The Building Block Approach: Simplifying the Complexities of Cloud Deployment

Deploying applications across multiple cloud environments looks different to each organization undertaking the process. Some businesses may have a broad, well defined landscape and golden path, while others face an uphill battle tackling cost management, infrastructure compatibility and dependency issues, a lack of security expertise, and handling data management. Taking a modular approach to simplifying cloud deployment complexities is a solution that allows teams flexibility and organization, while still ensuring migration tasks are completed in a secure and efficient manner. 

“The complexity of managing cloud systems is increasing with constantly evolving security, resiliency, and compliance requirements. This complexity manifests as significant cognitive load for development teams. StackGen is attacking this problem directly by reducing the toil associated with application deployment and cloud infrastructure lifecycle management so that developers can focus on delivering customer value.” – Brandon Leach, Vice President of R&D and Developer Enablement at a Top 10 Software Company

Think of this as being similar to building bricks, in which cloud deployment tasks can be broken down into groups, organized, and connected without having to introduce additional complexities. Cloud deployment has also evolved over the years, with some companies migrating to the cloud for the first time, while others are consolidating their hybrid cloud approach to a single provider. No matter the solution chosen, cloud adoption continues to grow as companies undergo digital transformation efforts. Each cloud provider offers its own capabilities, pricing models, and features, making the decision one that requires alignment across multiple teams. In this post, we’ll explore how taking a modular approach to cloud deployment can streamline the process, making it more efficient, secure, and reliable.

Breaking Down the Complexities of Cloud Deployment

The building block approach to cloud deployment draws its inspiration from the simplicity and modular nature of building bricks. Just as toy bricks can be combined in an endless variety of ways to create multiple structures, so too can cloud deployment tasks be broken down into modular “blocks” that are simple to assemble, customize, and deploy. Rather than require developers to learn new languages or write complex code for each deployment, the building block approach simplifies the process by offering pre-built, reusable components (or ‘blocks’.) These blocks are designed to perform specific tasks or functions, such as provisioning resources, configuring networks, or scaling applications. Every block is independent, meaning developers can select and combine them as needed to fit various deployment scenarios. Blocks can also be organized visually, allowing teams to design, adapt, and deploy their cloud infrastructure without the need to do a deep dive into complex code or syntax. 

One of the key benefits to this approach is that it fosters collaboration across teams, including developers, platform engineers, and DevOps practitioners. 

• Developers are able to focus on building the core functionality of an application, using predefined blocks to deploy their code to the target cloud. 
• DevOps teams can manage the deployment pipeline, ensuring that the right blocks are selected to automate processes like Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD). 
• Platform engineers can ensure that the infrastructure is scalable and resilient by selecting the right blocks for managing resources and handling scaling.

By utilizing this modular, block-based approach, teams can communicate more effectively when it’s needed, rather than having to follow up with one another in an endless loop of incremental tech debt. Instead of translating between different tools and processes, they are able to work with the same visual components throughout the migration process. 

StackGen: Enabling the Building Block Approach for Cloud Deployment

StackGen is a powerful generative infrastructure platform designed to fully embrace the building block approach to cloud deployment. With StackGen, users can enjoy the benefits of modularity, flexibility, and ease of use while maintaining consistency, compliance, and efficiency. 

One of the biggest challenges in cloud deployment is managing compliance and ensuring that all processes follow the necessary policies without delays or manual intervention. StackGen proactively enforces security policies during deployment, preventing issues from arising that could lead to errors or bottlenecks. By automating policy enforcement at every stage of the deployment process, StackGen ensures that all tasks are carried out according to an organization’s pre-defined standards—whether it’s security requirements, resource limitations, or company guidelines. This proactive approach helps avoid manual intervention, reduces the risk of human error, and keeps deployments on track while avoiding unnecessary interruptions.

“Ensuring governance and consistency in deployments is crucial. StackGen provides default standardization, embedding consistency, security, and policy guardrails seamlessly into cloud deployments for enhanced application reliability,” said Arvind Gidwani, CTO, SAP NS2. “StackGen is providing the necessary compliance and cloud automation at scale to help drive digital transformation.”

Another of StackGen's standout features is its ability to meet customers where they are in their cloud journey. Whether you're using Terraform, Helm, Kubernetes, or other deployment tools, StackGen integrates seamlessly with them, across a variety of cloud providers such as AWS, GCP, Azure, and Civo Cloud. This flexibility ensures that organizations can leverage their existing tools and workflows without disruption while gaining the enhanced capabilities of StackGen's modular approach. 

StackGen further brings the building block approach to life throughout the cloud deployment lifecycle, enabling teams to assemble and manage their infrastructures with modular, customizable components. By supporting a wide range of recognized developer tools, integrating custom modules, and proactively enforcing security policies, StackGen streamlines the deployment process, ensuring consistency, compliance, and speed. 

Ready to revolutionize your cloud deployment strategy? Try StackGen today and experience the power of modularity for faster, more efficient infrastructure management. Start optimizing now!