You know Backstage is a game-changer, but convincing your company to adopt it? That’s the real boss fight. Here’s how to make your case—without sounding like you just joined a tech cult.

Introduction: The “Yet Another Tool” Eye Roll

So, you’re sold on Backstage. You see how it can simplify developer experience, tame service sprawl, and centralize documentation. But when you bring it up in meetings, you’re met with the dreaded response:

“Do we really need another tool?”

Cue the collective groan from leadership and the DevOps team, who already feel like they’re juggling too much. This is the moment where you either:

❌ Go full zealot mode, shouting about golden paths and developer portals, scaring everyone off.

✅ Or, you present Backstage in a way that makes sense for your company’s needs—without sounding like a platform engineering evangelist on a mission.

Let’s do the latter.

Step 1: Speak Their Language (Hint: It’s About Business, Not Just Tech)

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Engineers love shiny tools... Leadership loves efficiency and cost savings... If you want buy-in, connect Backstage to the company’s bottom line.

🎯 Frame it around pain points

  • Service sprawl? “We’re losing time (and money) tracking down ownership.”
  • Slow onboarding? “New engineers take weeks to ship their first feature because nothing is centralized.”
  • Too many tools? “Developers spend more time searching than coding.”

🎯 Tie it to company goals

  • Want to scale? Backstage ensures consistency.
  • Need faster time-to-market? Fewer bottlenecks = faster releases.
  • Struggling with compliance? A centralized platform helps enforce standards.

Step 2: Show, Don’t Tell (Demos > PowerPoints)

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A 15-minute live demo is worth more than 100 Slack messages arguing about it. Instead of dumping documentation links, spin up a Backstage instance and show them:

✅ How easy it is to find services in the Service Catalog

✅ How TechDocs integrates seamlessly with repos

✅ How developers can bootstrap new projects in minutes using Golden Paths

Nothing sells Backstage faster than letting people see the magic in action.

Step 3: Start Small and Let It Grow

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Rolling out Backstage company-wide from day one? Recipe for disaster. Instead:

🔹 Pilot with a single team – Choose a team already struggling with service discovery or onboarding and let them test it.

🔹 Gather feedback and iterate – Don’t force adoption. Show how it’s improving workflows.

🔹 Let word of mouth do the work – When other teams see it working, they’ll want in.

This isn’t about forcing change. It’s about creating demand by proving value.

Conclusion: Lead with Value, Not Hype

Backstage adoption isn’t about selling a tool—it’s about solving real problems. When leadership and teams see the impact, it stops being “yet another tool” and starts being the missing piece in your developer experience strategy.

And with that, you’ve successfully convinced your company—without sounding like you just walked out of a Backstage cult initiation ceremony. 🎉

Next up: Backstage Architecture: Demystifying Complexity with a Simplified Approach – where we finally get technical and break down how Backstage actually works under the hood. Stay tuned!