Tim Quinlan

Sr Technical Marketing Manager

<p>In this blog post, we’ll examine how developers who are satisfied with their environments tend to produce higher-quality code, collaborate better, and stick around longer. To gauge and improve DevEx, implementing a scoring model can help companies identify areas of friction and transform &quot;detractors&quot; into &quot;promoters&quot; who advocate for the tools and processes in place. </p>


<h2>What Is a DevEx Scoring Model?</h2>

<p>A DevEx scoring model can evaluate how well a development environment supports its users, identifying where pain points lie and what’s working well. This type of model can show you which developers are thriving and which are frustrated by their workflows. The model doesn’t just address the “squeaky wheels” but also highlights what makes the “non-squeaky wheels” successful, using their positive experiences as templates for improvement.</p>

<p>Using a Net Promoter Score-style model lets companies understand their DevEx holistically. By gathering regular feedback and scoring the development environment, you can pinpoint and resolve common issues while boosting overall satisfaction and productivity.</p>


<h2>Key Components of a DevEx Scoring Model</h2>

<p>A strong DevEx scoring model requires several essential components to be effective. These include identifying developer pain points, measuring satisfaction, iterating on feedback, and providing incentives that encourage the adoption of optimized workflows. Here’s how to implement these components in a way that makes sense for your organization:</p>

<h3>Identify Pain Points</h3>

<p>Understanding what detracts from the developer experience is essential for creating a scoring model responsive to real issues. Common DevEx pain points often include:</p>

<ul>
<li>Context Switching: Developers, especially senior or principal engineers, frequently juggle multiple projects, each with its unique tooling requirements. Switching between these configurations is often tedious, even with scripts or declarative setups. Moving to Cloud Development Environments (CDEs) can reduce the friction of frequent reconfigurations, eliminating time lost to context switching.</li>
<li>Latency and Hardware Constraints: Some developers resist cloud environments due to concerns over latency or fear of losing powerful local hardware. Addressing these concerns within the DevEx scoring model can transform hesitancy into willingness to adopt.</li>
<li>Tool Integration: Ensuring seamless integration across various tools and libraries reduces setup headaches and improves consistency, leading to a smoother DevEx.</li>
</ul>

<p>Use surveys, interviews, or focus groups to gather data on what your developers find most challenging. A DevEx scoring model is only as valuable as its understanding of the developers’ daily frustrations.</p>

<h3>Evaluate Satisfaction Using NPS</h3>

<p>NPS is widely used in software to assess user satisfaction, and it works well for DevEx because of its simplicity and effectiveness. Ask developers to rate their experience on a scale from 1 to 10, then classify them into:</p>

<ul>
<li>Promoters (9–10): Highly satisfied developers who advocate for the environment and tools.</li>
<li>Passives (7–8): Moderately satisfied developers who may not actively promote but aren’t detractors.</li>
<li>Detractors (0–6): Developers who experience frustrations or blockers in their daily workflows.</li>
</ul>

<p>By regularly measuring satisfaction scores, you can monitor DevEx trends over time and make data-driven decisions to improve the environment. Each team or project can have its NPS score, enabling targeted enhancements.</p>

<h3>Iterate on Solutions Using Pilot Groups</h3>

<p>A gradual, iterative approach is crucial for sustainable improvements in DevEx. One common mistake is making sweeping changes without testing them on a small scale. To avoid this, follow these steps:</p>

<ul>
<li>Start with a Pilot Group: Begin with a single team or project to test new tools or workflows. For example, a CDE can be introduced to a small group and observed to see how it affects their daily operations. Collect feedback and refine the environment based on their experiences.</li>
<li>Scale Up Gradually: Once the pilot phase shows positive results, expand the environment to additional teams. As the number of users increases, refine the model to account for broader use cases and potential scalability challenges.</li>
<li>Fine-Tune Based on Feedback: Review satisfaction scores and listen to detractor concerns with each iteration. Adjust the environment based on feedback, making future adopters more likely to become promoters.</li>
</ul>

<p>This staged approach minimizes the risk of disrupting workflows and helps build internal support. When onboarding multiple teams, the environment is optimized, leading to a smoother transition and higher satisfaction.</p>

<h3>Provide Tailored Incentives for Adoption</h3>

<p>To ensure a successful rollout, use incentives to address developers&#39; concerns and encourage them to embrace the new system. Consider these approaches:</p>

<ul>
<li>Mitigate Latency Fears: If latency is a concern, communicate how the CDE addresses these issues. Coder, for instance, uses advanced networking to significantly reduce latency by hosting the control plane near the developer’s region.</li>
<li>Offer Enhanced Resources: Developers value powerful local machines, so offer equivalent or better specs in the CDE. For example, if a developer is used to 32 GB of RAM and multiple GPU cores, ensure the CDE offers at least that. For those on resource-intensive projects, consider providing even more powerful configurations to make the transition compelling.</li>
<li>Highlight Benefits Over Local Development: Demonstrate how the CDE improves productivity with features like rapid provisioning and smoother context switching that outshine traditional setups.</li>
</ul>

<p>Tailoring incentives to address specific pain points — like offering more resources or eliminating latency concerns — helps detractors see the benefits of the new environment, increasing the likelihood they’ll adopt and become promoters.</p>


<h2>Gradual CDE Adoption: Turning Detractors into Promoters</h2>

<p>A <a href="https://coder.com/blog/introducing-cloud-development-environments-to-your-enterprise">CDE</a> can be a powerful tool for improving DevEx, but a sudden transition can backfire. Instead of enforcing an immediate company-wide switch, use a gradual adoption strategy to build momentum and reduce resistance:</p>

