Infrastructure as code (IaC) is a method to provision and manage IT infrastructure through the use of source code, rather than through standard operating procedures and manual processes. Tools like HashiCorp Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, or Ansible help you automate the infrastructure deployment process in a repeatable and consistent manner, driving speed, simplicity, and efficiency.

However, this level of granular automation in cloud provisioning poses serious challenges for managing and optimizing the cloud resources, such as uncontrollable micro-purchasing, performance risks and cloud cost sprawl. With Infrastructure as Code, you need to find a new way to manage and optimize your cloud infrastructure in a fully automated fashion.