Platform engineering has a whole host of problems — developers are struggling with disparate device and OS environments, and still writing embedded code with custom solutions

Platform engineering was viewed by many organizations as a silver bullet in the pursuit to automate tasks and streamline development workflows.

Yet despite this, nearly two-thirds of embedded software from organizations with a platform engineering strategy is still created with custom, ad hoc solutions, according to a new report from Forrester Consulting and Qt Group.

The joint study found 65% of those responsible for their organization’s platform engineering strategy see their platform as the foundation upon which embedded software is built.

However, 63% of embedded code is still written with custom-made solutions, underlining the difficulties many teams face while trying to balance productivity and compliance with strict quality and safety requirements.

Two-thirds of respondents said platform engineering improves end-customer experience, thanks to more reliable, higher-quality software while 56% noted it enhances compliance with industry standards and security.

Improved brand identity was a top business benefit for 57%, and just over half (54%) said it improves efficiency by streamlining workflows to help maintain a consistent look and functionality across products.

There are notable downsides, however. Forrester’s study found half of firms with a platform engineering strategy struggle to balance reusability of standardized, high-quality components with the need to adapt platforms to various use cases, hardware, and software solutions.

This means it's hard to avoid custom development, thereby preventing them from maximizing value from their platforms.

Just over half said it’s hard to work across various devices, operating systems, hardware, and form factors. Meanwhile, nearly half (44%) said that embedded systems lack unified UI/UX design processes for accessibility and inclusivity.

Similarly, four-in-ten said cross-functional collaboration is hard across design, development, testing, and deployment, and 43% struggle to maintain self-service capabilities for most use cases.

Despite widely acknowledged challenges, almost all respondents said their company’s leadership continues to support existing platform engineering strategies.

Platform engineering misconceptions complicate things for devs

Juhapekka Niemi, senior vice president of product management at Qt Group, said the study highlights a glaring gap in the perceived maturity of platform engineering strategies and the "actual benefits derived from them”, which many organizations fail to consider when pursuing this approach.

“Too much work is still being done manually to address the specific needs, whether it be in sectors like medtech, automotive, or industrial automation," Niemi said.

"Platforms should be designed to support change, integrate with evolving technology, and work across a variety of hardware and software platforms. Leveraging a flexible, scalable, and quality-assured framework is key – as is using optimized cross-platform components that are easily deployable."

Talent shortages are exacerbating long-running issues with platform engineering, according to the report. Half of the survey respondents identified talent shortages as the “top blockers” to achieving platform strategy success.

Talent gaps were also found to hinder embedded teams from even scaling their platform engineering strategy in the first place.

Other notable problems include difficulty integrating legacy platforms, along with cultural resistance from product teams.

"On the one hand, embedded engineers face the challenge of understanding the end-user experience for the technical machines they design," said Maurice Kalinowski, product director at Qt Group.

"On the other hand, more widely available web developers, who focus on usability, face steep learning curves in adapting to the embedded space and its intricacies like C/C++ plug-ins, cross platform development, etc. This makes the need for unifying standards stronger than ever."