Platform as a Product as a Transformation Enabler Within One of the Top 4 Banks in the UK

Introduction

Platform as a Product (PAP) and Platform Engineering have emerged as critical enablers for modernizing digital transformation within enterprises. By reimagining internal platforms as products, organizations can streamline developer workflows, align technical capabilities with business goals, and accelerate innovation. This article explores how one of the UK’s top four banks leveraged these principles to address complex challenges in scalability, compliance, and cross-functional collaboration.

Core Concepts of Platform Engineering and Platform as a Product

Platform Engineering focuses on optimizing tools, processes, and organizational structures to reduce developer cognitive load and enhance productivity. Platform as a Product extends this by treating the platform itself as a product, prioritizing developer experience (DX) and business alignment. Key characteristics include:

• Developer-Centric Design: Prioritizing intuitive interfaces, automated workflows, and reduced friction in service provisioning.
• Governance Integration: Embedding compliance, security, and regulatory requirements directly into platform capabilities.
• Scalability and Reusability: Standardizing components to enable rapid deployment and reuse across teams.

The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF)’s Platform Engineering Maturity Model provides a framework to assess and evolve platform capabilities, emphasizing dimensions such as tooling, culture, and governance.

Case Study: Nat West Bank’s Platform Transformation

Challenges and Objectives

Nat West Bank, a UK top-four bank with 20 million customers and 60,000 employees, faced fragmented workflows and inefficiencies in cloud infrastructure management. While Terraform had enabled service provisioning, the lack of centralized control and standardized processes hindered scalability and collaboration. The bank’s goal was to:

• Reduce developer cognitive load through self-service capabilities.
• Accelerate innovation by enabling inner sourcing and cross-functional reuse.
• Ensure compliance and governance were embedded in platform workflows.

Implementation Strategy

The bank adopted the Cratics framework, which emphasizes the concept of Promises—integrated services that bundle business rules, compliance, and technical requirements. Key steps included:

1. Requirement Alignment: Collaborating with domain experts to identify service needs and regulatory constraints.
2. Promise Design: Creating reusable, standardized services (e.g., EKS provisioning) that abstracted complexity.
3. Platform Expansion: Iteratively extending the platform through training, workshops, and feedback loops.

EKS as a Product Example

Previously, developers manually deployed Terraform modules for EKS clusters, requiring AWS and Terraform expertise. The platform team encapsulated this process into a Compound Promise, combining AWS account creation, networking, and EKS setup into a single, automated workflow. This reduced deployment time from days to under 24 hours, enabling developers to focus on business logic rather than infrastructure details.

Training and Adoption Strategies

To ensure successful adoption, the bank implemented a multi-phase training program:

• Boot Camps: Intensive workshops to teach platform principles and tooling.
• Hands-on Labs: Practical exercises to reinforce learning through real-world scenarios.
• Hackathons: Collaborative events to foster innovation and cross-team integration.

Feedback-driven iterations refined the curriculum, ensuring alignment with evolving technical and business needs.

Platform Patterns and Anti-Patterns

Best Practices

• Self-Service Backstage: Transitioning from paper-based workflows to automated, productized services.
• End-to-End Automation: Reducing manual steps in provisioning, compliance checks, and governance.
• Cognitive Load Reduction: Minimizing developer effort by abstracting complexity into intuitive interfaces.

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

• Fragmented Portals: Avoiding siloed tools that require developers to switch contexts.
• Over-Engineering: Balancing automation with flexibility to prevent unnecessary complexity.

Compliance and Governance Integration

The platform embedded regulatory requirements directly into workflows, ensuring compliance without manual intervention. For example:

• Pre-validated Audit Trails: Automated generation of compliance reports aligned with financial regulations.
• Integrated Security Controls: Real-time enforcement of security policies during service provisioning.

This eliminated redundant checks and reduced the burden on developers and compliance teams.

Core Value and Future Directions

Key Benefits

• Developer Productivity: Accelerated delivery through standardized, reusable components.
• Organizational Alignment: Enhanced collaboration across teams by unifying technical and business goals.
• Regulatory Agility: Embedded compliance ensures consistent adherence to evolving standards.

Future Roadmap

• Deepening Platform Adoption: Expanding PAP principles to more departments and external clients.
• Tooling Optimization: Enhancing platform capabilities through continuous feedback and iteration.
• External Value Creation: Leveraging internal platform expertise to deliver standardized services to external customers.

Conclusion

Platform as a Product, when combined with robust Platform Engineering practices, transforms internal infrastructure into a strategic enabler of innovation. By prioritizing developer experience, embedding governance, and fostering cross-functional collaboration, organizations like Nat West Bank demonstrate how these principles can drive measurable business outcomes. The journey requires continuous iteration, but the long-term benefits in efficiency, compliance, and agility make it a critical investment for modern enterprises.