Repo Provisioning in 30 Minutes
Senior Product Manager - Platform Engineering
Built self-service platform. 99% faster (2 weeks → 30 min). Serving 150 engineers
TL;DR
Built a self-service automation platform that reduced repository creation from 2 weeks to 30 minutes—a 99% reduction. Now serving 150 engineers across the organization.
Context
Eventbrite's engineering teams were blocked by slow infrastructure provisioning. Creating a new repository required manual approvals, DevOps involvement, and navigating scattered documentation. Engineers were waiting weeks to start new projects.
Problem
- Repository creation took 2 weeks due to manual approvals and bottlenecks
- DevOps team was overwhelmed with manual requests
- No self-service infrastructure—every request required DevOps intervention
- Documentation was scattered and outdated
- Engineers couldn't start new projects without waiting in queue
What I Did
- Process Mapping: Documented the entire repo creation workflow to identify bottlenecks
- Stakeholder Alignment: Built consensus with DevOps, Security, and Engineering leadership
- Platform Design: Designed self-service automation with guardrails
- Incremental Rollout: Piloted with friendly teams before org-wide launch
Key Decisions
Self-Service with Guardrails
Instead of removing approvals, automated the approval criteria. Security and compliance checks happen automatically, blocking only genuine issues.
Template-Based Creation
Standardized templates for common service types (API, worker, frontend) with best practices baked in.
Integrated CI/CD
New repos come with GitHub Actions workflows, security scanning, and deployment pipelines pre-configured.
Technical Details
- Automation Platform: Internal tool built on GitHub Actions and Terraform
- Template Library: Standardized templates for APIs, workers, and frontend services
- Security Scanning: Automated SAST/DAST integration from day one
- IaC Templates: Terraform modules for databases, caches, and queues
Results
- Eliminated DevOps bottleneck for repo provisioning
- Engineers can start new projects same-day
- Consistent security and compliance from day one
Lessons Learned
- Automate the approval, not just the task: The bottleneck wasn't the work—it was waiting for approvals. Automating approval criteria was key.
- Templates encode best practices: Good defaults mean teams start with security, monitoring, and CI/CD without thinking about it.
- Self-service is a force multiplier: Every hour invested in self-service tooling saves hundreds of engineering hours.