Transforming Platform Engineering Through Chargeback Programs with Shuchi Mittal

Summary

In this insightful conversation, Sui shares her journey from product engineering to leading cloud enablement at Honeywell. She discusses transforming a platform engineering team into an innovation partner by focusing on delivering value to internal development and business teams. Through chargeback programs and clear communication of cost, Sui’s team shifted from being seen as a cost center to a trusted partner, helping teams build more scalable, modular products. The conversation also highlights the importance of understanding customer needs, driving efficiencies, and fostering trust within an organization to achieve successful outcomes.

Takeaways

• 😀 Shifting from a 'cost center' mentality to a 'value creator' mentality is key for platform engineering teams to thrive and be seen as innovation partners.
• 😀 Treating internal development teams as customers allows platform teams to focus on delivering value that aligns with business needs rather than just providing infrastructure.
• 😀 Clear communication of the value offered by internal platforms (reliability, compliance, customer support) helps differentiate them from external cloud providers.
• 😀 Implementing chargeback and showback models helps drive transparency in costs and encourages responsible usage of internal resources.
• 😀 Chargeback systems not only highlight cost but also help teams become more accountable for their resource usage and encourage better behavior.
• 😀 Overcoming resistance in finance and other departments is necessary for implementing chargeback models, and this process can take time and persistence.
• 😀 Involving platform engineering teams early in product development creates trust with business teams and positions them as innovation partners.
• 😀 Building trust with development teams by being involved in the design and execution of new products is crucial for securing internal funding and investment.
• 😀 Introducing performance metrics and visibility into platform usage helps users understand costs and how to optimize resource consumption.
• 😀 Iteration and continuous improvement of the chargeback system are necessary to ensure it aligns with business objectives and encourages the right behaviors from users.
• 😀 Becoming a trusted advisor for product teams involves understanding their needs and proactively offering solutions that add value to the overall business strategy.

Q & A

What is the core problem the speaker faced when transitioning to platform engineering?

The core problem was that platform engineering was viewed as a cost center, meaning it was seen as an area to reduce expenses rather than one that could drive business revenue or value. The speaker needed to figure out how to fund the platform engineering efforts while still delivering value.

How did the speaker shift the mindset from seeing platform engineering as a cost center?

The speaker reframed the role of platform engineering by viewing internal development teams and business teams as 'customers' and focusing on delivering value beyond just providing infrastructure. This shift helped platform engineering become seen as a partner that provided reliable, policy-compliant platforms with operational support.

What was the main strategy used to demonstrate the value of platform engineering?

The main strategy was to introduce a chargeback model, starting with a showback approach to demonstrate the costs of using the platform. This not only made the costs transparent but also encouraged teams to use resources more efficiently.

What is the difference between 'showback' and 'chargeback' in the context of platform engineering?

'Showback' refers to showing internal teams the costs of the resources they are consuming without actually charging them. In contrast, 'chargeback' involves billing teams for their usage, turning it into an actual financial transaction and creating more accountability.

How did the introduction of chargeback change the behavior of development teams?

The introduction of chargeback incentivized development teams to think more carefully about how they used the platform, leading them to adopt more scalable and modular approaches, such as moving from monolithic applications to microservices.

What challenges did the speaker face when implementing the chargeback system?

The implementation was challenging because it required aligning with the finance team, ensuring the right cost data was integrated into accounting systems, and projecting usage accurately. Additionally, the chargeback model had to be introduced in a way that wouldn’t disrupt the existing financial year projections.

How did the platform engineering team evolve into an innovation partner for business teams?

The platform engineering team transitioned from a service provider to an innovation partner by actively participating in discussions about product architecture and offering advice on how to best leverage the platform’s resources for better product outcomes.

Why is it important for platform engineering teams to think of development and business teams as customers?

Thinking of development and business teams as customers helps platform engineering teams focus on delivering value and building solutions that align with the specific needs of those teams, rather than just providing generic infrastructure.

What was the key change in how platform engineering approached resource usage and cost management?

The key change was moving from charging based on app instances (which was misused) to charging based on gigabyte-hours, which better aligned with the actual consumption of resources and incentivized more efficient usage.

What was the ultimate outcome of the shift in approach for the platform engineering team?

The ultimate outcome was that platform engineering became trusted as a partner that could help development teams create better, more scalable products. The relationship evolved from transactional to collaborative, with business teams actively seeking the platform engineering team's expertise in product development.