How does Etsy keep its platform business model in tune? Deploying up to 60 code changes a day is par for the course.
Etsy Inc., the vast exchange for handcrafted and vintage items, relies on open source technology and a high-tempo software release schedule to support its platform business model.
The company, which in April completed its initial public offering, has become one of the most visible platform businesses, carving a niche in the arts-and-crafts field. On the supply side, some 1.4 million artisans and merchants have joined Etsy’s worldwide community, selling everything from bed knobs to broomsticks and even a number of kitchen sinks. The platform currently offers 32 million items for sale. On the demand side, Etsy reports 1.4 million active buyers who generated sales of $1.93 billion in 2014.
The Etsy engineering team’s top task: maintain a platform that keeps those constituencies happy.
Engineering must ensure we do our part to maintain a platform that serves the needs of our community, first and foremost,” said John Allspaw, Etsy’s senior vice president of infrastructure and operations. “That means across the organization we’re focused on creating the best buyer and seller experiences, handling everything from payments, trust in the marketplace, to search and data engineering.”
For an emerging platform business model, information technology may not top the owner’s agenda. Building a community and setting the ground rules for participation and conflict resolution are often the first priority. IT, however, tends to become a higher priority as a platform scales and matures. That’s been the case for Etsy, which was founded in 2005. Today, Etsy’s technology infrastructure plays a critical role in the current stage of the platform’s evolution.
“We’ve developed a platform that is geared toward continuous deployment, speed, and long-term operability and performance,” Allspaw explained.
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