Assess
We map your current system, its dependencies and its risks, and agree what success looks like and how it will be measured.
Enterprise Platform Engineering
Enterprise platform engineering for systems that have to keep running.
We modernize legacy cores and build the platforms around them: tenants, events, APIs, identity and commerce. Delivered in small, reversible steps, and proven first with a 14-day working proof of concept.
Design targets · not measured results from past client work
Target · Cutover approachPhased
Each migration step is small enough to test and to roll back.
Target · POC sprint14-Day
A working sandbox of one real slice of your system.
Target · Handover100%
Source code, infrastructure as code and runbooks handed over.
Target · EvidenceMeasured
Every phase has agreed success metrics before work starts.
The short answer
What is enterprise platform engineering?
In the industry, platform engineering usually means building internal platforms that give development teams self-service tools and standard, secure routes to production. Microsoft describes it as a practice built on DevOps principles, and IBM calls it a key component of DevOps. At Robral, enterprise platform engineering has a wider scope: the architecture of the systems a business runs on, from how a legacy core is replaced, to how tenants, events, APIs, identity and money are designed. The two overlap, and both aim to make delivery safer and more repeatable. We also help engineering teams plan and set up internal developer platforms.
Modernize
Move off fragile legacy systems in small, reversible steps rather than one risky rewrite.
Connect and scale
Design how services, tenants, events and APIs fit together so the platform can grow without rework.
Secure and operate
Build identity, access control, audit trails and money movement in from the start, not as add-ons.
Robral designs, builds and hands over enterprise platforms. Every engagement starts with an assessment of your current system, then a 14-day proof of concept on one real slice, then phased delivery with agreed success metrics.
Six architecture patterns
Modular engineering across system boundaries.
Core refactoring
Strangler Fig Migration
Replace a legacy system piece by piece behind a routing facade, so each step can be tested and rolled back.
Explore patternMulti-tenancy
Multi-Tenant SaaS Architecture
Choose and build the isolation model for many customers on one platform: pooled, schema per tenant or separate databases.
Explore patternMessaging
Event-Driven Architecture
Services that communicate through events: transactional outbox, idempotent consumers and dead-letter handling for reliable delivery.
Explore patternIntegration layer
API Gateway Architecture
One controlled front door with routing, edge security, rate limits, GraphQL federation where it fits, and adapters in front of legacy systems.
Explore patternCloud security
Zero Trust Architecture & Cloud IAM
Workload identity, mutual TLS and least-privilege access, rolled out in phases and aligned to NIST SP 800-207.
Explore patternCommerce
Ecommerce Marketplace Development
Multi-vendor marketplaces with atomic stock reservation, parent and child orders and a ledger-first payout model.
Explore patternChoosing a pattern
Which pattern for which problem?
You rarely need all six. Start with the problem that hurts most, and add patterns as the platform grows.
| If your problem is… | Start with | Often combined with | Typical first deliverable |
|---|---|---|---|
| An ageing core system that is risky to change and expensive to run | Strangler fig migration | API gateway, event-driven architecture | A facade in front of the legacy system and one migrated slice |
| Many customers on one platform, with isolation and noisy-neighbour concerns | Multi-tenant SaaS architecture | Zero trust, event-driven architecture | An isolation model decision and a tenant isolation test suite |
| Services that fall out of step, lose messages or process things twice | Event-driven architecture | Strangler fig migration, marketplace engine | A reliable event flow with outbox, idempotent consumers and a replay path |
| Many APIs with different rules, and clients making many round trips | API gateway architecture | Strangler fig migration, zero trust | A gateway in front of one slice of your APIs with limits and tracing |
| Shared secrets, over-broad access and trust based on network location | Zero trust architecture | Multi-tenant SaaS, API gateway | A maturity assessment, target architecture and a pilot on one slice |
| Selling through many sellers, with stock, split orders and payouts to get right | Ecommerce marketplace development | Event-driven architecture, API gateway | A marketplace sandbox with reservation, order and ledger logic |
This is a starting guide. We assess your systems, teams and constraints before recommending an order of work.
How we work
Assess, prove, deliver, hand over.
The same four stages apply to every pattern on this page.
Prove in 14 days
A working sandbox of one real slice of your system, with an operations view and an infrastructure-as-code repository, so you decide on evidence.
Deliver in phases
Work proceeds in small steps that can be tested and rolled back. Each phase has agreed metrics, and the next one starts only when they are met.
Hand over
Source code, infrastructure as code, runbooks and training are handed to your team, with acceptance criteria agreed up front.
Choosing a partner
How to choose an enterprise platform engineering partner.
Six questions to ask any firm, including us, before you commit.
Reasoning
Ask why they would pick one pattern over another for your system. Look for trade-offs tied to your situation, and honesty about when a simpler option is enough.
Evidence before commitment
Ask how you will see it working before committing to the full programme. Look for a proof of concept on a real slice with agreed criteria.
Migration safety
Ask how a change is rolled back. Look for incremental steps, canary releases, tested rollback and parallel running where needed.
Security by design
Ask where identity, access control and audit happen. Look for them designed in from the start, not added at the end.
Measurement
Ask how progress is measured. Look for agreed metrics per phase, reported against a baseline, not just activity.
Ownership and handover
Ask what you own at the end and who runs it. Look for source code, infrastructure as code, runbooks and training handed over.
Questions and answers
Enterprise platform engineering: common questions.
What is enterprise platform engineering?
Platform engineering is commonly described as building internal platforms with self-service tools and standard, secure routes to production for development teams. Microsoft calls it a practice built on DevOps principles. At Robral, enterprise platform engineering is wider: the architecture of the systems a business runs on, including modernization, multi-tenancy, events, APIs, identity and commerce engines.
What is an internal developer platform?
It is the set of tools and systems that platform engineering teams build for an organization’s developers. Microsoft describes it as providing standardized, secure, self-service capabilities. IBM lists typical parts such as self-service tooling, infrastructure as code, integrated delivery toolchains and a golden path through the development lifecycle.
Do you help set up internal developer platforms?
Yes. We can help plan and set up an internal developer platform: self-service tooling, infrastructure as code, delivery pipelines and a standard route for new services. It is an offering we scope with you, separate from the six architecture patterns on this page, and it starts the same way: an assessment, then a 14-day proof of concept on one real slice.
How is platform engineering related to DevOps?
Microsoft describes platform engineering as a practice built on DevOps principles, and IBM calls it a key component of DevOps. DevOps is the wider set of practices for building and running software, and platform engineering turns many of them into shared, self-service building blocks.
Do we need all six patterns?
No. Most organizations start with the problem that costs them most, such as a risky legacy core or inconsistent APIs, and add patterns as they grow. The table on this page shows which patterns usually go together.
Will you rewrite our existing system?
We usually favour replacing a system gradually over rewriting it in one go, because each step can be tested and reversed. The strangler fig pattern, described by Martin Fowler and in the Azure Architecture Center, is the common approach. If a full rewrite is genuinely the right call, we will say so and explain why.
What do we get from the 14-day proof of concept?
A working sandbox of one real slice of your system in a dedicated environment, an operations view of how it behaves, and a repository with infrastructure as code. It shows whether the approach works for you. It is not a production system, so we are clear about what it does and does not prove.
How much does an engagement cost?
It depends on the number of systems, integrations and environments involved. We do not publish a flat price because any figure would mislead. A proof of concept on one slice is the quickest way to get a realistic estimate.
Start with certainty
Ready to modernize your enterprise architecture?
Skip the slide deck. Get a working proof of concept of one real slice of your system in 14 days.