How to deploy IaC successfully

The key to smooth IaC deployments

Infrastructure as Code (IaC) revolutionises cloud automation, but deploying Infrastructure as Code successfully requires careful planning. Many businesses adopt IaC without fully considering security, governance, or testing—leading to misconfigurations, downtime, and compliance failures.

To ensure a seamless IaC deployment, teams need structured CI/CD IaC pipelines, automated validation, and IaC security best practices. 

Automated validation in this context refers to tools that scan for security vulnerabilities and misconfigurations, ensuring that the code adheres to best practices before deployment. However, while these tools are essential for detecting common issues, they can only go so far. Automated scanners sometimes miss newly-discovered vulnerabilities and often underestimate the risks posed by low-level vulnerabilities that can be exploited in as a stepping stone in a more complex attack chain. 

Penetration testing is an essential step after code has been deployed. By simulating real-world attack techniques, security professionals can identify weaknesses that automated tools may overlook. Combining both automated scanning and human-led testing provides a more robust approach to ensuring the security of your IaC deployments.

Building a robust IaC deployment pipeline

A well-structured deployment pipeline is crucial for ensuring the security, scalability, and consistency of your IaC strategy. Without it, making infrastructure changes can lead to unexpected issues such as configuration drift, integration failures, or downtime, as changes may not be thoroughly tested or aligned with existing infrastructure. Below are the essential steps to building a reliable IaC deployment framework.

1. Integrate IaC into CI/CD pipelines

Using GitOps IaC workflows and CI/CD IaC integration ensures that infrastructure changes go through automated testing before deployment.

Best practices:

• Store IaC templates in Git repositories (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket) for version control.
• Automate testing with Terraform Plan, AWS Config, or Azure Blueprints.
• Deploy using CI/CD pipelines with tools like GitHub Actions,  Azure DevOps, or GitLab for streamlined, automated deployment processes.
• Enforce branch-based workflows to prevent unapproved changes from reaching production.
   

2. Implement automated testing and validation

Testing Infrastructure as Code before deployment prevents costly outages and security risks.

Best practices:

• Use static code analysis tools like Checkov, tfsec, or InSpec to detect misconfigurations.
• Test infrastructure in staging environments before deploying to production.
• Define automated rollback mechanisms for failed deployments.
• Consider manual penetration testing as an additional layer of security, if applicable, to identify vulnerabilities that automated tools may miss.
   

3. Secure your IaC deployments

IaC security best practices are critical to protecting cloud resources from attacks that target vulnerabilities.

Best practices:

• Implement Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to restrict infrastructure changes.
• Secure credentials with HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, or  Azure Key Vault.
• Monitor infrastructure for drift and enforce compliance with Policy as Code (PaC).
   

4. Monitor, maintain, and prevent drift

Once deployed, infrastructure must be continuously monitored to detect configuration drift. Drift can lead to misconfigurations, security vulnerabilities, and compliance issues, which can negatively impact performance, increase costs, and introduce risks to your organisation.

Best practices:

• Enable Terraform State Locking or AWS CloudFormation Drift Detection.
• Use monitoring tools like Datadog, Prometheus, or Azure Monitor.
• Automate updates to reflect changes in cloud provider configurations.

How to choose the right MSP for your IaC needs

When selecting a Managed Service Provider (MSP) to support your IaC deployments, look for one that can help you with the following critical elements:

• Designing CI/CD IaC pipelines that align with DevOps IaC workflows.
• Implementing IaC security best practices to prevent misconfigurations and enhance security.
• Automating testing to ensure reliable deployments and reduce failure rates.
• Monitoring for drift and enforcing governance policies to maintain consistency and compliance.

The best MSPs understand that successfully deploying IaC goes beyond just automation. They offer comprehensive solutions that streamline your deployment process, reduce risks, and help you scale confidently.

To illustrate this approach in action, let’s take a look at how Claranet helped a SaaS provider tackle their IaC challenges...

Helping a SaaS provider scale IaC deployments

A growing SaaS company was facing significant challenges with their Infrastructure as Code (IaC) deployments. Their teams were experiencing inconsistent infrastructure provisioning, frequent downtime, and ongoing security risks due to misconfigurations. As their customer base expanded, these issues were getting worse, resulting in delays, frustrated customers, and potential security vulnerabilities in their cloud environment. They needed a solution that would help streamline their IaC processes, improve security, and enable faster, more reliable infrastructure rollouts.

How Claranet helped:

• Implemented a Terraform-based CI/CD pipeline with automated validation, ensuring infrastructure changes were thoroughly tested and validated before deployment.
• Introduced secrets management and Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to enhance security, protecting sensitive data and restricting access to critical resources.
• Set up real-time drift detection and monitoring to identify and address configuration drift, ensuring that infrastructure remained aligned with the desired state and preventing unapproved changes.

The results: 

✔ 70% reduction in deployment failures – reducing downtime and improving overall infrastructure stability.
✔ Faster, more secure infrastructure rollouts – enabling the SaaS provider to scale more efficiently without sacrificing security or reliability.

By implementing these best practices, Claranet helped the SaaS provider overcome their IaC challenges, laying a solid foundation for future growth and success.

Deploying IaC for long-term success

Deploying infrastructure as code is not just about automation—it’s about ensuring security, reliability, and compliance in cloud environments. By following IaC best practices, organisations can simplify infrastructure management, improve efficiency, and prevent costly errors.

Need expert guidance? Claranet can help you build a scalable, secure, and automated IaC strategy.

Next: Read Blog 4 on migrating your existing cloud estate to IaC without disruptions.