In the world of technology and engineering, staying ahead of the curve is the name of the game. Recently, we hosted an electrifying event that brought together DevOps industry experts, innovators, and tech enthusiasts under one roof—the Platform Engineering Mixer. If you couldn't attend, don't worry; this blog is your backstage pass to the exciting insights from the event.
Networking, Dinner, Drinks, and More!
The event took place in the heart of Bengaluru, at Daddy’s, Indiranagar. The venue itself was a fusion of innovation and ambiance—a space where people could come together, share ideas, and enjoy.
Top DevOps and Engineering leaders of Bengaluru attended the event and discussions around DevOps, Platform Engineering, and Developer Productivity flowed throughout the evening. While our guests also enjoyed delicious dinner and drinks, the highlight of our evening was the panel discussion hosted by Pravanjan Choudhury, the CEO, and Co-founder of Facets.cloud.
Pravanjan was joined by Kaushik Mukherjee from Udaan.com, Piyush Kumar from Capillary Technologies, Gaurav Sahi from AWS India, and Manoj Kulatharayi to discuss why enhancing developer productivity in an ever-evolving ecosystem is important.
Read ahead for more valuable insights from the Panel Discussion.
Why is the importance of developer productivity and experience growing?
Piyush, the CTO of Capillary Technologies, kicked off the discussion by addressing the challenges that developers face due to the fast-changing tech ecosystem.
According to Piyush, “Developers are now tasked with constant upgrades and management of tools. They’re expected to know a variety of tools and skills used across the software delivery lifecycle.” All of this increases the cognitive load on developers and leaves them with less time to spend on developing the core product. With developers being the architects of a company's intellectual property, any time spent on non-monetization tasks is a disservice.
“Moreover, everything from release management to deployments to testing becomes more complex if we don’t solve for this. That’s why, in recent times there’s a growing focus on improving developer productivity and streamlining their experience”, said Piyush.
Custom Metrics for Improved Productivity
Kaushik Mukherjee from Udaan shared valuable insights on measuring developer productivity. He advocated for designing custom metrics tailored to specific problems, leading to significant improvements. This approach allows teams to pinpoint areas of concern and optimize their processes effectively. He also advised companies to focus on both stability and agility, instead of working for just one.
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The Cloud Conundrum
The discussion eventually moved towards addressing the paradox of cloud technology. The panel discussed how companies can mitigate challenges related to managing the cloud. While the cloud was designed to simplify infrastructure procurement and software delivery, it has also given rise to a different set of challenges. Despite all the best practices around managing the cloud, companies are still struggling with it.
Gaurav Sahi from AWS India stressed on the importance of giving developers autonomy while maintaining essential guardrails. He said, “Too often, developers invest more time customizing tools than using them effectively.”
To solve for this, he asked companies to build teams that can bridge the gap between developers and technology. These teams should understand developers' pain points, speak their language, and provide valuable guidance. Ultimately, upskilling and fostering effective communication and collaboration are crucial steps toward boosting developer productivity.
Adding to this, Manoj Kulatharayi advised companies to invest time in building developer-friendly tools and frameworks that streamline the entire software delivery process. “This will in turn increase release velocity and also help in retaining knowledge across the organization”, he said.
Creating a Cost-Conscious Culture
The discussion was concluded after addressing one of the major cloud challenges – the unexpected increase in costs. The panel agreed that this often happens because companies don’t have visibility into their infrastructure.
The consensus among the panelists was the need to instill a cost-conscious culture. “Managing cloud costs should not be the responsibility of only a selected few people”, said Piyush Kumar. He added that everyone on the team should be aware of the costs and provision the right amount of resources. To enable this, developers should have complete visibility into how resources are being utilized versus what’s provisioned.
What followed this was an intense round of Q&A where attendees further clarified points discussed in the event.
Wrapping up
The panel discussion shed light on the challenges and solutions for enhancing developer productivity. In a world where technology continually evolves, it is imperative for businesses to adapt and empower their development teams. Creating a cost-conscious culture, optimizing cloud usage, and providing developers with the right tools and metrics are key steps toward achieving this goal. As the tech landscape continues to evolve, the insights shared by these DevOps and Engineering leaders serve as a valuable roadmap for companies seeking to thrive in the digital age.
