SiriusXM saves 4 FTEs by adopting DX vs building

SiriusXM, a leader in satellite radio, is evolving to compete in the streaming age. To keep pace with competitors, the company launched a complete rebuild of its streaming platform in 2022—alongside a retooling of developer infrastructure to maximize engineering velocity.

“This effort was about enabling us to move as fast as a modern technology company,” says Jared Wolinsky, VP of Platform Engineering. “But to do that, we needed more than new technology—we needed our developers to work efficiently and focus on innovation.”

The Platform Engineering team prioritized unblocking developers to meet aggressive timelines. However, without clear data on pain points, they struggled to focus efforts effectively. Measuring the success and impact of their work was also a challenge.

“It’s important for organizations like ours to measure how successful these initiatives are so we can show the impact we’re having on the company.” Wolinsky explains. “We also need metrics to inform our own efforts. Are we investing in the right areas? Should I be requesting more headcount on the observability team because it’s a source of pain for developers?”

Building the capability seemed promising but quickly proved complex. Designing surveys, analyzing results, building a data lake, cleaning data, and ensuring alignment would require a dedicated team. As Wolinsky put it, “Trying to replicate DX would require multiple full-time employees and data scientists to make sense of the data. And even then, we probably wouldn’t achieve the same level of polish and insights that DX provides.”

DX was the only tool SiriusXM found that provided a comprehensive view of developer productivity. Capturing feedback on test coverage, build processes, documentation, and time allocation offered critical insights for the platform rebuild. This clarity allowed leadership to make informed decisions. “DX showed us exactly where we were losing the most time and helped us take action,” Wolinsky explains. “It was critical to understanding where we were and how to move forward.”

SiriusXM avoided the complexity of building in-house. Within weeks, the team had a solution to identify inefficiencies and address them. This allowed them to measure the rebuild’s impact while dedicating more resources to completing it.

With the platform launched, SiriusXM is using DX to create a model of the ideal developer workflow, covering onboarding, deployment, and observability. This model now serves as a roadmap for aligning goals and driving improvements across the organization. “DX is central to how we measure and improve developer productivity,” Wolinsky concludes. “Its insights help us align our roadmap and deliver value where it matters most.”

For more on SiriusXM’s journey of tackling developer productivity, check out our podcast.