Infrastructure as Code Is Not Optional Anymore
If your team is not managing infrastructure like product, you’re moving too slow, spending too much, and putting customers at risk.
Author name: Joe Sambuco
Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is the backbone of secure, repeatable, scalable operations. It’s not a DevOps nice-to-have. It’s a security, speed, and survivability requirement.
Let’s Debunk the Biggest Myth
“It’s just automation on steroids.”
Wrong.
IaC isn’t scripting in a fancier format. It’s how modern engineering teams enforce security, recover faster, and ship more often, without handholding operations.
Like automated testing, IaC is a shift-left capability.
You catch risks earlier, codify intent, and prevent production errors before they happen.
Case Study: Spotify
- Tools: Terraform, Helm, Kubernetes, Backstage
- Infra as Code for provisioning, deployment, and visibility
- 20,000+ deployments/month, decentralized squads
- Outcome: Fast delivery, high resilience, low friction between teams
Case Study: Netflix
- Tools: Terraform, Spinnaker, Vault, custom policy tooling
- Infra is version-controlled, security-checked, deployed automatically
- Chaos engineering enforces resilience
- Outcome: High availability, secure delivery pipelines, full rollback within minutes
Why Security Depends on IaC
- Threat Detection: Block misconfigs at commit
- Takedown Automation: Rollback known-bad infra instantly
- Policy Enforcement: Tools like OPA, Checkov, Sentinel enforce standards
- Secrets and Zero Trust: Codified access, ephemeral infra, Vault integration
- Drift Detection: Firefly, Spacelift, Terraform Cloud flag unauthorized changes
The IaC Stack That Works
Core Tools
- Terraform, Pulumi, CloudFormation
- Ansible, Puppet, Chef, Salt
- Kubernetes, Helm, Airflow
- Vault, OPA, Sentinel, Checkov
- ArgoCD, Flux
Emerging/Scaling Tools
- Spacelift, Env0, Scalr, Firefly
- Dagger, Earthly, Crossplane, Terramate
Quick Wins to Prove the Point
- Codify a live resource (e.g., public S3 bucket)
- Add a CI policy scan (Checkov, OPA) to block misconfig
- Run a drift report and expose untracked changes
- Replace static creds with Vault or AWS Secrets Manager
- Build and share a reusable VPC module
- Use PRs with required reviews + checks to enforce governance
How to Start (Execution Roadmap and Engineering goal alignment)
1. Inventory What’s Critical
- Target one production workload
- Identify what’s still manual or undocumented
2. Codify It Now
- Use Terraform or Pulumi
- Store in Git, lock state, version control all changes
3. Add CI/CD Integration
- Add format + policy checks to PRs
- Require approval gates for infra change
- Store logs and apply outputs
4. Create One Shared Module
- Start with VPC, IAM policy, or load balancer
- Reuse it across 2–3 apps
- Publish a usage guide or README internally
5. Layer in Security Scanning
- Use Checkov or Sentinel to catch violations
- Integrate with Secrets Manager or Vault
- Track open ports, hardcoded secrets, identity drift
6. Detect Drift, Track Compliance
- Add Firefly, Terraform Cloud, or Spacelift
- Report unauthorized changes weekly
- Tie compliance score to audit process
7. Evangelize and Show Off
- Demo quick wins in engineering all-hands
- Share “before/after” workflows
- Publish metrics (time saved, bugs avoided, changes per day)
- Build a Slack or Teams channel for IaC wins
- Identify and support internal champions
8. Set IaC as the Default
- Mandate for all new workloads
- Block changes to infrastructure outside Git
- Make drift a compliance issue, not an FYI
Bottom Line
IaC is not a toolchain, it’s a discipline, it’s a movement that can start small and grow. If your infra isn’t in code, it’s invisible, insecure, and unscalable.
Codify it. Scan it. Share it.
Show leadership how safe and fast looks.