<ul>
<li>Begin with One or Two Teams: Start by onboarding a small group to the CDE, observing their experiences, and gathering feedback.</li>
<li>Assess and Refine: After the initial phase, evaluate what’s working and what needs adjustment. For example, if developers find latency challenging, make optimizations before expanding the rollout.</li>
<li>Exponential Expansion: Onboarding additional teams in increments once the pilot program succeeds. When you reach a large-scale rollout, the CDE should be polished, with fewer detractors and more promoters.</li>
</ul>

<p>Gradual adoption builds buy-in and allows teams to adjust, reducing the risk of a “mutiny-inducing” forced transition.</p>

<h2>The Advantages of a DevEx Scoring Model</h2>

<p>Creating and implementing a DevEx scoring model is a powerful strategy for enhancing developer satisfaction and productivity. Using an NPS-based approach, companies can gather meaningful insights into what works and doesn’t in their development environments. Identifying pain points, scoring satisfaction, iterating on feedback, and gradually adopting a CDE can turn even the most skeptical detractors into enthusiastic promoters.</p>

<p>There’s no single solution for building a productive and satisfying <a href="https://coder.com/blog/cdes-offering-improved-developer-productivity-and-experience">DevEx</a>. Each organization must tailor its scoring model to address unique developer needs, leveraging insights from promoters to enhance experiences for detractors. By aligning with what developers value and optimizing tools accordingly, companies can foster a culture of productivity, satisfaction, and continuous improvement.</p>

<p>Remember, DevEx scoring is just part of what makes a CDE a strategic asset. For a detailed report on building a successful CDE, see <a href="https://coder.com/ebooks-and-reports/ebooks/cloud-development-environment-maturity-model">the Cloud Development Environment Maturity Model</a>.</p>


In this blog post, we’ll examine how developers who are satisfied with their environments tend to produce higher-quality code, collaborate better, and stick around longer. To gauge and improve DevEx, implementing a scoring model can help companies identify areas of friction and transform "detractors" into "promoters" who advocate for the tools and processes in place. 


Why Adopt a DevEx

Why Adopt a DevEx Scoring Model Prior to a Cloud Development Environment?

<p>Developer productivity is a competitive advantage. However, managing development environments, onboarding, and consistency of tooling can create bottlenecks that cost teams time and resources. Coder’s Cloud Development Environment (CDE) has emerged as a transformative solution, addressing many inefficiencies that typically slow developers down. </p>

<p>In this blog post we’ll examine how Coder’s CDE elevates productivity for developers, from seamless onboarding to ensuring secure and flexible access to resources:</p>


<h2>Faster Onboarding</h2>

<p>Onboarding has long been time-consuming, often requiring weeks to configure a development environment correctly. Coder’s CDE slashes this setup time by offering pre-configured environments tailored to a developer’s role. Rather than slogging through multiple installation requests and setup roadblocks, developers can access everything they need with a single login and start committing code within minutes.</p>

<p>For example, one <a href="https://coder.com/success-stories/global-investment-firm">Coder client</a> — a technology company — was able to streamline its onboarding from three weeks down to a mere 15 minutes. With a single click, new developers gain instant access to a configured workspace that’s fully integrated with the company’s tooling. This dramatic reduction in onboarding time is a productivity booster and enhances morale by allowing new hires to make immediate contributions.</p>


<h2>Streamlined Environment Maintenance</h2>

<p>Keeping development environments updated and consistent across teams is an operational nightmare, particularly for large organizations. Traditional setups often require manual installation of libraries, dependencies, and tooling configurations, leading to discrepancies in environments.</p>

<p>With Coder’s CDE, every aspect of the environment, from IDE configurations to development tooling to hardware requirements, is defined in a declarative <a href="https://coder.com/docs/admin/templates">template</a>. This approach ensures all developers have identical setups, eliminating inconsistencies and simplifying updates. When upgrading a library or adjusting settings, the platform administrator only needs to modify the <a href="https://coder.com/docs/tutorials/template-from-scratch">template</a> once. This change then propagates across all workspaces, ensuring each developer works with the latest, approved setup.</p>


<h2>Consistent Builds for Reliable Code Quality</h2>

<p>Coder’s CDE provides a consistent development environment, which directly impacts code quality and build reliability. In local environments, developers might install different library versions or even skip certain configurations, leading to subtle discrepancies that can cause bugs or unexpected behavior in production.</p>

<p><a href="https://coder.com/blog/coder-well-architected-framework">With Coder</a>, all necessary dependencies and libraries are baked into the environment images or declared in the workspace <a href="https://registry.coder.com/templates">templates</a>, allowing teams to maintain a uniform build process across the board. When a project requires an upgrade to a new library version, a simple template update ensures all developers work with the same setup. This level of consistency drastically reduces debugging time and improves code quality, allowing developers to focus on feature development rather than troubleshooting environment-specific issues.</p>


<h2>Simplified Project Switching</h2>

<p>Moving between projects often means reconfiguring environments, installing additional tools, or updating dependencies. This process can be tedious and time-consuming in traditional setups, involving configuration changes and potential downtime.</p>

<p>Coder addresses this by allowing developers to <a href="https://coder.com/docs/user-guides/workspace-management#updating-workspaces">maintain multiple workspaces</a> configured for different projects. Switching from one project to another is as simple as selecting a workspace, with each environment isolated and pre-configured for the specific project requirements. For developers working across several projects or clients, Coder’s CDE makes it easy to jump between environments without compromising productivity or reconfiguring local systems. Additionally, since workspaces are cloud-based, developers can manage projects directly in their <a href="https://coder.com/docs/user-guides/workspace-access/web-ides">web-based IDE</a>, with everything decoupled from their local machine, further simplifying project transitions.</p>


