Infrastructure as Code: Why Your Cloud Setup Should Be Version Controlled

If your cloud infrastructure isn't defined in code, you're operating with unnecessary risk and inefficiency. Infrastructure as Code (IaC) has moved from best practice to essential requirement.

What Is Infrastructure as Code?

Infrastructure as Code means defining your cloud resources—servers, databases, networks, security policies—in configuration files that can be:

• Version controlled in Git

• Reviewed through pull requests

• Tested before deployment

• Replicated across environments

• Rolled back when problems occur

The Problems with Manual Infrastructure

1. Configuration Drift

When engineers make changes through the console, environments diverge. Your production setup slowly becomes different from staging, which differs from development. Bugs become impossible to reproduce.

2. Knowledge Silos

"Dave set up the load balancer. He knows how it works."

When infrastructure lives only in someone's head (or in undocumented console clicks), you're vulnerable to key-person risk.

3. Slow Recovery

When disaster strikes, can you rebuild your infrastructure quickly? Manual setups mean manual rebuilding—a slow, error-prone process when time matters most.

4. Compliance Challenges

Auditors ask: "When was this security group modified, and by whom?" Without IaC, answering requires forensic investigation of CloudTrail logs.

The IaC Tool Landscape

Terraform (HashiCorp)

The multi-cloud standard.

resource "aws_instance" "web" {
  ami           = "ami-0c55b159cbfafe1f0"
  instance_type = "t3.medium"

  tags = {
    Name        = "web-server"
    Environment = "production"
  }
}

Best for:

• Multi-cloud deployments

• Vendor-agnostic approach

• Large ecosystem of providers

AWS CloudFormation

Native AWS infrastructure management.

Resources:
  WebServer:
    Type: AWS::EC2::Instance
    Properties:
      ImageId: ami-0c55b159cbfafe1f0
      InstanceType: t3.medium

Best for:

• AWS-only environments

• Deep AWS service integration

• Teams already in AWS ecosystem

Pulumi

Infrastructure in real programming languages.

const server = new aws.ec2.Instance("web", {
    ami: "ami-0c55b159cbfafe1f0",
    instanceType: "t3.medium",
});

Best for:

• Teams with strong programming skills

• Complex logic requirements

• Testing-first approaches

Azure ARM/Bicep

Native Azure infrastructure.

resource webServer 'Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines@2021-03-01' = {
  name: 'web-server'
  location: resourceGroup().location
  // ...
}

Implementing IaC: A Practical Guide

Step 1: Import Existing Infrastructure

Don't start from scratch. Tools like terraform import can bring existing resources under IaC management.

Step 2: Establish Environments

Define clear separation:

• development/ - for experimentation

• staging/ - mirrors production

• production/ - the real thing

Step 3: Implement CI/CD

# Example GitHub Actions workflow
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - uses: hashicorp/setup-terraform@v2
      - run: terraform init
      - run: terraform plan
      - run: terraform apply -auto-approve

Step 4: Enforce Through Policy

Use tools like:

• Sentinel (Terraform Enterprise)

• OPA (Open Policy Agent)

• AWS Config Rules

To prevent non-compliant infrastructure from being deployed.

The Business Case

Before IaC

• Deployment time: Hours to days

• Error rate: "It works on my machine"

• Recovery time: Unknown, lengthy

• Audit response: Days of log analysis

After IaC

• Deployment time: Minutes

• Error rate: Caught in code review

• Recovery time: Minutes to hours

• Audit response: git log

Common Objections

"It's too complex"

Start simple. Version control one resource type, then expand.

"We don't have time"

You don't have time for the outages and inefficiencies you're currently experiencing.

"Our team lacks expertise"

IaC skills are worth investing in—or partnering for.

Getting Help

Migrating to Infrastructure as Code requires expertise in both the tools and best practices. We help organisations:

• Assess current infrastructure

• Design IaC architecture

• Migrate existing resources

• Train teams on new workflows

Ready to bring your infrastructure under control? Let's discuss your setup.