DevOps for IaC

Many of our customers asked us to help them implement secure, multi-account CI/CD pipelines for deploying their AWS Infrastructure as Code (IaC).

To support enterprise governance, we designed a centralized DevOps account model. This account orchestrates deployments of AWS CDK stacks into multiple workload accounts using cross-account IAM roles, change-controlled releases, and environment-specific automation.

Centralized DevOps Account for IaC Delivery

The DevOps account hosts all pipeline components and connects to GitHub or CodeCommit as the source. Each environment (development, staging, production) has its own branch and dedicated deployment flow.

• AWS CodePipeline orchestrates build and deploy stages
• AWS CodeBuild synthesizes CDK into CloudFormation templates
• IAM AssumeRole enables secure cross-account deployments
• CloudFormation applies changes with reviewable change sets

From the DevOps account, pipelines assume a deployment role in the target environment to create or update the infrastructure stacks.

Manual Approval for Safe Rollouts

Before CloudFormation executes the update, each pipeline includes a mandatory manual approval step. Teams review the change set to confirm that updates match expectations before any live resources are modified.

Modular Architecture for Selective Deployments

Repositories are structured by environment, application, and stack boundaries such as network, compute, or security. A change to an individual module only triggers its specific pipeline, reducing blast radius and accelerating deployments.

Flexibility for Demo and Innovation Environments

When needed, developers can bypass automation and deploy CDK stacks directly by simply pointing to the correct target account. This supports fast prototyping without affecting production pipelines.

This architecture provides strong governance, precise access controls, and a fully auditable deployment process while maintaining high developer velocity across all AWS accounts.