<h2>High Performance Hardware</h2>

<p>Many developers work on powerful workstations or laptops, which can be expensive to purchase, maintain and upgrade. Additionally, tasks like heavy builds or running resource-intensive applications can monopolize local CPU power, forcing developers to choose between joining a video call and running a build.</p>

<p>Coder’s cloud infrastructure removes this constraint by offloading all hardware-intensive operations to the cloud. Developers can configure their workspaces with specific CPU, RAM, and GPU requirements, ensuring they can access the needed power without investing in high-end hardware. For example, <a href="https://coder.com/blog/deploy-generative-ai-at-scale-with-duet-ai-using-coder">developers working on AI</a> or machine learning projects can provision workspaces on nodes with GPUs, sidestepping the cost and complexity of dedicated local hardware. The freedom to work from any device, <a href="https://coder.com/blog/a-guide-to-writing-code-on-an-ipad">even a tablet</a>, with cloud resources performing all processing, is a game-changer for developer mobility and productivity.</p>


<h2>Enhanced Security and Compliance for Offshore Teams</h2>

<p>As remote and offshore teams become the norm, maintaining secure environments across locations is essential. Coder offers the Workspace Proxies feature in its premium edition, which allows organizations to deploy a secondary control plane near their offshore developers. This setup brings several advantages, including reducing latency and ensuring developers work in a secure, standardized environment.</p>

<p>With <a href="https://coder.com/docs/admin/networking/workspace-proxies">Workspace Proxies</a>, offshore developers don’t need local installations or access to sensitive resources. Instead, they log in to a pre-configured web-based IDE with minimal setup, reducing the risk of code exfiltration or exposure of sensitive intellectual property. Coder&#39;s solution provides peace of mind for companies working with contractors or external teams; they know that code and resources remain securely within the cloud environment.</p>


<h2>No New Tools or Technologies Required</h2>

<p>A significant productivity drain occurs when developers are forced to adapt to new tools or processes. <a href="https://coder.com/blog/coder-well-architected-framework">Coder is technology-agnostic</a>, which means we support developers’ preferred IDEs, operating systems, and tooling setups without forcing them to switch platforms. Whether developers are accustomed to working in Linux, Windows, or macOS environments, Coder’s CDE accommodates their preferences, ensuring a smooth transition.</p>

<p>This adaptability extends to the platform engineers responsible for maintaining the CDE. Since Coder is also cloud-agnostic and self-hosted, organizations can deploy it on their existing infrastructure, avoiding the need for additional training or adjustments to a new cloud provider’s nuances. For developers and platform engineers alike, this flexibility translates into fewer interruptions and a more cohesive workflow.</p>


<h2>Coder: Scalable, Secure, and Efficient</h2>

<p>Coder’s CDE brings tangible productivity benefits to development teams, addressing many of the pain points hindering traditional setups. By enabling fast onboarding, maintaining consistent environments, simplifying project switching, providing robust hardware options, and ensuring security, Coder helps developers focus on what they do best — writing code and delivering value. Whether your team is working on a single project or across multiple clients, <a href="https://coder.com/ebooks-and-reports/reports/introducing-cdes-to-your-enterprise">Coder’s cloud-based approach</a> to development environments offers a scalable, secure, and efficient solution for today’s development challenges.</p>

<p>As Coder continues to enhance our <a href="https://coder.com/blog/release-recap-2-17-0">CDE offerings</a>, we stand out as an essential tool for any development team looking to streamline workflows, reduce setup time, and optimize the developer experience.</p>


Discover how Coder helps developers become more productive by speeding up onboarding, reducing environment maintenance, and simplifying project switching. Learn the seven key ways it makes development efficient.

7 Benefits of Using Coder To Improve Developer Productivity

<p>Just like local development, Coder <a href="https://coder.com/docs/reference/api/workspaces">workspaces</a> allow developers to use their preferred tools as they see fit. Coder’s OS-agnostic design means that if a tool runs on your workspace OS, it will work within Coder. In this blog post we’ll discuss running Windows workspaces on Coder.</p>

<p>While remote development platforms such as Coder are most commonly used for provisioning cloud-native Linux workloads (modern web application development, notebook environments, pipelines, and infrastructure development), many organizations have a large number of applications that require Windows-specific environments (desktop applications, simulation environments, Windows-specific developer tooling). </p>

<p>Some organizations report that over 60% of their applications depend on Windows-specific tooling for application development or deployment. Because of this, we support three major operating systems on Coder. Linux and Mac developers can leverage their favorite open-source tools and packages, while Windows developers can work with tools like Visual Studio, PowerShell, .NET, Eclipse, and other applications like MATLAB Simulink. </p>


Basic architecture of a Coder deployment with Windows Workspaces

<h3>Windows Workspaces: IDE or RDP</h3>

<p>No matter which workspace operating system you use, Coder supports IDEs such as <a href="https://coder.com/docs/user-guides/workspace-access/vscode">Visual Studio Code</a> and <a href="https://coder.com/docs/user-guides/workspace-access/jetbrains">JetBrains’</a> suite of products (IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, etc.), plus many <a href="https://coder.com/docs/user-guides/workspace-access/web-ides">web-based IDEs</a> providing remote connections that deliver the feel of local development with cloud-backed power. </p>


Windows Workspaces show startup stats, startup script output and give the developer an option to use an IDE, local RDP or web-based RDP

