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Writer's pictureDaniel Bryant

KCD UK Slides: Brownfield Realities, Platforms Orchestration & App Devs

The Syntasso team had a fantastic time at KCD UK London earlier this week. The talks were fantastic, and we had many amazing chats at the booth. We want to say a big thank you to all of the organisers, speakers, sponsors, and attendees.


We will write a summary blog next week, but in the meantime, we were keen to share our slide decks. Please reach out if you have any questions!


There's always time for tea at the Syntasso booth
There's always time for tea at the Syntasso booth

From Greenfield Dreams to Brownfield Realities: Navigating Platform Development



Abstract

In the world of platform engineering, we often dream of greenfield projects—a fresh start, a blank canvas. But reality has a different palette. Most platforms emerge from existing systems, inheriting their quirks, constraints, and complexities. Welcome to the brownfield!


Join Cat as she explores the psychology behind our attachment to the familiar. Why do we cling to legacy code, outdated tools, and well-worn paths? How can we harness this psychology to build robust, usable platforms? In this talk, Cat shares practical strategies for thriving in the brownfield, turning existing foundations into powerful platforms.


Additional resources



Platform Orchestrators: The Missing Middle of Internal Developer Platforms?



Abstract

At previous KubeCons, Daniel argued that developers building applications on Kubernetes today are being asked not just to code. They are also responsible for shipping and running their applications. We often talk about needing a Kubernetes “platform” to handle these responsibilities, but do we really need to build our own PaaS?


Key considerations Daniel will cover include:


- Many organizations start their platform build with a developer portal, which provides success on day one but struggles with day two challenges.

- In many implementations, there appears to be a “missing middle” that manages the platform lifecycle, which a Platform Orchestrator can address.

- Most organizations are not as unique as they think they are, but they do need a way of codifying their business processes into the platform.


Additional resources



When Platforms Meet Application Developers



Abstract

What do application developers have to do with Kubernetes Community Days? What can we learn as platform engineers from our app development teams, and how can we use that knowledge to build better platforms?


Join Abby and Mauricio (Salaboy) in this presentation to discover three strategies to make your platforms more developer-friendly on both sides:


First, we will start by discussing how application tech stacks and their ecosystem heavily influence the platform's interfaces, practices, and adoption rate. What considerations do we need to take into account?


Next, we acknowledge platform engineers can learn more than just user needs from their app developers. Next, we will delve into the kind of architectural patterns that developers are already using and how they can be applied to our platforms.


And finally, in KCD fashion, we will, of course, look at how Kubernetes fits into this picture even while hiding it's dependency can be a key way to reduce application developer cognitive load. In particular, offline developer inner-loops for Kubernetes deployed applications can be a crucial part of our platform strategy.


Developers live on both sides of the platform, and they can and should invest in learning from each other to elevate the developer experience across their organization.


Additional resources



Catch Us at KubeCon NA (and PlatEngDay!)

If you've enjoyed these presentations, you can see more from the Syntasso team at KubeCon NA and the co-located Platform Engineering Day in Salt Lake City in November!


If you have any questions, please contact us or reach out via our social channels.

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