Start Up Founders: Please, Please, Please, Avoid Click Ops!
You have an idea. You've assembled a team. You have $100k in AWS credits burning a hole in your digital pocket. It's time to roll up your sleeves and get to work. You might think your next step is to dive into AWS: create an account, start clicking around (Click Ops), setting up EC2 instances, configuring IAM roles, creating a database, and tossing in a few S3 buckets for good measure. If you're somewhat familiar with AWS, you might get this all done in a few hours and feel ready to launch. But hold up—I've been there, done that, and also spent too much time regretting and untangling the chaos that ensued. It's a common pathway, but it's a big mistake that costs a lot of time and money to fix.
Why Companies Use Click Ops
Speed
In the short term, manual setups or "Click Ops" might seem faster, but you incur significant technical debt and operational challenges down the line. I've personally spent significant amounts of time dealing with the headaches and the aftermath of infrastructure created manually, which comes at an opportunity cost of focusing on higher-impact initiatives.
Expertise
Companies use Click Ops from the beginning because they often lack the expertise. Startups often start with generalists who might not have the specialized knowledge needed to implement Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and adhere to best practices from the get-go.
Why You Should Use IaC
Importing Resources into IaC is Challenging
Once resources are manually created, migrating them into an IaC framework can be cumbersome and error-prone. Starting with IaC avoids this headache by keeping your infrastructure definition in code from day one.
Reversibility of Changes
Without IaC, rolling back changes can be a nightmare. IaC allows you to track changes systematically and revert to previous versions if something goes wrong, offering a clear history of what was changed and why.
Automation Advantages
IaC is like having a "copy-paste" function for your cloud infrastructure. It allows you to quickly deploy pre-configured and tested infrastructure setups, reducing the time and effort involved significantly as your company grows.
Better Management of Staging Environments
IaC makes it straightforward to replicate your production environment in staging. This ensures that you test under conditions that match production, leading to fewer surprises when you go live.
Streamlined Change Management
IaC provides visibility into who made changes, what was changed, and when it was changed. This transparency is crucial for maintaining control over your infrastructure, especially in team environments.
Conclusion
Starting with a robust foundation in IaC isn't just about keeping your infrastructure in order—it's about setting your project up for scalable, manageable growth. While the temptation to jump straight into AWS and start clicking might be strong, resist the urge. Take the time to set up your infrastructure with scalability and best practices in mind. Your future self will thank you, and so will your team, as you build a resilient, efficient, and secure system ready to handle whatever your business growth throws at it.