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Don't make your application engineers write IaC code

Make it easy, automated and documented

Author

Matt Gowie
July 23, 2024

Hey folks,

Please don't make your application engineers write Terraform or OpenTofu.

Why?

Because 98% of them don't want to.

Instead, follow these steps:

  1. Build abstractions for application engineers so that they can provide the data for the infrastructure configuration that meets their needs.

  2. Make sure that abstraction’s invocation is applied via your organization’s standard root module for that infrastructure.

  3. Make the process easy, automated, and documented.

  4. Iterate.

Step numbers 3 and 4 are important. That’s where you build credibility and earn adoption. Usage depends on making application engineers’ lives easier, not more difficult.

This may be overly simplistic, but I believe this is the recipe you can use to create meaningful self-service solutions with Terraform or OpenTofu for your org. Think about it, share it with your team, and make it happen!

Happy abstracting,

Matt @ Masterpoint

PS Want to hear my thoughts on OpenTofu, IBM and Open Source? I was a recent guest on The Cloud Gambit podcast and we chatted on these topics and more.