Infrastructure as code

The future of device management is declarative

Dan Jackson

Sr Manager Systems Engineering, Fastly

Declarative device management

Most device management solutions have an API, but most do not provide comprehensive control over the admin console with infrastructure as code like Fleet.

Managing the Fleet UI console with infrastructure as code means you have total declarative control over your devices.

Unlock powerful automations that allow you to:

• Ensure every change is peer-reviewed
• Ensure every setting is version-controlled
• Easily roll back to a previous state
• Declare the state of the Fleet UI in code, continuously

Observable, reversible, and repeatable workflows

Nothing builds knowledge, trust, and fosters engineering teamwork like peer-reviewed changes made in the open.

Collaboration on infrastructure as code workflows helps to prevent problems before they occur. Version control means it is straightforward to fix problems that do make it into production (nobody's perfect...)

Another powerful technical benefit: less effort on long-term maintenance. Controlling the Fleet UI with code results in a library of stable, known-good configurations that can be copied and modified to easily add new management objects, like device profiles and software. Tame the endless sprawl of manually re-creating automations and scoping.

Rethink change managment

Replacing change management forms and risk assessments with asynchronous infrastructure as code workflows and approvals can dramatically increase operational speed.

Stay the course

Changes made in the console or to devices directly can cause device state to "drift" - away from compliance, security posture, and an organization's intended user experience.

Choose automation over repetition

Applications build muscle memory. But what could you do with the time gained back from manual tasks and visual scans in your current device management solution?

Cancel the CAB

How much does it cost organizations in time and money to get senior engineers and their bosses on an advisory board call to discuss information that could be in a pull request?

Make end users happy

Mired in engineering details, it's easy to lose sight of an important, oft-stated goal that should be part of any device strategy aimed at operational excellence: enabling work.

Everyone can contribute — IT stays the human in the loop

Infrastructure as code opens device management to the whole organization. Engineers, security, and ops can all propose changes — while an expert from IT reviews and approves every update before it ships. Collaboration without chaos.

GitOps is the foundation for AI-accelerated device management

Without GitOps there is no way to do AI-accelerated device management. With GitOps you can take advantage of the modern tools your org is already pushing, and keep IT from being left behind as a cost center.

Reduce friction, skip the ticket queue

Move faster with fewer handoffs. Skip ticket queues and propose changes in natural language. Use your existing LLM, including air-gapped models, and connect tools like Kilocode with Slack or Microsoft Teams.

Your culture matters, and so does ours

For some organizations, infrastructure as code is a natural fit to the engineering culture even if IT teams lack experience or the practice is new.

If DevOps or GitOps is already used by an organization, device management engineers may be aware of the concepts and tooling. Having an internal example to follow can result in an easier path to adoption.

But, adoption is not always simple. Admins may resist unfamiliar workflows or solutions. They may also have concerns about losing the value of certifications or specialized training.

By meeting potential challenges with phased implementation and thought leadership, any team can successfully adopt infrastructure as code for device management. We've seen it, and we've helped our customers do it.

Making infrastructure as code benefits real

At Fleet, we believe that showing organizations how to migrate to infrastructure as code workflows represents an enormous opportunity for them to increase engineering efficiency and operational speed. This ultimately improves both end user experience and enterprise compliance. We design the product around these goals. We want to help you achieve them.

One way we can help is by improving the product itself, which we're doing every day.

Another way we can help is through training. To learn more about managing devices with infrastructure as code, you can attend one of our free, hands-on, in-person GitOps workshops, or you can request that one be delivered in your area.