Our evolution from an IDP to an Engineering Operations Platform
If you've been searching for an Internal Developer Portal, you're actually in the right place.
Cortex started as an internal developer portal, and it's evolved into something bigger and better: an Engineering Operations platform that enables engineering leaders to improve operational maturity and reduce developer friction through centralized visibility, automated standards, and golden paths.
What's an IDP, and why did we evolve from it?
An internal developer portal (IDP) gives developers a single pane of glass to find information about services, infrastructure, and more. But engineering teams don't just need a portal. Engineering leaders need a way to improve their operational maturity across hundreds of teams. They need to move fast with AI without breaking things for their customers.
That's what Engineering Operations focuses on and why it’s a more fitting mission for Cortex.
Everything you loved about the IDP, supercharged
IDPs gave engineering teams something they badly needed: visibility. A single place to find your services,
understand ownership, and navigate an increasingly complex toolchain.
But visibility alone doesn't make your engineering org better. It just tells you what exists.
Cortex starts there, and goes further.
Cortex still does everything an IDP does
Where Cortex goes beyond a traditional IDP
The shift from IDP to EngOps is the shift from visibility to action. Cortex doesn't just show you what's happening, it drives the work that makes your engineering organization measurably better.
The results speak for themselves. Our customers create a culture of engineering excellence
50%
MTTR reduction
30%
Fewer incidents
Engineering Intelligence
Cortex surfaces insights, risks, & bottlenecks to engineering leaders, including DORA metrics, production readiness signals, security posture, and on-call health.
Scorecards
Raise the bar by defining what "good" looks like, and automatically track every team's progress against it. No more chasing teams or maintaining spreadsheets.
Initiatives
Make sure org-wide initiatives like migrations and X don’t get stuck at 50%. Assign owners, set deadlines, nudge teams, and roll up progress to leadership.
Why engineering leaders choose to invest in EngOps over a standalone IDP
A portal tells you what exists. Cortex goes further and shows you what's broken, what's at risk, and what to do about it – and then actually helps you make it better.
With Cortex, you can:
- See the health of your entire engineering org at a glance
- Drive production readiness, security posture, and on-call hygiene without chasing teams
- Reduce cognitive load for developers by surfacing exactly what they need, when they need it
- Prove the impact of your platform investments with real data
Empowering world-class engineering teams
Join leading teams improving their operational maturity and reducing developer friction
Amanda Jackson
Technical Program Manager, Rapid7
“Walk away from a spreadsheet for a minute, and it’s already stale. With Cortex, we never have that issue. I can just trust that information is always up to date, and we can leave devs alone that have already done what they need to do.”
Mark Dunlop
Head of Engineering Experience
Egor Kalinichev
Engineering Manager
"This is the angle we look at Cortex from right now. We can utilize it so much more and improve the developer experience so much more. So that's what we're going for."
Hariprasad Babu
Manager Technology
“Cortex gets rid of the repetitive manual work so you can focus on the innovative feature development that drives real value.”
Joshua Marble
Manager of Developer Experience
“Cortex shaped how we deliver software. It gave us a foundation to move faster and build the right way from day one.”
Shaun McCormick
Principal Software Engineer
“We know if an engineer gets pulled out of what they’re doing, it takes 30 minutes to re-engage, Cortex lets us reduce noise and keep our team focused on the highest priority work.”
Javier de Vega Ruiz
Chief Software Engineer
"One of the biggest improvements we've seen since implementing Cortex is in our Mean Time to Restore- which we reduced by 67%. Being able to quickly find service information is a small operational change that has enormous impact."
Amanda Jackson
Technical Program Manager, Rapid7
“Walk away from a spreadsheet for a minute, and it’s already stale. With Cortex, we never have that issue. I can just trust that information is always up to date, and we can leave devs alone that have already done what they need to do.”
Mark Dunlop
Head of Engineering Experience
Egor Kalinichev
Engineering Manager
"This is the angle we look at Cortex from right now. We can utilize it so much more and improve the developer experience so much more. So that's what we're going for."
Hariprasad Babu
Manager Technology
“Cortex gets rid of the repetitive manual work so you can focus on the innovative feature development that drives real value.”
Joshua Marble
Manager of Developer Experience
“Cortex shaped how we deliver software. It gave us a foundation to move faster and build the right way from day one.”
Shaun McCormick
Principal Software Engineer
“We know if an engineer gets pulled out of what they’re doing, it takes 30 minutes to re-engage, Cortex lets us reduce noise and keep our team focused on the highest priority work.”
Javier de Vega Ruiz
Chief Software Engineer
"One of the biggest improvements we've seen since implementing Cortex is in our Mean Time to Restore- which we reduced by 67%. Being able to quickly find service information is a small operational change that has enormous impact."
FAQs
Internal Developer Portals (IDPs) are platforms that bring together all the information, tools, and standards engineers need to build and operate software effectively. They serve as the central hub for your engineering organization, connecting data across services, teams, and systems.
