From DevOps to Platform Engineering

Intro

DevOps, introduced around 2009, emphasized collaboration, automation, and CI/CD to accelerate delivery, breaking down silos between development and operations.

However, as systems grew in complexity, DevOps engineering often led to fragmented tools, overloaded “DevOps teams,” and developers still burdened with infrastructure tasks.

Platform engineering emerged to address this by creating internal developer platforms (IDPs) that abstract infrastructure, services, and pipelines into a self-service model. It centralizes and standardizes the ecosystem — covering compute (e.g., Kubernetes), services (e.g., caching, messaging), and CI/CD — enabling developers to focus on business logic. The movement is driven by the need for:

• Scalability: Unified platforms handle growing system complexity.
• Developer Productivity: Self-service reduces toil and cognitive load.
• Standardization: Consistent tools and workflows improve reliability and speed.

Platform Engineering Re-structure

When re-structure your team to have a unified Platform Engineering team, you will find the old teams “DevOps/CICD”, “Platform Core/Infra” & “Platform PaaS/Middleware” are merged within this team, then every old team will be come a ROLE.

However….

Naming a role “DevOps” within the new “Platform Engineering” team can indeed cause confusion, as the term “DevOps” is often associated with a broader philosophy or set of practices (e.g., CI/CD, automation, and collaboration) rather than a specific job function. Since the new structure consolidates the Platform Core, PaaS, and DevOps roles under one team, the role names should clearly distinguish their responsibilities to avoid overlap or ambiguity.

Analysis of the Role and Naming Options

The “DevOps” role in the new structure is responsible for CI/CD pipelines and the custom-built app delivery lifecycle. This is a distinct function from Platform Infra (managing Kubernetes and infrastructure) and PaaS (providing platforms like caching, MQ, event streaming, AI, etc.). Naming the role “DevOps” could imply it encompasses broader responsibilities, potentially overlapping with Platform Core or PaaS, which may lead to the conflict you mentioned.

Here are some considerations for naming the role:

1. CI/CD: This name directly reflects the role’s focus on continuous integration and continuous deployment/delivery pipelines. It’s specific, clear, and avoids the broader implications of “DevOps.” It aligns well with the responsibility for managing the app delivery lifecycle.
2. App Delivery: This name emphasizes the role’s focus on the end-to-end delivery lifecycle of custom-built applications. It’s broader than “CI/CD” but still clear and distinct from Platform Core and PaaS.
3. Pipeline Engineering: This highlights the technical aspect of building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines and automation workflows. It’s precise and fits well within the “Platform Engineering” team’s scope.
4. Delivery Engineering: This emphasizes the engineering of the delivery process for applications, which could include CI/CD pipelines, automation, and lifecycle management. It’s modern and aligns with the team’s engineering focus.
5. DevOps: While familiar, this term is too broad and could imply responsibilities that overlap with Platform Core (e.g., infrastructure automation) or PaaS (e.g., platform tooling). It may also carry cultural baggage, as “DevOps” is often seen as a mindset, not a job title.

Recommendation

Rename the “DevOps” role to “CI/CD” or “Pipeline Engineering.” These names are precise, avoid overlap with Platform Core and PaaS, and clearly reflect the role’s focus on CI/CD pipelines and app delivery lifecycle management. “CI/CD” is the most straightforward and widely understood, while “Pipeline Engineering” adds a modern, engineering-focused tone that aligns with the “Platform Engineering” team name.

• Why not “DevOps”? The term is too ambiguous and may cause confusion, especially since the other roles (Platform Core and PaaS) already cover significant platform-related responsibilities. It could also lead to unrealistic expectations that the role includes infrastructure management or platform provisioning, which belong to the other roles.
• Why “CI/CD” or “Pipeline Engineering”? These names are specific to the role’s responsibilities, reduce the risk of conflict, and align with industry-standard terminology for teams focused on build, test, and deployment automation.

Additional Considerations

• Team Communication: Ensure the team understands the distinct responsibilities of each role. For example, clarify that Platform Core handles Kubernetes and infrastructure, PaaS manages platform services, and CI/CD (or Pipeline Engineering) focuses on pipelines and app delivery.
• Documentation: Update job descriptions, team charters, and internal wikis to reflect the new role names and responsibilities clearly.
• Stakeholder Buy-In: If the term “DevOps” is deeply ingrained in your organization’s culture, transitioning to a new name like “CI/CD” or “Pipeline Engineering” may require communication to manage expectations. Highlight that the role’s focus remains on enabling fast, reliable app delivery.