Connecting to the Windows Workspace with an IDE

<p>Some popular Windows tools such as Visual Studio and .Eclipse do not offer remote functionality, rather they require a full desktop. For those cases, Coder delivers a smooth <a href="https://coder.com/docs/user-guides/workspace-access/remote-desktops">remote desktop</a> experience that minimizes latency for your remote developers —something traditional VDI solutions struggle with. Coder’s advanced networking features move the workspace connection physically closer to the developer. This reduces latency and ensures that remote access feels as responsive as a local session. Combined with a web-based RDP client, developers can get a zero-config, full desktop directly through their browser, eliminating the need for complex configurations and extra setup.</p>


Connecting to the Windows Workspace with a web-based RDP client

Running Visual Studio on a Windows Workspace

<h3>Smart Workspace Setup: Base Images + Runtime Scripting</h3>

<p>Coder’s approach to workspace customization focuses on keeping images lean and manageable. Instead of images loaded with every dependency, we provide the flexibility to start with a base image and add dependencies using runtime scripting. This allows developers to spin up environments that are efficient yet customized to their needs.</p>

<h3>Cost Control and Resource Optimization with Auto Stop and Quotas</h3>

<p>In addition to offering powerful remote workspaces, resource management is a priority for platform engineers. Coder includes <a href="https://coder.com/docs/user-guides/workspace-scheduling">Workspace Scheduling</a> features that automatically spin down workspaces when they’re idle, saving both costs and resources. This keeps cloud bills low while ensuring developers only use resources when they need them. Additionally, usage <a href="https://coder.com/docs/admin/users/quotas">quotas</a> allow teams to set limits on workspace consumption, which reduces the risk of unexpected expenses. Coder admins can quickly set workspace usage policies for <a href="https://coder.com/docs/admin/users/groups-roles">different teams</a> or projects, giving them the flexibility to manage cloud resources precisely and predictably.</p>

<h3>The Complete Cloud Development Solution</h3>

<p>Developers aren’t limited by connectivity issues, configurations, or performance, giving them the freedom to choose their optimal setup on a per-project or per-session basis. At Coder, we’re focused on delivering Cloud Development Environments that eliminate developer friction wherever possible. </p>

<h3>Pre-built Windows Workspace Templates</h3>

<p>If you are interested in deploying Windows Workspaces today, Coder includes <a href="https://coder.com/docs/admin/templates/creating-templates#from-a-starter-template">starter templates</a> for AWS EC2 and Google Compute Engine, additional templates are available on the <a href="https://registry.coder.com/templates">Coder Registry</a></p>


Built-in starter templates for Windows

Just like local development, Coder workspaces allow developers to use their preferred tools as they see fit. Coder’s OS-agnostic design means that if a tool runs on your workspace OS, it will work within Coder. In this blog post we’ll discuss running Windows workspaces on Coder.

Run Windows Development Environments with Coder

<p>Operational resilience is a necessity in today’s digital-first landscape. With increasing cybersecurity threats, regulatory bodies are stepping up efforts to protect critical sectors from disruptions. The European Union&#39;s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) sets new standards for financial institutions to safeguard against Information and Communication Technology (ICT) disruptions and cyber risks. As companies gear up for DORA compliance on January 17th, 2025, Cloud Development Environments (CDE) help organizations meet these stringent requirements.</p>

<p>In this blog, we’ll explore how Coder&#39;s CDE helps financial organizations align their software development practices with DORA regulations and boosts their overall digital resilience.</p>


<h2>Understanding DORA</h2>

<p>DORA establishes a unified regulatory framework for the financial sector to manage operational resilience. It imposes strict requirements on:</p>

<ol>
<li> <strong>Risk Management</strong>: Financial entities must have solid IT risk management frameworks.</li>
<li> <strong>Incident Reporting</strong>: Companies must implement efficient and standardized processes for reporting ICT-related incidents.</li>
<li> <strong>Digital Operational Resilience Testing</strong>: Periodic testing of ICT systems is mandatory to assess operational resilience.</li>
<li> <strong>Third-Party Risk Management</strong>: Entities must ensure that third-party ICT service providers comply with these regulations.</li>
<li> <strong>Information Sharing</strong>: To mitigate cyber threats, a framework for secure information sharing between financial institutions is emphasized.</li>
</ol>


<h2>The Role of Coder&#39;s Cloud Development Environment in DORA Compliance</h2>

<p>Coder offers several capabilities to help financial entities align with DORA requirements. Here&#39;s how:</p>

<p><strong>1. Enhanced Security and Risk Management</strong></p>

<p>DORA places a significant emphasis on risk management; securing the development process is critical. Coder is designed with enterprise-grade security at its core, allowing companies to enforce security policies across the entire development pipeline. Some of its attributes that contribute to compliance include:</p>

<ul>
<li><strong>Declarative Workspaces and Open Standards</strong>: Reduce the risk of introducing vulnerabilities into the software supply chain. <a href="https://coder.com/docs/templates">Build development runtimes</a> from existing secured registries and repositories.</li>
<li><strong>Centralized Storage</strong>: Store intellectual property on <a href="https://coder.com/docs/architecture/architecture">enterprise storage systems</a>, reducing risk of code exfiltration via compromised, lost, or stolen devices.</li>
<li><strong>Role Based Access Control</strong>: Granular <a href="https://coder.com/docs/admin/rbac">RBAC</a> ensures only authenticated users can access the system and only authorized users can administer the system. </li>
<li><strong>Identity Provider Integration</strong>: Eliminate extraneous account definitions and <a href="https://coder.com/docs/admin/auth">authenticate</a>/<a href="https://coder.com/docs/admin/external-auth">authorize</a> CDE users with existing centralized enterprise IDP. </li>
</ul>

<p><strong>2. Automated Incident Reporting</strong></p>

<p>DORA mandates financial institutions have robust processes for incident reporting. Coder makes it easy to track the root cause of incidents, report them effectively, and implement corrective actions with the following features:</p>

