Pitfalls of Building Developer Platforms: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Internal developer platforms (IDPs) are becoming the backbone of modern software delivery. According to the latest Accelerate State of DevOps report, 89% of respondents are using IDPs to streamline engineering processes and improve developer productivity. But while the benefits are clear, the path to a successful platform is riddled with pitfalls. 

In this post, we’ll break down the most common traps platform teams fall into, and how to avoid them. 

Don’t Be the New Ops Team 

When building your first internal platform, there’s a temptation to solve everything for everyone. But beware: if your platform team becomes the go-to for every environment issue, deployment quirk, or CI/CD question, you’re just reinventing the operations team under a new name. 

🗝️ Key takeaway: Your goal isn’t to become a ticket machine; it’s to enable developer autonomy. Focus on abstractions, onboarding, and self-service that truly empower teams. 

Don’t Be the “Slasktratt” (Trash Funnel) 

If every team throws their problems at the platform team with the expectation that you’ll catch and solve them all, you’ve become the “slasktratt.” This happens when there’s no clear vision or anchor for the platform. 

Avoid being the dumping ground. Communicate your scope clearly and iterate with purpose. 

🗝️ Key takeaway: Anchor your work in a shared vision, and communicate intentionally to prevent scope creep. 

Don’t Build a Swiss Army Knife 

Every organization has many problems; your platform doesn’t need to solve them all. Trying to address every edge case leads to bloated, hard-to-maintain systems. Instead, focus on the Thinnest Viable Platform (TVP): build for 80% of the use cases. 

🗝️ Key takeaway: Start small. Prove value. Build trust before expanding scope. 

Don’t Assume You Know What Users Want 

Platform teams often build what they think developers need, not what users actually want. The result? Features that are never adopted, or worse, create friction. 

Treat your platform like a product. That means user research, feedback loops, and a product mindset. 

🗝️ Key takeaway: A user-centric platform is a successful platform. Treat developers as customers and involve them early and often. 

Don’t Let Migrations Kill You  

Platform evolution is inevitable, but death by a thousand migrations isn’t. Painful, repetitive migrations demoralize teams and delay adoption. 

Minimize impact through automation, or even do the heavy lifting yourself! Make each migration smooth, fast, and worth the effort. 

🗝️ Key takeaway: Invest in tooling that eases migration. Plan ahead and communicate change proactively. 

Building the Right Platform Culture 

Ultimately, a successful developer platform is not just a collection of tools, it’s a product that lives and evolves with your organization. By avoiding these common traps, platform teams can deliver real value, build trust with developers, and become a force multiplier instead of a bottleneck.