The roles of Platform Engineers and DevOps Engineers are two of the most popular roles in the development landscape today. Both roles are crucial in today’s rapidly evolving times for software development and operations, undoubtedly. So, what are these roles about? Are they the same thing or are they very different?
Let us find out in this blog.
Who are platform engineers?
The role of a platform engineer has evolved significantly in recent years, driven by the increasing complexity of modern software development and infrastructure management. As organizations have adopted cloud-native technologies and microservices architectures, the need for specialized expertise in building and maintaining robust, scalable, and efficient platforms has become paramount. Platform engineers bridge the gap between development and operations teams, providing the necessary tools and infrastructure to enable rapid application development and deployment.
Platform engineers are crucial in designing, building, and managing the underlying infrastructure and platforms that support application development and delivery. Their responsibilities encompass a wide range of tasks, including:
- Infrastructure provisioning: Automating the provisioning of infrastructure resources, such as servers, networks, and storage, using tools like Terraform or CloudFormation.
- Platform configuration: Configuring and managing platform components, such as Kubernetes clusters, databases, and messaging systems.
- CI/CD pipeline setup: Establishing and maintaining continuous integration and continuous delivery pipelines to automate the build, test, and deployment processes.
- Monitoring and alerting: Implementing monitoring tools to track the health and performance of the platform and setting up alerts for critical issues.
- Security and compliance: Ensuring the security of the platform and its applications by implementing security best practices and complying with relevant regulations.
- Collaboration with development teams: Working closely with development teams to provide guidance, troubleshoot issues, and optimize application performance.
A strong foundation in cloud computing, containerization, and automation technologies is essential to excel as a platform engineer. A deep understanding of platforms like Kubernetes, Docker, and cloud providers such as AWS, Azure, and GCP is crucial. A solid grasp of scripting languages like Python, Bash, or PowerShell is also necessary for automating tasks and managing infrastructure. Strong problem-solving skills, a collaborative mindset, and a passion for learning are also key attributes of successful platform engineers.
Who are DevOps Engineers?
The role of a DevOps engineer has evolved significantly in recent years, emerging as a critical bridge between development and operations teams. As organizations increasingly adopt agile and DevOps methodologies, the demand for skilled DevOps engineers has soared. These professionals play a vital role in streamlining software development processes, improving efficiency, and accelerating time-to-market.
DevOps engineers are responsible for automating and streamlining various aspects of the software development lifecycle, from code development to deployment and maintenance. Their key responsibilities include:
- Infrastructure as Code: Automating the provisioning and configuration of infrastructure using tools like Terraform or Ansible.
- Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD): Building and maintaining automated pipelines to ensure rapid and reliable software delivery.
- Containerization and Orchestration: Utilizing technologies like Docker and Kubernetes to package and deploy applications in a consistent and scalable manner.
- Monitoring and Logging: Implementing robust monitoring and logging solutions to track application performance and identify potential issues.
- Security: Ensuring the security of applications and infrastructure by implementing security best practices and using security tools.
- Collaboration: Working closely with development, operations, and other teams to foster collaboration and improve communication.
To succeed as a DevOps engineer, a strong foundation in software development, systems administration, and networking is essential.
Proficiency in scripting languages like Python, Bash, or Ruby is crucial for automation tasks. Additionally, a deep understanding of cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes), and configuration management tools (Ansible, Puppet, Chef) is highly valuable. Strong problem-solving skills, a proactive mindset, and a passion for continuous improvement are also key attributes of a successful DevOps engineer.
Demand for Platform Engineers vs. DevOps Engineers
Source: Kube Careers State of the Kubernetes Job Market Report Q3 2024
The Report found that out of all the jobs it scrapped for its dataset, 41% were Software Engineer positions, 11% were DevOps Engineer roles, and 9% were Platform Engineer roles. So, there is not a very vast difference in the demand for both roles. The Report also found that Platform Engineer roles were better paying and were more remote-friendly than DevOps Engineer roles. However, this may not always be the norm and can vary from organization to organization as well as based on your skills & experience.
Overall, both Platform Engineers and DevOps Engineers are in huge demand and there couldn’t be a better time to embark on a career trajectory in either of the roles.
Learn Kubernetes online and enhance your career
Get certified in Kubernetes and improve your future career prospects better.
Kubernetes is an open-source orchestration system for automating the management, placement, scaling, and routing of containers. It provides an API to control how and where the containers would run. Docker is also an open-source container-file format for automating the deployment of applications as portable, self-sufficient containers that can run in the cloud or on-premises. Together, Kubernetes and Docker have become hugely popular among developers, especially in the DevOps world.
Enroll in Cognixia’s Docker and Kubernetes certification course, upskill yourself, and make your way toward success and a better future. Get the best online learning experience with hands-on, live, interactive, instructor-led online sessions with our Kubernetes online training. In this highly competitive world, Cognixia is here to provide you with an immersible learning experience and help you enhance your skillset and knowledge with engaging online training that will enable you to add immense value to your organization.
Both Docker and Kubernetes are huge open-source technologies, largely written in the Go programming language, that use human-readable YAML files to specify application stacks and their deployment.
Our Kubernetes online training will cover the basic-to-advanced level concepts of Docker and Kubernetes. This Kubernetes certification course allows you to connect with the industry’s expert trainers, develop your competencies to meet industry and organizational standards, and learn about real-world best practices.
Cognixia’s Docker and Kubernetes online training covers:
- Fundamentals of Docker
- Fundamentals of Kubernetes
- Running Kubernetes instances on Minikube
- Creating and working with Kubernetes clusters
- Working with resources
- Creating and modifying workloads
- Working with Kubernetes API and key metadata
- Working with specialized workloads
- Scaling deployments and application security
- Understanding the container ecosystem
To join Cognixia’s live instructor-led Kubernetes online training and certification, one needs to have:
- Basic command knowledge of Linux
- Basic understanding of DevOps
- Basic knowledge of YAML programming language, though this is beneficial and not mandatory