<ul>
<li><strong>Audit Logging</strong>: All system activity (logins, template updates, workspace creations, workspace starts/stops, etc.) are <a href="https://coder.com/docs/admin/audit-logs">logged</a>. Coder’s use of open standards eases aggregation to centralized logging systems.</li>
<li><strong>Cloud and Platform Agnostic</strong>: Run developer environments on <a href="https://coder.com/docs/architecture/architecture">infrastructure</a> that is already certified to meet your organization&#39;s security standards and is observed by existing enterprise systems.</li>
</ul>

<p><strong>3. Digital Operational Resilience Testing</strong></p>

<p>One of the core requirements of DORA is conducting regular resilience testing to ensure systems can withstand operational risks. Coder’s declarative nature and use of open standards make it easy to reproduce environments that are representative of production:  </p>

<ul>
<li><strong>Reproducible Environments</strong>: Kubernetes-based Coder deployments are declared with a <a href="https://coder.com/docs/install/kubernetes">Helm chart</a> making it easy to build representative testing environments. Workspaces are declared with Terraform templates making it easy to promote templates from testing to production. </li>
<li><strong>Version-Controlled Workspaces</strong>: Each workspace <a href="https://coder.com/docs/templates">template</a> is version-controlled in the Coder control plane, easing promotion and reversion of workspace definitions.</li>
<li><strong>Scaling</strong>: Coder includes an easy-to-use <a href="https://coder.com/docs/admin/scaling/scale-utility">scale testing</a> feature and documentation for scaling to <a href="https://coder.com/docs/architecture/validated-arch">thousands of users</a>.</li>
</ul>

<p><strong>4. Third-Party Risk Management</strong></p>

<p>Third-party service providers such as contractors and consultants are commonplace in today’s business environment. DORA requires financial institutions to assess and manage risks associated with these third parties. Coder allows companies to define strict controls and policies for their third-party developers and service providers.</p>

<p>Through its centralized environment, financial institutions can standardize security practices across internal teams and third-party developers, ensuring that everyone follows the same security protocols: </p>

<ul>
<li><strong>Browser-Only Mode</strong>: This is the easiest and most secure way to deploy tooling to developers. It enables <a href="https://coder.com/docs/networking#browser-only-connections-enterprise">only browser-based IDEs</a> and ensures that all connections are proxied through the Coder control plane, significantly reducing the risk of mass file copy code exfiltration.</li>
<li><strong>VDI Alternative</strong>: Combine Coder’s Browser-Only feature with a secure browser, such as Island, for a secure <a href="https://coder.com/solutions/vdi">VDI</a> alternative. This eliminates copy/paste code exfiltration (in addition to browser-only protections). This combination also secures full Windows desktop workspaces over web-based RDP clients, opening the option of using Coder for almost any workload.<br></li>
<li><strong>Workspace Proxy</strong>: Deploy <a href="https://coder.com/docs/admin/workspace-proxies">workspaces in-region</a> wherever the developers are while retaining one centralized control plane. This feature eliminates issues with lag when using browser-based workspaces at a global scale.</li>
</ul>

<p><strong>5. Information Sharing and Collaboration</strong></p>

<p>DORA promotes a collaborative approach, encouraging institutions to share information about vulnerabilities and incidents. Coder’s use of open standards eases integration with tools, helping companies to securely share critical information with partners or regulatory bodies as mandated by DORA.</p>

<ul>
<li><strong>Use of Existing Observability Systems</strong>: Coder’s cloud- and platform-agnostic approach allows organizations to run their CDE on the providers and platforms they are already monitoring and <a href="https://coder.com/docs/admin/prometheus">observing</a>.</li>
<li><strong>Open Source, Open Standards</strong>: 100% Open Source ethos and reliance on open standards ensures organizations are never locked in to proprietary technologies or information formats.</li>
</ul>


<h2>Conclusion</h2>

<p>The Digital Operational Resilience Act sets high standards for ensuring the digital resilience of financial institutions, and compliance with this regulation is essential for businesses operating within the EU. Coder positions organizations to meet these demands by offering enhanced security, efficient risk management, incident reporting, and the tools necessary for ongoing testing and third-party risk management.</p>

<p>By adopting Coder, companies can not only streamline their development processes but also ensure that their digital products and operations are resilient, secure, and compliant with the evolving regulatory landscape. As financial institutions continue to navigate the complexities of DORA, solutions like Coder provide the agility, security, and transparency necessary for maintaining operational continuity in an increasingly digital world. </p>

<p>Are you ready to take the next step toward DORA compliance? Explore how Coder&#39;s CDE can support your organization today.</p>


The Digital Operational Resilience Act mandates strict digital resilience standards for EU financial institutions. Coder helps businesses comply with enhanced security, risk management, incident reporting, and tools for continuous testing and third-party risk management.

Leveraging Coder's Cloud Development Environment for Compliance with the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA)

<p>In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, large enterprises and government entities face the daunting challenge of balancing technological innovation with the imperative of information security and platform stability. Self-hosted, self-maintained <a href="https://coder.com/blog/cde-adoption-report-cloud-development-environments-the-next-frontier-of-programmi">Cloud Development Environments (CDE)</a> such as Coder have emerged as a crucial solution to these challenges, offering a myriad of significant benefits for regulated and large-scale organizations with stringent security requirements. This blog post will explore the multifaceted importance of self-hosted, self-maintained CDEs and address specific points that underscore their critical role in:</p>

<ul>
<li>Maintaining robust security protocols</li>
<li>Maintaining operational stability</li>
<li>Significantly enhancing developer experience and productivity</li>
</ul>

