Empowering Developers: Introducing Solo.io Spotlight Developer Platform

Welcome to the future of cloud-native application development! Today marks an exciting milestone as we unveil our latest innovation in platform engineering: Spotlight Developer Platform. Spotlight, based on the CNCF Backstage project, provides a deploy-ready Internal Developer Portal with the curated plugins, dynamic customization, and platform orchestration components required to enable platform teams to build first class Internal Developer Platforms.

In recent years, platform engineering has emerged as the cornerstone strategy for scaling cloud-native systems effectively. According to Gartner, Inc., a staggering 80% of large software engineering organizations are now establishing platform engineering teams to provide reusable services, components, and tools for applications internally. This trend underscores the growing recognition of the need for enhanced developer workflows, experience, and delivery speed in today’s fast-paced digital landscape.

At Solo, we’re witnessing our customers’ growing interest in adopting advanced operational practices like platform engineering as they embrace Kubernetes and cloud-native application networking technologies. Open source frameworks like Backstage have gained traction with community users looking to kickstart IDPs within their organizations. However, the adoption curve to build and operationalize Backstage leads some organizations to struggle to prove value quickly and successfully integrate it into their existing systems.

Solo’s Spotlight Developer Platform is built on Backstage and aims to simplify the complexities around the integration of an IDP into existing cloud-native stacks and provide better access for enterprises looking to uplevel their platform engineering strategies. Spotlight Developer Platform helps organizations reduce their time to value, accelerate development cycles and improve overall engineering excellence.

Here are some key benefits:

• Speed to Value – Say goodbye to setup delays and hello to immediate value delivery from day one.
• Tool Discovery – Access API specifications, documentation, and tools conveniently in one place through Spotlight’s service catalog.
• CI/CD Integration – Seamlessly integrate software releases into your pipelines for smoother deployment.
• Curated Plugins – Benefit from a selection of custom and Backstage plugins, carefully curated to streamline platform engineering adoption.
• Standardized Service Creation – Enhance production consistency with encoded best practices and template-based service setup.
• Multi-cluster and Multi-cloud Compatibility – Enjoy compatibility with any Kubernetes environment across clouds or on-premise.
• Insights Engine – Gain valuable feedback on best practices, security, and more to optimize operations.
• Powered by Backstage – Leverage the dynamic Backstage community and extensive plugin ecosystem to boost developer productivity.
• Trusted Expertise – Access support and guidance from Solo.io’s team of experts to ensure long-term success.
• Zero-Trust Security – Ensure secure communication with a central hub for enforcing zero-trust authentication and authorization policies, seamlessly integrated with SSO and RBAC.

Learn more about Solo.io Spotlight here.

At Solo, we’re committed to empowering developers with innovative solutions that simplify complexity, accelerate workflows, and drive engineering excellence. With Spotlight Developer Platform, we’re ushering in a new era of cloud-native development, where developers have the tools and support they need to thrive. Join us on this exciting journey toward a brighter, more efficient future in cloud-native application development.