Back in June, I introduced readers to the CNOE project – https://www.vamsitalkstech.com/cloud/cloud-native-operational-excellence-cnoe-crossplane-and-infrastructure-as-data-revolutionizing-telco-it-operations/ Organizations of all sizes are grappling with the challenge of empowering their developers to build and deliver innovative products and services efficiently. This challenge is especially acute for large enterprises, where the proliferation of tools, deployment environments, and siloed teams can create a chaotic and fragmented development landscape.
The New York Times, a renowned media organization with over 1,000 developers, found itself facing this very predicament. Recognizing the need for a centralized, scalable, and developer-friendly solution, the NYT embarked on a journey to build its own internal developer platform (IDP). This fascinating article documents their journey.
https://thenewstack.io/building-an-idp-with-help-from-the-open-source-cnoe-framework/
The open-source Cloud Native Operational Excellence (CNOE) framework is a collaborative effort by leading technology companies to provide a blueprint for building robust and extensible IDPs. By embracing the CNOE principles and leveraging its resources, the Times was able to design and implement its Delivery-Shared Engineering Platform (DSP), a cohesive IDP that is transforming the way its developers work.
How the NYT Built an IDP with Help from the Open-Source CNOE Framework:
- The New York Times faced a challenge of managing the chaotic mix of tools and deployment environments used by its over 1,000 developers. To address this, the Times started a platform engineering initiative to build an internal developer platform (IDP).
- The Times’ IDP, called the Delivery-Shared Engineering Platform (DSP), was shaped by the Cloud Native Operational Excellence (CNOE) framework – an open-source initiative that provides guidelines and best practices for building IDPs.
- CNOE is a modular and extensible framework that helps organizations build customized IDP solutions. It provides templates, tools, and community support to simplify the development and deployment of IDPs.
- The core of the Times’ DSP is a centrally operated and managed set of Kubernetes clusters, along with other key components like Argo CD, Backstage, and dedicated teams for application delivery and platform operations.
- The Times learned valuable lessons, such as the importance of being a good listeners 😀, embracing stepwise progress, and handling key deployment details (security, multitenancy, etc.) before moving to production.
- CNOE is not a one-size-fits-all solution, but a blueprint that organizations can use as a starting point for building their own IDP, tailored to their specific product and business needs.
The article encourages organizations to explore the CNOE project, attend community meetings, and contribute to the project by providing feedback and reporting issues, to collectively advance the state of internal developer platform development.