<h3>Enhanced Developer Experience + Autonomy and Flexibility</h3>

<p>A foundational benefit of any CDE is the enhanced developer experience. They enable developers to focus on innovation rather than grappling with compatibility or access issues, thereby accelerating development cycles and improving software quality. The Coder ethos of self-hosted, self-managed platforms allows large organizations to <a href="https://coder.com/docs/v2/latest/install">deploy</a> a CDE in a manner that conforms to their existing security and operational practices. </p>

<p>Next-generation CDE solutions like Coder are managed using common infrastructure as code tools already found across most organizations. This significantly reduces traditional day two management overhead and provides levels of autonomy and flexibility that are unparalleled. Organizations can configure their platforms exactly as needed without being constrained by the limitations of one-size-fits-most solutions or third-party providers. This seamless integration with existing infrastructure allows for a tailored approach that aligns perfectly with the organization’s specific operational, security, and business requirements, thereby enhancing efficiency and effectiveness.</p>

<h3>Security + Stability</h3>

<p>For environments where security is paramount –  such as in government, healthcare, insurance, and financial verticals – self-hosted, self-managed software simplifies the process of meeting rigorous certification standards. The infrastructure necessary to comply with stringent regulations—encompassing personnel practices, physical security, networking, data storage and retention, hardware requirements, etc —is already in place. Adding an application on top of a certified infrastructure means that the most scrutinized aspects of security are inherently addressed, thereby reducing complexity and ensuring compliance.</p>

<p>The ability to operate <a href="https://coder.com/docs/v2/latest/templates/modules#offline-installations">100% offline, air-gapped</a> data centers is crucial in sectors where data sovereignty is paramount, such as government and fintech. Coder allows organizations to completely isolate their CDEs from external networks, which is the best way to reduce the attack surface for cyber threats and ensure the integrity and confidentiality of sensitive information. While a self-hosted, vendor-managed setup might offer a balance between self-management and an outsourced service, it introduces additional layers of complexity, particularly in the certification of new components. Organizations must rigorously evaluate the vendor’s practices, including staffing and data handling, in addition to physical and information security measures. Each new layer requires thorough vetting, adding to the governance burden.</p>

<p>Self-hosted, self-maintained platforms offer enhanced stability as well as security, as organizations have complete control over which patches and updates are applied, and when. This control allows for rigorous testing before deployment, ensuring compatibility, security, and reducing the risk of introducing vulnerabilities through unvetted updates. Complete control over production versioning and upgrades is essential in large enterprises, where even minor disruptions can have major repercussions. This control allows organizations to plan and execute updates in a strategic manner, ensuring system stability and continuous service availability.</p>

<h3>The Golden Path at Scale</h3>

<p>Constantly refining infrastructure is crucial to swiftly respond to technological advances and business opportunities. Running a CDE as an application on an existing infrastructure allows for rapid deployment and inherent flexibility, which enables organizations to build their own <a href="https://coder.com/blog/backstage-coder-the-full-software-development-lifecycle-webinar-recap">Golden Path</a> for developers. This enables organizations to implement new services and applications quickly, maintaining a competitive edge and adapting to market changes efficiently.</p>

<p><a href="https://coder.com/blog/scale-testing-part-1-why-scale-test">Auto scaling and load testing</a> are essential for optimizing resource usage and reducing costs in large deployments. Coder uses <a href="https://coder.com/docs/v2/latest/templates/creating">Terraform</a> to provide the fine-grained tunables that large enterprises require for precise resource management at scale. Similarly, integration with most <a href="https://coder.com/docs/v2/latest/admin/auth">Identity Providers</a> and compatibility with <a href="https://coder.com/docs/v2/latest/admin/prometheus">industry-standard monitoring software</a> reduces complexity as well as enhances the security and stability of the system. These features ensure that resources are allocated efficiently based on actual demand, avoiding over-provisioning and wasteful expenditure.</p>

<p>Dedicated Platform Engineering teams are increasingly common in mature organizations. This specialization ensures that platforms are managed by experts, freeing developers to focus on their core tasks without maintaining their development environments. Coder leverages open standards and integrates seamlessly with an organization&#39;s existing tools and processes. It supports a <a href="https://coder.com/docs/v2/latest/platforms">wide range of infrastructure options</a> including bare metal, Kubernetes, Docker and VMs, allowing enterprises to utilize their preferred technologies. This integration reduces complexity and enables platform teams to maintain control over their development ecosystem. An experienced Platform Engineer could deploy Coder in an existing cluster in a few minutes.</p>

<p>Self-hosted, self-maintained CDEs offer a comprehensive solution for large enterprises, regulated industries and government entities, providing control over their digital infrastructure while adhering to strict security standards. This approach not only ensures operational efficiency and security but also empowers organizations to innovate. The benefits range from enhanced developer experience and operational flexibility to simplified compliance and enhanced security. Although the initial overhead is higher than SaaS, the long-term benefits of stability, security, and scalability justify the effort, making Coder a strategic asset in the digital era. </p>


Explore the benefits of self-hosted, self-managed Cloud Development Environments

Security, Stability & Scalability with Coder

<p><em>This blog is part three of an ongoing Gen AI + Coder blog series. <a href="https://coder.com/blog/deploy-generative-ai-tools-at-scale-with-coder">Deploy and Govern Generative AI Tools at Scale with Coder (Part One)</a>, <a href="https://coder.com/blog/deploy-generative-ai-at-scale-with-one-code-block-using-coder-vs-code-web-and-git">Deploy Generative AI at scale with one code block using Coder, VS Code Web and GitHub Copilot (Part Two)</a>.</em></p>

