Lack of Infrastructure as Code Maturity Signals Urgent Need for Innovation to Drive Infrastructure Efficiency and Security

Innovation is needed to make IaC faster and more streamlined; generating IaC directly from application code presents opportunities

SAN FRANCISCO, October 30, 2024 -- StackGen, a leader in Generative Infrastructure from Code (IfC), today announced new research revealing the shortcomings of Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and why many organizations are moving away from it. The report, titled Stacked Up: The IaC Maturity Report, highlights that while IaC adoption has soared, it is failing to deliver on its promise of improved reliability, security, and development velocity. According to the data, the majority of respondents—developers, platform engineers, and executives—are frustrated with the complexity and inefficiencies associated with IaC.

The report shows that 97% of IaC users report difficulties, with developers viewing it as a necessary evil that slows down application deployment. Executives, meanwhile, are concerned that IaC is hindering teams from achieving critical performance metrics like deployment frequency, change failure rate, and time to restore service. This misalignment across roles has created bottlenecks in the software delivery lifecycle, leading to a growing consensus that IaC needs to evolve—or be replaced.

With 65% of current IaC adopters eager for new technologies to improve infrastructure provisioning and deployment, Infrastructure from Code provides an innovative solution. IfC automatically generates IaC from application source code with built-in security and compliance, benefiting executives, managers, and development teams alike.

Key Findings Include:

• IaC introduces reliability and security risks: 56% of respondents reported challenges in enforcing consistent configurations, and 54% cited the complexity of managing multiple tools.
• IaC slows development velocity: Only 13% of organizations have achieved IaC maturity, and 56% of developers spend more than 20% of their time on infrastructure management tasks, limiting focus on core development work.
• Misalignment between executives and users: Developers are frustrated with the cognitive load required to manage IaC, platform engineers struggle with misconfigurations, and executives demand faster, more reliable results.
• 98% of respondents state that their organization needs more IaC expertise: Writing effective IaC is identified as the top area for process improvement across roles, with 43% of respondents highlighting it as a priority. Governance and security follows at 32%. Other key areas for improvement include documentation, consistency, management, and better support for specific application needs. 
• 93% agree innovation is needed: Respondents overwhelmingly agree that IaC needs to be automated and more streamlined to unlock its full potential.

There is a clear need for improvement and innovation, with 65% of current IaC adopters expressing optimism about adopting new technologies to enhance infrastructure provisioning and application deployment. Respondents also highlighted that generating IaC directly from application would be advantageous; opening a door for Infrastructure from Code (IfC)—a next-generation approach that automates the generation of infrastructure directly from application source code, with built-in security and compliance standards. IfC addresses many of the challenges outlined in the report by simplifying the infrastructure provisioning process, improving consistency, and reducing manual errors. According to the Gartner® Hype Cycle™ for Platform Engineering, 2024, platform engineers and developers are seeking higher-level abstractions that allow infrastructure to evolve at the same pace as application development. Although only 22% of respondents are currently familiar with IfC, it is expected to gain traction among organizations seeking improvements in release velocity, application stability, and developer productivity.

“What we are seeing is that IaC hasn’t solved all the problems of infrastructure provisioning,” stated Asif Awan, co-founder and Chief Product Officer of StackGen. “It got us halfway there, but the complexity and expertise needed to make it foolproof have been lacking. Developers, platform engineers, and executives are all calling for a more standardized, automated process that reduces cognitive load and accelerates the software delivery lifecycle. Infrastructure from Code helps overcome the challenges with IaC marking the  beginning of the end for IaC as we know it, as organizations look to solutions like IfC to meet their business goals faster and with greater reliability.”

For more information, please download the full report.

Methodology 

The findings in Stacked Up: The IaC Maturity Report are based on a comprehensive survey conducted by Dimensional Research on behalf of StackGen. The survey, fielded between August 23 and September 3, 2024, included responses from 315 qualified participants from organizations with over 150 developers. All respondents had direct responsibility for Infrastructure as Code (IaC) in either hands-on or managerial roles, ensuring that the insights reflect the real-world experiences of those managing cloud infrastructure at scale. Respondents spanned development, platform engineering, and executive roles, providing a well-rounded view of the current state of IaC adoption and its challenges.