Azure NoOps Best Practices¶
How to Achieve Collaboration and Automation across Development, Operations, and Cyber Teams
What is Azure NoOps?¶
NoOps is a term that describes the goal of eliminating the need for manual operations tasks by automating the entire software development and deployment lifecycle. NoOps aims to achieve faster, more reliable, and more secure software delivery by leveraging cloud-native technologies, such as infrastructure as code (IaC), policy as code (PaC), and continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD).
Why Azure NoOps?¶
NoOps can bring many benefits to organizations that adopt it, such as:
- Reducing the friction and silos between development, operations, and cyber teams.
- Increasing the speed and frequency of software releases and updates.
- Improving the quality and performance of software products and services.
- Enhancing the security and compliance of software environments and processes.
- Lowering the costs and risks of software development and operations.
How to Achieve Azure NoOps?¶
NoOps is not a one-size-fits-all solution, but rather a mindset and a culture that requires collaboration and automation across the entire software lifecycle. To achieve NoOps, organizations need to adopt the following best practices:
Shared Responsibility¶
NoOps requires a shift from the traditional model of separate and distinct roles and responsibilities for development, operations, and cyber teams, to a model of shared ownership and accountability for the software environment and processes. This means that:
- Development: Owns Infrastructure as Code while working with Operations on the Azure Environment architecture.
- Operations: Learns and deploys IaC while working with Cyber on securing the environment.
- Cyber: Writes and deploys Policy as Code while working with Dev and Ops on securing the environment.
Infrastructure as Code¶
Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is the practice of defining and managing the software infrastructure and configuration using code and automation tools, rather than manual processes and scripts. IaC enables developers and operations teams to provision, update, and scale the software environment in a consistent, repeatable, and reliable manner. IaC also facilitates the integration of security and compliance policies into the software infrastructure, ensuring that the environment is always aligned with the best practices and standards.
Policy as Code¶
Policy as Code (PaC) is the practice of defining and enforcing the security and compliance rules and requirements for the software environment and processes using code and automation tools, rather than manual audits and reviews. PaC enables cyber teams to write and deploy policies as code that can be applied to the software infrastructure, configuration, and deployment, ensuring that the environment and processes are always compliant with the regulations and standards. PaC also facilitates the collaboration and communication between cyber and other teams, as the policies are transparent, verifiable, and actionable.
Sentinel as Code¶
Sentinel as Code is the use of IaC with Terraform to define the desired state of your Azure Sentinel environment. This includes defining the workspace, data connectors, analytics rules, and other configurations. Once the code is written, you can use automation tools to deploy and manage your Sentinel environment, ensuring that it is always in the desired state.
Continuous Integration and Delivery¶
Continuous Integration and Delivery (CI/CD) is the practice of automating the software development and deployment pipeline, enabling the teams to integrate, test, and deliver the software code and artifacts in a continuous and seamless manner. CI/CD enables the teams to accelerate the software delivery cycle, improve the software quality and performance, and reduce the software errors and defects. CI/CD also facilitates the integration of security and compliance checks and controls into the software pipeline, ensuring that the software code and artifacts are always secure and compliant.