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Tactics for a Fractional CTO to Help Remove Developer Friction

Before diving into the tactics to remove developer friction, it’s crucial to recognize that every organization is different. The friction points you encounter at a small startup will differ from those in an enterprise setting. In a startup, the challenges often revolve around moving fast, with minimal resources, and scaling quickly. In larger organizations, the issues may stem from complex hierarchies, outdated processes, or bureaucracy slowing things down. The same tactic won’t fit both environments, so understanding your team’s needs is key.

You can’t implement these tactics effectively without first talking to the engineers on the ground. Go through their processes—onboarding, deploying to production, setting up their machines, or finding APIs—and identify the real pain points. It’s only after this hands-on discovery that you can begin to apply the right solutions.

Also, each of these tactics deserves its own deep dive. Whether it’s automation, improving onboarding, or building developer portals, every solution comes with nuances that vary by organization size and culture. This post provides a high-level overview, but each tactic warrants its own in-depth exploration. For more detail on the value of this approach, see our Value of a Fractional CTO article.

1. Surface APIs and Shared Services for Fast Access

  • Tactic: Centralize APIs and shared services to make them easily accessible to developers. This reduces time spent searching for resources or recreating existing services.
  • Impact: Developers can quickly access what they need, reducing the bottlenecks that come with scattered or siloed information.
  • Read More: API Development Best Practices

2. Create Self-Service Developer Portals

  • Tactic: Build a developer portal that offers easy access to documentation, quick-start guides, and deployment tools. Self-service options empower developers to solve problems without waiting on other teams.
  • Impact: This drastically reduces developer friction by enabling autonomy, so teams can move faster and focus on building features.
  • Read More: Self-Service Developer Portals

3. Implement Custom Platforms for Scalable Development

  • Tactic: Deploy a custom development platform with CI/CD pipelines and automated deployment processes. By simplifying the infrastructure, you eliminate unnecessary complexity.
  • Impact: Removing friction through scalable platforms lets developers work faster, with fewer obstacles, and with confidence in the system’s scalability.
  • Read More: CI/CD Pipelines Explained

4. Utilize Shared Utilities to Streamline Core Functions

  • Tactic: Provide shared utilities, such as certificate management or identity services, to streamline critical tasks. This ensures essential functions are handled efficiently without repetitive manual processes.
  • Impact: Developers can focus on high-priority coding instead of managing backend tasks, reducing friction in day-to-day operations.
  • Read More: Developer Productivity and Best Practices

5. Automate Repetitive Processes

  • Tactic: Automate repetitive tasks such as testing, deployments, and monitoring. Automation frees up developers to work on higher-value projects.
  • Impact: Automated processes reduce friction caused by manual tasks, helping teams iterate faster and deliver better products with fewer errors.
  • Read More: Automation in DevOps
  • For more on how automation drives productivity, visit Benefits of Hiring a Fractional CTO.

6. Mentor and Grow Developer Talent

  • Tactic: Develop a strong mentorship program to support continuous learning and skill-building within your team. Mentorship removes friction by giving developers guidance and the confidence to solve challenges.
  • Impact: Investing in developer growth reduces turnover and increases team engagement, creating a culture of shared knowledge and support.
  • Read More: Mentoring and Growing Developer Teams

7. Align Developer Work with Business Goals

  • Tactic: Ensure that developer efforts are aligned with business objectives. This helps eliminate friction by focusing development on impactful work that contributes directly to company growth.
  • Impact: Clear alignment between development and business strategy removes uncertainty and allows developers to prioritize what matters most.

As stated in the intro, this isn’t an end-all-be-all list. Take these as starting points for conversations to learn more from your team(s). Hold conversations early and often with actual engineers – or better yet, try to do the engineering work yourself.

These tactics can dramatically remove developer friction, helping your team move more efficiently and deliver higher-quality work. A Fractional CTO brings the leadership and insight needed to identify friction points and implement these solutions. When developers work without obstacles, they can focus on what they do best—innovating and building great products.

Whether you are new on this Developer Experience journey or well-established, Ignite Bright has helped setup Internal Developer Portals for a multitude of clients. Take a look at our Website in a Week offering and how we can best support your needs.