Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

What is Infrastructure as Code (IaC)?

Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is an approach that makes it possible to define and manage infrastructure resources as code, rather than configuring them manually. Servers, networks, storage and other components can be described using files or templates that are stored, version-controlled and deployed automatically.

What does IaC bring to the management of Cloud environments?

IaC makes it possible to create and rebuild environments in a more consistent, repeatable and traceable way. By maintaining configuration as code, organisations can identify which version is deployed, review and approve changes before applying them, and reproduce infrastructure when needed.

It also makes it easier to integrate with automation pipelines, corporate policies and security controls.

How does IaC differ from creating resources through a Cloud portal?

A portal makes it possible to deploy resources quickly and is useful for testing or one-off requirements, but as environments grow, it becomes increasingly difficult to reproduce configurations and maintain consistent standards.

With IaC, infrastructure no longer depends primarily on manual actions and instead has a reusable, version-controlled definition, making it easier to manage at scale.

Does Infrastructure as Code also improve resilience?

It can contribute to resilience by making it possible to rebuild environments from known, reproducible configurations, which is particularly useful in the event of errors, failures or incidents that require services to be restored.

However, IaC does not, by itself, guarantee secure or resilient infrastructure: a misconfiguration can also be automated and propagated. That is why it needs to be combined with appropriate architecture, governance, security, observability, and continuity and recovery mechanisms.

■ Infrastructure as Code turns infrastructure configuration into a version-controlled, reproducible and auditable asset.