The global business landscape is undergoing digital transformation to adapt to technological advances. Businesses now view digital initiatives as essential foundations, driven by evolving consumer preferences and workplace realities, rather than just enhancements for scale and efficiency. The COVID-19 pandemic further accelerated this transformation by promoting digital behavior and remote work.

Platforms play a vital role in successful digital transformation, enabling enhanced engagement with stakeholders, operational efficiencies, and the rapid introduction of new business models and digital products. On the other hand, non-platform approaches often result in multiple isolated solutions that are difficult to scale and manage, leading to higher costs. Platforms facilitate exchanges between stakeholders, functions, and processes. However, many enterprises struggle to achieve desired outcomes due to factors such as limited understanding of platforms, unfamiliarity with digital assets, and a lack of skilled resources. To address these challenges, engineering teams must prioritize key platform aspects and layers. This report recommends adopting a platform-based approach, exploring the layers of platform engineering, identifying implementation hurdles, and providing a framework for successful platform engineering.

Scope

Contents

In this report, we examine:

• Visualizing platforms in the enterprise context
• Comparing two approaches to digital transformation (point solution vs. platform)
• Engineering platforms and platform layers
• Challenges and pitfalls in the platform adoption journey
• A roadmap for the enterprise platform adoption journey

Membership(s)

Engineering Services

Sourcing and Vendor Management