Unlocking Developer Magic: Red Hat Developer Hub and the Power of Internal Developer Portals

Blog Post • 4 min read

In the arena of software development, Developer Experience (DevEx) is the game-changer, promising a seamless, efficient, and error-free programming journey. By offering concise documentation, robust APIs, user-friendly SDKs, and tools that make testing and deployment a breeze, DevEx is transforming the software development landscape.

Internal Developer Portals

One of the key players in this transformation is Internal Developer Portals (IDPs). Acting as a bridge between Kubernetes/OpenShift and infrastructure, IDPs offer developers a platform to automate mundane tasks, minimise error margins, and concentrate on what they do best - coding. 

IDPs are also instrumental in streamlining DevOps processes and fostering collaboration between development and operations teams. Moreover, they provide an avenue for incorporating security and organisational measures without compromising on developers' autonomy.

Red Hat Trusted Software Supply Chain allows developers to create applications using secure libraries and images without the need to change their coding habits.

Spotify Backstage & Plugins

Spotify's Backstage, an open platform for building IDPs, is one such innovation that’s taking DevEx to new heights. As an open-source platform, Backstage brings together all infrastructure tools, services, and documentation under one roof, simplifying the task of managing software resources for developers.

Building on the success of Backstage, Red Hat Developer Hub offers an enterprise-grade, open developer platform for creating IDPs. 

With a supported and opinionated framework, Red Hat Developer Hub works to eliminate hurdles for engineering teams, enhancing productivity and giving their organisations a competitive edge.

Red Hat plugins for Backstage.

In conjunction with Red Hat Developer Hub, 6 Red Hat Plug-ins for Backstage extend the functionality of the upstream project. These plug-ins (above) can be combined with any pre-existing customer installations of Backstage.


Red Hat Developer Hub empowers engineering to deliver business value faster. 

Why use Red Hat Developer Hub?

Red Hat Developer Hub offers a myriad of benefits:

Single ‘pane of glass’

A single pane of glass that increases engineering productivity through a hardened and integrated internal developer platform.

Self-service

Self-service with guardrails for cloud-native development that ensures smooth developer workflows with the right tools, validated environments, and on-demand services. A built-in trusted software supply chain allows developers to create applications using secure libraries and images without the need to change their coding habits.

Best practices

Best practices with GitOps and automation, with added support for key Red Hat-developed plug-ins, including ArgoCD and Pipelines with Tekton.

Real-time views

Real-time view of application and infrastructure health and security through plug-ins like Application Topology for Kubernetes and Multicluster View with Open Cluster Manager.

Easy onboarding

Simplified onboarding with customisable and repeatable golden paths - validated templates that provide pre-architected approaches to building and deploying software.

Access to architecture and documentation

Easy access to system architecture and application documentation written in Markdown files that live together with code, providing teams with necessary documentation when and where they need it.

We’re here to help

So, for organisations looking to revolutionise their software development process, enhancing DevEx with the Red Hat Developer Hub is the way forward. And (if you didn’t know), at Nordcloud we’re here to help you implement the Red Hat Developer Hub at any stage, providing.

Consultation and strategy development

Nordcloud offers expert advice on how to best implement and utilise Red Hat Developer Hub within your existing software development framework. This could include creating a tailored strategy to integrate the platform and its plug-ins directly into your processes.

Implementation and customisation services

Nordcloud provides services to implement Red Hat Developer Hub, including setting up the environment, configuring the platform to meet your specific needs, and integrating it with existing systems and tools.

Training and support

Nordcloud can offer comprehensive training programs to help your development team understand and efficiently use the Red Hat Developer Hub and its plug-ins. This includes both initial training and ongoing support to address any issues or questions that arise.

Managed services

For clients who prefer not to manage the platform themselves, Nordcloud offers full managed services. This would include monitoring and maintaining the platform, as well as handling updates and troubleshooting.

Plug-in development

Nordcloud also offers custom plug-in development for Red Hat Developer Hub, creating new plug-ins to meet the client's unique needs and enhance their software development process.

Optimisation services

Over time, Nordcloud can analyse the use of your Internal Developer Platform and make recommendations for optimisations to further improve efficiency and productivity.

Security and compliance services

Nordcloud can help ensure that your use of Red Hat Developer Hub aligns with all necessary security protocols and compliance requirements. We can provide guidance on best practices as well as implement a secure and compliant cloud landing zone for your environments.

Need a little help? we’re a Premier Red Hat Partner, and our specialists are here to help, with expert advice, implementation help, training, and ongoing support. See what we do here, or get in touch using the form below.

Get in Touch.

Let’s discuss how we can help with your cloud journey. Our experts are standing by to talk about your migration, modernisation, development and skills challenges.

Mariusz Sozański
OpenShift Technical Lead