CVS’s journey to a unified developer platform
How CVS improved its developer experience by introducing a self-service platform to streamline workflows and standardize processes.
This is a recap from an interview with Jim Beyers, VP of Engineering Enablement at CVS Health, for the Engineering Enablement podcast. Listen to the full episode here.
The challenge at CVS
CVS, amidst a large-scale digital transformation, faced considerable challenges in its developer experience. The size of the organization, combined with an array of tools and inconsistent workflows, made it difficult for developers to work efficiently, leading to productivity losses. The need to modernize and streamline processes was clear, especially as developers struggled with outdated systems like bare metal applications. Jim Beyers was brought in by senior leadership to address these inefficiencies and help CVS shift toward a more modern development ecosystem.
Hypothesis
Jim Beyers, VP of Engineering Enablement, and his team, part of CVS’s Developer Experience group, believed that introducing a unified developer platform could solve many of CVS’s challenges. By organizing applications into easy-to-manage units, removing the need for developers to handle infrastructure details, and standardizing workflows, they aimed to cut down on distractions and improve productivity. Their goal was to build a flexible, self-service system that would allow developers to focus more on coding and less on technical roadblocks, delivering both quick wins and lasting improvements for the company.
Metrics
To measure the success of the DevEx platform, CVS focused on several key metrics:
- Cycle time: Measuring the time it took developers to complete tasks, with a goal to reduce it by optimizing workflows.
- Adoption rate: Tracking the speed at which developers adopted the platform, focusing on ease of use and accessibility.
- Deployment frequency: Monitoring how often developers could deploy changes, aiming for smaller, more frequent releases.
Solution
Through research and developer feedback, the CVS DevEx team identified the biggest roadblocks, such as fragmented tools and bare metal applications, which developers were hesitant to touch due to outdated processes. Their solution involved creating a dedicated Developer Experience (DevEx) team tasked with building a self-service, container-based platform. This platform would enable developers to focus on code without dealing with infrastructure management and would ensure security and compliance without slowing down development processes.
Key elements of the solution included:
- Self-service container platform: Empowering developers to deploy applications without dealing with infrastructure.
- Standardized workflows: Ensuring consistency across teams, reducing friction.
- Cloud and on-premise integration: Offering flexibility and ensuring compliance.
Rollout
The platform rollout began incrementally, targeting early adopters within the digital engineering division. These initial teams helped test and refine the platform, allowing Engineering Enablement to make improvements based on feedback before scaling the platform across the organization. This incremental approach allowed for quicker wins, like containerizing bare metal apps, which removed immediate technical roadblocks.
As the platform evolved, it incorporated additional features to enhance security, ease of use, and flexibility. Over time, it scaled to include integration with cloud and on-premise resources, making it adaptable for various teams across CVS.
Outcomes
Since the gradual rollout of the DevEx platform, CVS has seen improvements, including:
- Reduced cycle times, allowing developers to complete tasks more efficiently.
- Higher adoption rates of the containerized platform.
- Increased deployment frequency, enabling faster, smaller releases.
- Improved developer satisfaction, with a focus on high-quality work and reduced distractions.
Listen to the full episode here → Building an internal developer platform at CVS Health