Cloud Platform Support
Overview
The Cloud Platform Team provides support for users who run software on the platform. Requests and questions are answered on our slack channel, with quick response from the team.
The platform is self-service. Users are provided with the tools to operate, monitor and support their software that runs on the platform. The platform automatically spins up the containers and infrastructure, as defined by the users, and the platform team is responsible for making sure this platform functionality works smoothly.
Where to find help
If you have any questions or require help from the Cloud Platform Team in relation to the new Cloud Platform contact us at the #ask-cloud-platform Slack channel.
Shared responsibility model
The healthly running of the software that runs on top of the platform is a shared responsibility:
users - for example a service team building a digital service - provide the container images, specify the infrastructure and config, and ‘operate’ their software, which includes monitoring the metrics, logs and responding to issues with the app, and provide support to their service users. This is the “You build it, you run it” / DevOps philosophy.
the Cloud Platform Team ensures the infrastructure and config supplied by the service team get applied to Kubernetes and AWS, and that the platform itself runs smoothly, including Kubernetes, montoring and logging. The team also manage the relationship with AWS.
The Cloud Platform Team commits to providing an excellent level of service, in managing and operating the platform.
Cloud Platform Team support processes
The Cloud Platform Operational Processes details how we will offer support to our users for the new platform.
This includes support hours, out-of-hours support, operational communication with users, incident management, and how we measure performance.
What does Cloud Platform Team support
Below is a diagram of the Cloud Platform.
The Cloud Platform Team supports everything apart from what is running in a user’s namespace, and their AWS resources.
Support includes:
- responding to failures of the underlying platform e.g. the cluster
- responding to failure of the management layer of the platform
- responding to failure of reusable components created by the Cloud Platform team and provided to users
- responding to failures of the Kubernetes API
- security of the platform
What the Cloud Platform Team doesn’t support
The Cloud Platform Team doesn’t provide:
- any application related support, including responding to application-specific alerts or failures
- any support for infrastructure and other tools deployed within a users namespace
- security of the application
- ongoing maintenance of the application, including patching, updating dependencies, and ensuring it remains deployable
- user support for users of the application
Responsibilities of Cloud Platform users
It means teams using the platform will be responsible for operating and supporting the applications and infrastructure they run on the platform.
We expect teams or service areas using the platform to ensure they can, for the life of the service:
- monitor and manage the health of their applications and service-specific infrastructure (setting up and responding to monitoring, logging, and alerts, as appropriate)
- keep their applications and service-specific infrastructure appropriately patched, up-to-date, and secure
- ensure their applications remain deployable end-to-end from source code
- regularly assess whether the service is still meeting user needs, and make appropriate efforts to improve, replace, or end-of-life the service if not
The Cloud Platform Team will be responsible for support of the underlying platform and “building blocks” that we make available to users.
The new Cloud Platform introduces modern technology that users may not already be familiar with. The Cloud Platform User Guide is intended to help users understand some of the basic concepts of working with Kubernetes, as well as providing links to useful training and reference materials. In addition, the Cloud Platform Team will be very happy to assist with any queries you might have on the #ask-cloud-platform slack channel.
You can also speak to your line manager or Head of Profession should you have any further training needs.