Mastery: "Complete control of something." – It's not going to happen. Focus on everlasting learning.

Wrench

Three possible scenarios when you might not need infrastructure as code (AWS CloudFormation, Terraform, Azure ARM)

There is much hype around infrastructure as code these days. Architects, business owners, and recruiters throw around terminology and the need to “automate”. But let us take a quick look at three reasons why you do not need infrastructure as code.

1. How large is the scale of your AWS fleet of services, and how often do you have to set up temporary services, that are to be active only for a limited period? If you are not operating at a large scale enough with AWS services, it is difficult to build a business case for writing infrastructure as code templates. It is easier to work on the console (of AWS or Azure).

2. Are you planning on using a large set of AWS or Azure services, or is the business limited to 3–5 services (including governance)? If the latter is true, you can use the AWS console.

3. Are you going to assist with comprehensive architecture designs, educate, or otherwise provide comprehensive AWS or Azure architect services? If not, you do not need infrastructure as code in the cloud.

You could use these three points in your discussions which revolve around yay or nay to infrastructure as code in your particular situation. Take these three reasons as useful prompts to deep dive into the discussions in your workplace for AWS or Azure projects.

Remember: Every time you put someone in front of a terminal to write code, you are creating more work. Work costs money and that decreases the bottom line of the net revenue of the business. Infrastructure as code may have benefits but it also introduces more work.