<p>Welcome back! As we discussed in our <a href="https://coder.com/blog/deploy-generative-ai-at-scale-with-one-code-block-using-coder-vs-code-web-and-git">last post</a> one of the greatest advantages of using a Cloud Development Environment (CDE) such as Coder is the ability to deploy developer tooling at scale quickly in a consistent, stable and secure manner. This blog post covers using Google’s Gemini extension for VS Code in a Coder workspace. It is available on openvsx which makes it easy to run in a workspace using <a href="https://github.com/coder/code-server">Coder’s browser-based IDE code-server</a>. </p>

<p>While one can install this extension in desktop VS Code, that method relies on each developer to install the extension and keep it updated. Both Coder Open Source and Coder Enterprise support automatically installing extensions in browser-based IDEs.  Although only Coder Enterprise allows platform-wide restrictions to run in browser-only mode. As with the <a href="https://coder.com/blog/deploy-generative-ai-at-scale-with-one-code-block-using-coder-vs-code-web-and-git">last post</a> the goal is to show how to deploy extensions at scale in a secure, enterprise-like deployment so this example is shown in a browser-only mode. </p>

<p>There are some additional parts to set up Gemini. First there are some steps required to enable Gemini in your Google project, it is <a href="https://cloud.google.com/duet-ai/docs/discover/set-up-duet-ai">well documented</a> and quick to set up. Once you have your project and users enabled, the rest of the setup is in the Coder template. You must install the Google Cloud SDK into the workspace prior to using the Gemini extension. This is easy to do with Coder’s startup_script, this example checks to see if gcloud is installed in your workspace, if not it will download and install it, then install the extension. </p>


<p>Build and publish the template and that’s it.  All of the users who build/rebuild from this template will have the current version of Gemini installed and available to use. Keep in mind that it takes a few minutes to download and install the Google Cloud SDK.  This only happens when the workspace is created, you can check the install progress by tailing /tmp/gcloud_install.log. I had the installer log it to a file rather than display it in the workspace build log because the SDK install creates a lot of output, so much that it will exceed Coder’s limit of 1MB for build logs and could obscure other important build information. </p>


<p>There are some considerations for larger deployments, especially in high-security DCs. In these scenarios, tooling is typically baked into the workspace image rather than downloaded on each workspace start. This is fine for installing IDE’s but extensions are typically installed in the user’s home directory. There are a few different ways to install extensions in these environments. </p>

<p>Without going into detail on each, the methods are:</p>

<ul>
<li>Host the extension somewhere inside your DC and install from there</li>
<li>Host the extension somewhere on the image and install or run from there</li>
<li>Have the users sync their dotfiles with pre-installed extension configurations from a source code repo </li>
</ul>

<p>Leveraging a CDE to deploy Gemini is a leap forward in scalable, secure developer tooling. This blog post has guided you through setting up these tools in a streamlined, enterprise-grade fashion. By adopting the outlined approach, teams can ensure that every member operates with the latest tools and extensions, effortlessly. Embrace this method to elevate your development processes, ensuring your team remains on the cutting edge of technology. Ready to revolutionize your workflow? Dive in and deploy your enhanced development environment today.</p>


<p>Related Content:</p>

<ul>
<li><a href="https://coder.com/blog/coder-backstage-plugin">Introducing the Coder Backstage Plugin</a></li>
<li><a href="https://coder.com/blog/coder-well-architected-framework">Coder&#39;s Well-Architected Framework</a></li>
<li><a href="https://coder.com/blog/cde-adoption-report-cloud-development-environments-the-next-frontier-of-programmi">Cloud Development Environments: The Next Frontier of Programming Productivity</a></li>
</ul>


This blog post covers using Gemini in a Coder workspace. It is available on the openvsx which makes it a great fit to run in a workspace using Coder's browser-based code-server.

Deploy Generative AI at Scale with Gemini using Coder

<p>One of the greatest advantages of using a Cloud Development Environment (CDE) such as Coder is the ability to deploy developer tooling at scale quickly in a consistent, stable and secure manner. This blog post covers using GitHub’s Copilot in a Coder workspace. It is available on the Visual Studio Marketplace which makes it a great fit to run in a workspace using Microsoft’s browser-based Visual Studio Code for the Web.</p>

<p>While one can install this extension in desktop VS Code, that method relies on each developer to install the extension and keep it updated. Both Coder Open Source and Coder Enterprise support automatically installing extensions in browser-based IDEs.  Although only <a href="https://coder.com/pricing">Coder Enterprise</a> allows platform-wide restrictions to run in browser-only mode. Since the goal of this piece is to show how to deploy extensions at scale in a secure, enterprise-like deployment all the examples are shown in a browser-only mode. </p>


<p>Coder workspaces are defined by declarative Terraform templates. They are very flexible in nature and allow Platform Engineers to deploy tooling following their own best practices.  This example shows how to install Visual Studio Code for the Web, along with extensions, using <a href="https://registry.coder.com/">Coder’s module registry</a>. To deploy simply add the <a href="https://registry.coder.com/modules/vscode-web">VS Code Web’s module</a> code in the highest context of your template and define the extensions to install with the “extensions” array:</p>


<p>Build and publish the template and that’s it.  With that one addition, all of the VS Code Web users who build/rebuild from this template will have the current version of GitHub Copilot installed and available to use. Let’s see how this works in flow:</p>


<p>There are some considerations for larger deployments, especially in high-security or air-gapped DCs. In these scenarios, tooling is typically baked into the workspace image rather than downloaded on each workspace start. This is fine for installing IDE’s but extensions are typically installed in the user’s home directory. There are a few different ways to install extensions in these environments. Without going into detail on each, the methods are:</p>

