorporate platform teams as the internal contributors of reusable services, components, and tools for application delivery. Platform engineering is an ever-evolving field. Emerging technologies like serverless computing, AI, and edge computing will continue to transform the future of platform engineering.
Looking Ahead: Key Platform Engineering Trends in 2024
According to a survey report, platform engineering is gaining traction within IT organizations, with 83% of respondents having fully implemented it already. As developers spend only 12.5% -30 % of their time per week writing code, platform engineering has come to the forefront for improving developer experience.
Here are key trends shaping the world of platform engineering.
1. Sustained Integration of AI and Machine Learning
Integrating AI into platforms can deepen, optimize resource allocation, personalize user experiences, and automate complex tasks. Real-time data analysis can empower platforms to adapt dynamically to user behaviors, enhancing overall efficiency. Software testing, security management, and code change management are just a few common tasks AI can assist in automating. Intelligent monitoring systems can also benefit from machine learning.
A smart monitoring system gathers and analyzes performance data as a system operates, making it possible to identify and fix systems or sections of systems that aren’t working well or using a lot of resources. Using LLMs in early controlled experiments results in 30% to 80% performance improvements for individual tasks like coding or marketing.
2. Quantum computing implications
Quantum computing will continue to be explored, despite the complexities in its practical implementation within the business landscape. This persistent pursuit implies an intensified race toward quantum supremacy, suggesting significant breakthroughs. However, early users are anticipated to face stability, scalability, and error correction challenges within quantum systems.
Despite these obstacles, incremental successes are expected to emerge, potentially paving the way for innovative solutions and applications in various industries, showcasing the transformative potential of quantum computing despite the existing technical intricacies.
3. Shift toward serverless architecture
The trend towards serverless architecture can amplify, offering enhanced scalability, reduced operational overheads, and quicker deployment cycles. However, challenges regarding performance optimization and vendor lock-in may persist. Overcoming challenges associated with serverless architecture can prompt innovative solutions. Collaborative efforts between vendors and developers aim to refine and standardize practices, fostering a more mature serverless ecosystem.
Platform engineering allows developers to use a broad range of techniques that help them optimize their approach to development and deployment while providing organizations with a smooth and efficient workflow.
4. DevSecOps and continuous security practices
Integrating security into the DevOps pipeline can gain prominence, shifting towards a DevSecOps culture. Emphasis can be placed on continuous monitoring, threat intelligence integration, and rapid incident response. Platform engineering has become increasingly popular due to increased security concerns in recent years. Delegating governance, control, and risk management responsibilities to development teams can result in overscheduling and omitting or neglecting essential matters.
Platform engineering helps to mitigate this issue by determining a part of this responsibility. Automation can be pivotal in embedding security measures seamlessly throughout the development lifecycle.
5. Leveraging edge technology
Edge computing can revolutionize platforms by enabling real-time processing, reducing latency, and accommodating data-intensive applications. Its integration can be pivotal in meeting the demands of IoT and AI-driven applications. Industries like healthcare, manufacturing, and autonomous vehicles can leverage edge computing to process data closer to the source, improving efficiency and enabling mission-critical applications. To avoid missing out on valuable and distinctive features, platform teams should approach edge infrastructure similarly to any other infrastructure service now in use but with consideration for edge-specific factors.
Case Studies: Exemplifying Trends in Action
Netflix’s Platform Experiences and Design (PXD) team decided to build a federated platform console that can provide service as a one-stop store for all the tools engineers require to develop and deploy software at scale. Besides this, in the 2023 Conference on Digital Experimentation in Cambridge, there were 200 real A/B tests performed at Netflix, which depicted that surrogate-index models that were constructed by using only two weeks of data led to the same product ship decisions as two months of data would do.
Facebook’s infrastructure, including Messenger and WhatsApp, relies on advanced platform engineering. The Open Graph API enables third-party integrations, which enhances the platform’s versatility. Due to its mobile optimization, users operate Facebook on mobile devices. Its platform engineering team has also enabled strong security measures.
After the data breach in April 2021, where the personal data of 533 million Facebook users was publicly revealed, there have been no reported Facebook breaches as of October 2023.
See More: How Nadella’s AI Vision Can Reshape The Future of Developers
Anticipating the Landscape of 2024
The forthcoming year is poised to witness transformative shifts in platform engineering. AI and ML will further infuse platforms, quantum computing will inch closer to practical applications, serverless architecture will mature, and security will evolve into a continuous, integrated practice.
Adopting hybrid and multi-cloud strategies, coupled with the integration of edge computing, will redefine how businesses operate in the digital realm. As organizations navigate these trends, those agile enough to adapt and capitalize on these innovations will undoubtedly shape the landscape of platform engineering in 2024 and beyond.
Are you anticipating big changes in platform engineering in 2024? Share your thoughts with us on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn. We’d love to hear from you!
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