Standard : Infrastructure as Code (IaC) Coverage

Description

Infrastructure as Code (IaC) Coverage measures the percentage of infrastructure that is defined and managed via code—typically using tools like Terraform, Pulumi, or CloudFormation. High IaC coverage reduces manual configuration drift, improves traceability, and enables repeatable, testable infrastructure management.

This metric is foundational for DevOps maturity and platform engineering excellence.

How to Use

What to Measure

  • % of infrastructure components (e.g. compute, storage, networking, IAM) that are provisioned, updated, and destroyed via code stored in version control.
  • Can be measured across environments, teams, or cloud accounts.

Formula

IaC Coverage = (Infra Managed via Code / Total Infra Assets) x 100

Instrumentation Tips

  • Use asset inventory tools (e.g. AWS Config, Azure Resource Graph) to list all resources.
  • Compare against IaC repositories and deployment histories.
  • Integrate coverage checks into platform reviews and change audits.

Why It Matters

  • Consistency: Infrastructure is predictable, reproducible, and auditable.
  • Resilience: Recovery from failure or misconfiguration is faster and safer.
  • Security: IaC enables policy enforcement, access control, and drift detection.
  • Collaboration: Changes are peer-reviewed and documented like application code.

Best Practices

  • Manage all critical infrastructure through version-controlled IaC modules.
  • Enforce code reviews and test coverage for infrastructure changes.
  • Adopt policy-as-code for guardrails and compliance automation.
  • Continuously monitor for manually created or unmanaged resources.
  • Invest in reusable modules and standardised patterns.

Common Pitfalls

  • Leaving legacy or one-off resources unmanaged.
  • Not tracking infra created through UIs or ad hoc scripts.
  • IaC files exist but changes are applied manually.
  • Poor module hygiene leading to duplication and drift.

Signals of Success

  • High % of infra changes tracked via Git commits and PRs.
  • Infra issues are resolved through pull requests, not console clicks.
  • Drift detection tools report few or no unmanaged resources.
  • Teams trust infra as code and use it confidently as part of daily workflows.
  • [[Compliance Coverage]]
  • [[Change Failure Rate]]
  • [[Guardrail Coverage]]
  • [[Time to Remediate Vulnerabilities]]
  • [[Infrastructure Change Auditability]]