The phrase “Platform Engineering” gets thrown around a lot these days — usually alongside glowing case studies from Fortune 100 giants and tech unicorns. For these companies, spinning up a dedicated platform team, building golden paths, and managing an internal developer portal (IDP) is just another day at the digital factory.
However, for many small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) — and frankly, even some enterprises that are still shaking off legacy IT cobwebs — platform engineering feels more like an exclusive club they can’t afford to join.
So I’ll just ask the question outright: Is platform engineering only for the 1%?
It’s not an idle question. With Gartner predicting the platform engineering market will top $40 billion by 2032, it’s clear the hype train is moving at full speed. But like any gold rush, the question is: Who’s being left behind?
The Enterprise Advantage
Let’s be clear — platform engineering has real benefits. If you’re deploying code hundreds of times a day, managing sprawling microservices, and juggling compliance, security and scalability, then building an IDP makes a ton of sense. A well-designed platform can streamline developer workflows, reduce cognitive load, and help teams move faster with more confidence.
That’s why we see platform engineering taking root at Google, Netflix, Spotify, Capital One and other tech-savvy giants. They have the engineering headcount. They have the budget. They have the scale to justify it.
But if you’re a 100-person SaaS company or a regional bank with a five-person dev team, good luck trying to allocate even one full-time engineer to build internal platforms — never mind a whole team.
The Platform Poverty Line
The danger here isn’t just resource inequality — it’s vision inequality. When the narrative around platform engineering is dominated by top-tier case studies, smaller orgs start to assume that unless they can do the whole thing — Backstage, golden paths, paved roads, platform product managers, the works — they shouldn’t do anything at all.
That’s a mistake.
It sets up a binary: Either you’re doing “real” platform engineering like the elite, or you’re not doing it at all. And that’s how we end up with a platform poverty line.
There’s More Than One Way to Build a Platform
Let me push back on that mindset. You don’t need a full-scale platform team to embrace platform engineering principles.
In fact, platform engineering is not a product — it’s a philosophy.
It’s about creating reusable tools and services that reduce developer friction. It’s about standardizing environments, automating the boring stuff, and improving the developer experience. And you don’t need to be a Silicon Valley juggernaut to do that.
Here are some pragmatic steps smaller teams can take:
- Start with developer self-service. Build a few Terraform modules. Create a self-serve CI/CD pipeline. Let devs launch test environments without filing a Jira ticket.
- Leverage open source. Tools like Backstage, Humanitec, Crossplane and Port are free to start and increasingly SMB-friendly.
- Adopt “platform-lite” practices. You don’t need paved highways — sometimes a gravel road is good enough. A simple internal wiki with service templates and security best practices can make a big difference.
- Use fractional expertise. Can’t afford a full-time platform engineer? Borrow one from a consultancy, or designate a rotating “platform champion” inside your team.
- Measure what matters. Track developer satisfaction, lead time and deployment frequency. Even incremental gains are meaningful.
Democratizing the Platform Movement
Platform engineering is entering its mainstream moment. But with great momentum comes great responsibility. As a community, we can’t allow it to become the exclusive domain of hyperscalers.
That means vendors need to offer lighter-weight solutions that don’t assume massive headcount. It means case studies should include SMBs and mid-market orgs, not just the usual suspects. And it means we need to talk more about principles and less about perfection.
Because the truth is, every organization can benefit from platform thinking. Whether you call it DevOps, DevEx, or platform engineering, the goal is the same: Make it easier for developers to do the right thing.
In Closing: Yes, Even You
So no, platform engineering isn’t only for the 1%. It just looks different depending on your size and stage.
If you’re not building an internal platform today, don’t beat yourself up. But don’t write it off either. There’s a version of platform engineering that fits your organization — even if it’s not the full enterprise treatment.
Start small. Focus on friction. Build incrementally. And remember: The fruits of the platform engineering tree aren’t just for the giants. There’s a branch for everyone.