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Rethinking IT Services: The Shift Toward Platform Engineering
Rethinking IT Services: The Shift Toward Platform Engineering

February 19, 2025

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Authored by: Deepak J Tripathy, Director - Strategy, Advisory, Propositions & Marketing

For decades, IT service companies have played a crucial role in helping businesses maximize the value of their technology investments. Whether through consulting, large-scale software development, enterprise application implementation, or continuous customer support, these companies have been the go-to partners for businesses seeking technological expertise. In fact, research shows that nearly 37% of IT operations worldwide are outsourced to IT service providers. However, the technology landscape has evolved significantly, reshaping how businesses perceive and utilize technology.

Today, technology is no longer just a supporting function—it has become a strategic pillar driving organizational growth. This shift in perspective is putting pressure on traditional IT service relationships, as enterprises demand more innovative and outcome-driven solutions.

The New Digital Imperative

While traditional IT services like application development, maintenance, upgrades, and quality assurance remain essential, the focus has shifted toward building digital experiences that integrate scalable architectures, advanced product and platform engineering, agile methodologies, cloud operations, security, performance engineering, and AI-driven solutions.

This transition presents a challenge for conventional IT service companies, many of which may struggle to deliver the expected business value in this modern landscape.

Why Traditional IT Services May Fall Short

Historically, IT service companies have operated on a model of delivering software according to predefined specifications, often outlined by internal technical teams or external consultants. Their engagements typically revolved around structured application lifecycle management, offering skilled resources to execute various project phases with minimal risk exposure. While this model provided reliable returns on investment, it did not necessarily drive business transformation.

However, as businesses increasingly embrace platform and product engineering to build future-ready digital assets, they require a new approach—one that involves innovation, adaptability, and a fresh commercial model.

The Future of Digital Business: Engineering for Growth

Innovation is now a critical differentiator. Technology partners must not only support clients' digital goals but also champion innovation while ensuring operational stability. The future of modern enterprises hinges on their ability to seamlessly integrate AI, data, cloud, security, and product engineering capabilities to achieve key business outcomes, including:

  • Faster time to market

  • Cost optimization

  • Operational efficiency

  • Competitive differentiation

To stay ahead in the AI revolution, businesses need platforms built with an AI-first mindset, incorporating intelligent systems engineering, scalability, built-in quality, and compliance frameworks. The rising scrutiny around data privacy and regulatory compliance further necessitates robust security measures—an area where traditional IT service providers often lack specialized expertise. Outdated processes, limited modern technology capabilities, high costs due to manual methodologies, prolonged development cycles, and a lack of customization options are all barriers to success.

The Platform Development Lifecycle: A New Approach

To effectively transition to a platform-led model, businesses need a structured approach that includes:

1. A Consultative Roadmap

Building a digital platform for growth from the ground up requires a deep understanding of business models, workflows, and unique requirements. Off-the-shelf solutions rarely align perfectly with enterprise needs. Instead, organizations need expert guidance on technology stacks, design strategies, integration frameworks, infrastructure choices, and deployment models. Conventional IT service companies, which typically focus on structured, pre-defined projects, may lack the flexibility required to navigate this uncharted territory.

2. Architecting for Growth

A well-designed platform must be adaptable to evolving business needs. Unlike traditional IT services, which prioritize software performance and reliability, platform engineering demands a holistic approach that integrates business growth principles from the outset. By embedding scalability and flexibility into the core architecture, businesses can future-proof their digital platforms.

3. Managing a Diverse Talent Pool

Building enterprise platforms requires expertise across multiple domains, including DevOps, cloud architecture, data engineering, and AI-driven development. Unlike traditional IT service models, which deploy fixed skill sets to predefined project scopes, platform engineering requires a more dynamic talent strategy. Furthermore, as skilled professionals become increasingly scarce, businesses must ensure collaboration across diverse stakeholders to maximize value for end users.

4. Custom Tooling and Development Environments

Unlike IT service companies that rely heavily on third-party infrastructure providers, platform-led organizations often require bespoke tools and environments tailored to their unique business models. By prioritizing automation, developer efficiency, and cross-functional collaboration, these platforms break down silos and drive innovation across the organization.

 

About Author:

Deepak J Tripathy is the Director of Strategy, Advisory, Propositions and Marketing at Xoriant. With over 15 years of experience in IT, Engineering, and R&D services, Deepak  is a seasoned marketing and strategy leader specializing in corporate business strategy, GTM initiatives, demand generation, analyst and industry relations, and business growth scaling. At Xoriant, he drives new propositions, strategic programs, business marketing, and positioning to accelerate business success. His expertise spans Cloud, Connectivity, Industry 4.0, Data Platforms & AI, VLSI Systems, and Automotive Engineering, making him a versatile strategist in the technology space.


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Xoriant is a Silicon Valley-headquartered digital product engineering, software development, and technology services firm with offices in the USA,UK, Ireland, Mexico, Canada and Asia. From startups to the Fortune 100, we deliver innovative solutions, accelerating time to market and ensuring our clients' competitiveness in industries like BFSI, High Tech, Healthcare, Manufacturing and Retail. Across all our technology focus areas-digital product engineering, DevOps, cloud, infrastructure, and security, big data and analytics, data engineering, management and governance -every solution we develop benefits from our product engineering pedigree. It also includes successful methodologies, framework components, and accelerators for rapidly solving important client challenges. For 30 years and counting, we have taken great pride in our long-lasting, deep relationships with our clients.

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