When Terraform Met Backstage: A Fireside Chat on Good Platform Abstractions

Join Abby Bangser, Daniel Bryant, and special guests to explore platform abstractions, specifically focusing on the interfaces and abstractions between the front end and back end of internal developer platforms.

HashiCorp's Terraform powers many platform backends and provides extensive capabilities for infrastructure composition. Spotify's Backstage has dominated the discussions in platform frontend and portal domains since its launch in 2020, largely due to its flexible service catalogue, scaffolding, and TechDocs. Our discussion focuses on the somewhat fuzzy space when Terraform meets backstage, often where the platform orchestration responsibilities lie.

- Understand the three layers of platforms: application choreography (portals, UI, and UX), platform orchestration, and infrastructure composition (IaC, scripts, and APIs).
- Learn about best practices for integrating Backstage and Terraform, and other platform components to enable you to go faster, reduce risk, and increase efficiency.
- Explore the future of internal developer platforms, including emerging technologies and re-emerging design patterns from software engineering.

Watch the talk via LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/events/7207393585124511744/comments/

Or our YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@syntasso

Transcript

1. When Terraform Met Backstage: Fireside Chat on Good Platform Abstractions Abby Bangser Principal Engineer Daniel Bryant Product Marketing Seve Kim Product Manager, Backstage
2. tl;dr • People are talking about three layers of platforms: ◦ Application choreography (portals, UI, and UX) ◦ Platform orchestration (API and lifecycle) ◦ Infrastructure composition (IaC, scripts, and APIs) • There are best practices for integrating Backstage and Terraform ◦ Abstractions, APIs, and plugins are the key • The future of internal developer platforms is bright! ◦ But don’t be like a moth to the (technology) flame
3. Our panelists for today! Abby Bangser Principal Engineer @ Syntasso Daniel Bryant, Product Marketing @ Syntasso Seve Kim Product Manager @ Backstage
4. Setting the scene
5. Platform engineering and the Gartner Hype Cycle • By 2026, 80% of large software engineering organizations will establish platform engineering teams ◦ Gartner Top 10 Strategic Tech Trends 2024 • Treat your platform as a product ◦ Delivering value through customer focus ◦ Thoughtworks Insights • What about the platform architecture?
6. We’re starting to hear of failures and challenges
7. Our pitch on the “three layers of platforms” syntasso.io/post/platform-engineering-orchestrating-applications-platforms-and-infrastructure gartner.com/en/articles/what-is-platform-engineering
8. Let’s gather around the fire
9. What are the key abstractions for building an internal developer platform (and portal)? Comfortable? Let’s begin…
10. What are the biggest benefits and challenges with using Backstage? Comfortable? Let’s begin…
11. What are the biggest benefits and challenges with using Terraform? Comfortable? Let’s begin…
12. How should teams integrate their portal with infrastructure (as code) management? Comfortable? Let’s begin…
13. Case studies and interesting stories Comfortable? Let’s begin…
14. Wrap up
15. Thank you! & Additional information Many thanks to Seve for joining us today! Platform Engineering: Orchestrating Applications, Platforms, and Infrastructure (bit.ly/3UNxQei ) How to Take the First Step Towards Self Serve Internal Developer Platforms (bit.ly/4bLMzMD ) Platform Orchestrators: The Missing Middle of Internal Developer Platforms? (bit.ly/3URBoML )