<ul>
<li>Host the module and extension somewhere inside your DC and install from there</li>
<li>Host the module and extension somewhere on the image and install or run from there</li>
<li>Have the users sync their dotfiles with pre-installed extension configurations from a source code repo </li>
</ul>

<p>Leveraging a CDE to deploy GitHub&#39;s Copilot is a leap forward in scalable, secure developer tooling. This blog post has guided you through setting up these tools in a streamlined, enterprise-grade fashion. By adopting the outlined approach, teams can ensure that every member operates with the latest tools and extensions, effortlessly. Embrace this method to elevate your development processes, ensuring your team remains on the cutting edge of technology. Ready to revolutionize your workflow? Dive in and deploy your enhanced development environment today.</p>

<p><em>Related Content:</em></p>

<p><em><a href="https://coder.com/blog/microsoft-vs-code-server-in-a-coder-cloud-development-environment">Microsoft VS Code Server in a Coder Cloud Development Environment</a></em></p>

<p><em><a href="https://coder.com/blog/introducing-cloud-development-environments-to-your-enterprise">Introducing Cloud Development Environments to Your Enterprise</a></em></p>

<p><em><a href="https://coder.com/blog/cdes-are-going-to-live-up-to-the-hype">CDEs Are Going to Live Up to the Hype</a></em></p>


This blog post covers using GitHub’s Copilot in a Coder workspace. It is available on the Visual Studio Marketplace which makes it a great fit to run in a workspace using Microsoft’s browser-based Visual Studio Code for the Web.

Deploy Generative AI at scale with one code block using Coder, VS Code Web and GitHub Codepilot

Deploy Generative AI at scale with one code block using Coder, VS Code Web and GitHub Copilot

<p>Generative AI has emerged as a game-changer, revolutionizing developer productivity and developer experience by offering unparalleled opportunities for innovation across sectors. These tools are redefining what&#39;s possible, accelerating workflows and enabling new forms of creativity. However the key to unlocking its potential at scale lies in the consistency of its deployment. This blog post is the first of a series, it covers tooling deployment at a conceptual level. The following posts will cover tooling deployment and usage in detail. </p>

<p>Generative AI development tools are renowned for their ability to not only produce highly diverse and creative outputs but to also help developers adapt to a new code base. </p>

<p>Examples include:</p>

<ul>
<li>Code auto-completion</li>
<li>Help with Regular Expressions </li>
<li>Writing documentation/commenting code </li>
<li>Code base reference and navigation</li>
<li>Generating and running test cases</li>
<li>Assistance with code review</li>
</ul>

<p>However, this strength can also introduce variability. Declarative deployments and regular updates ensure that the tools remain aligned with expectations. By maintaining a stable and consistent environment developers can better predict and depend on the AI&#39;s performance, making it a more valuable tool.</p>

<p>Trust is a critical component of any technology&#39;s adoption, and this is especially true for AI, where outputs can significantly influence decision-making, content creation and even personal or corporate reputations. Consistent deployments build user trust, as they demonstrate a commitment to quality, reliability, and security. Users are more likely to rely on and advocate for tools that meet their needs and adhere to ethical guidelines, including respect for copyright, privacy, and bias mitigation. By prioritizing consistent tooling deployment, developers can strengthen the trustworthiness of their code and encourage broader acceptance and use.</p>

<p>The obvious benefits of a Cloud Development Environment (CDE) revolve around developer velocity and code quality. Time to first line of code and time to first commit are drastically reduced by delivering the exact tooling and code base a developer needs in a pristine environment. Any new or updated tooling is instantly available to all the developers on the project. Code quality is increased since each developer’s build environment is the same as the next. </p>


<h2>CDEs provide generative AI governance</h2>

<p>While these benefits are easy to realize, a CDE deployed workspace is highly beneficial when developing in a regulated environment. As the use of Generative AI tools become more pervasive, it will face increasing regulatory scrutiny. Declarative deployment practices ensure that tools comply with corporate standards, avoiding potential misuse and mitigating risks related to privacy and security. As companies establish clear guidelines for the use of Generative AI tools, platform teams can use a CDE such as Coder to deploy generative AI governance to ensure the tool complies with and remains up-to-date on the specified guidelines.</p>

<p>Standardized tooling deployment is crucial for facilitating collaboration among teams and ensuring scalability. Standardized processes and environments allow for easier sharing of resources, models, and insights, fostering a collaborative culture that accelerates innovation. Moreover, consistent deployment practices ensure that AI tools can scale efficiently to meet growing demands without compromising performance or reliability.</p>


<h2>Now for the fun part! Deploying generative AI at scale</h2>

<p>Let’s take a look at how to easily enable standardized Generative AI deployments at scale with Coder. We’ll start with some of the most in-demand extensions: </p>

<ul>
<li><a href="https://coder.com/blog/deploy-generative-ai-at-scale-with-one-code-block-using-coder-vs-code-web-and-git">Deploy Generative AI at scale with one code block using Coder, VS Code Web and GitHub Copilot </a></li>
<li><a href="https://coder.com/blog/deploy-generative-ai-at-scale-with-duet-ai-using-coder">Deploy Generative AI at Scale with Gemini using Coder</a></li>
</ul>

<p>Then we’ll take a look at using Coder to context switch between projects using different Generative AI extensions, seamlessly with zero reconfiguration:</p>

<ul>
<li>Coming soon: Multiple projects? Multiple workspaces! Avoid tooling conflicts with Coder </li>
</ul>


Generative AI has emerged as a game-changer, revolutionizing developer productivity and developer experience by offering unparalleled opportunities for innovation across sectors. This blog post is the first of a series, it covers tooling deployment at a conceptual level.


AI-native Development

Secure Environments for 2,500+ Developers

Tim Quinlan

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