From ClickOps to IaC: Why Migration Has Been So Hard (and How AI + Terraform Make It Easier)

Most engineering teams start their cloud journey with ClickOps. It’s intuitive: you log in to the console, spin up a VM, add storage, configure a service - all in a few clicks.

ClickOps feels simple at first, but over time it creates real problems:

• No single source of truth for infrastructure
• Configuration drift between environments
• Hidden security and compliance risks with no clear audit trail

That’s why Infrastructure as Code (IaC) has become the standard for modern engineering teams. With tools like Terraform, Pulumi, or Bicep, you get:

• Consistent, repeatable infrastructure
• Version control and collaboration through Git
• Traceability and auditability for compliance

In short: IaC is where you want to be. But getting there is tough — and most teams fail at full IaC .

Why migrating from ClickOps to IaC is so difficult

Moving from ClickOps to IaC isn’t just about changing tools — it’s a cultural and technical shift. Common challenges include:

• Import of resources to IaC: pulling unmanaged resources into Terraform is tedious and error-prone.
• Drift detection: once your IaC is live, the moment someone clicks in the console again, drift sneaks back in.
• Terraform complexity: writing clean, modular Terraform code takes expertise and time that not every team has.

For many companies, this is where IaC projects stall. They know they should move beyond ClickOps, but the migration effort feels overwhelming.

How AI makes IaC migration possible

This is where AI is changing the game. Instead of months of manual migration, teams can now:

• Automate import of resources to IaC: AI scans existing cloud environments and generates Terraform modules automatically.
• Fix drift in code: AI doesn’t just flag differences — it creates merge-ready PRs to remediate drift.
• Generate custom guardrails: simple English rules (“all S3 buckets must be encrypted”) become enforceable IaC policies.

In other words, AI is already changing IaC - turning ClickOps history into Terraform code you can trust.

Introducing Cloudgeni’s migration module

At Cloudgeni, we’ve just launched a new migration module designed for exactly this problem. It helps teams move from ClickOps to IaC by:

• Scanning unmanaged resources
• Transforming them directly into valid Terraform modules
• Giving you a clean starting point for IaC adoption

This builds on our vision of deterministic AI for infrastructure - no hallucinations, just safe automation.

Why this matters now

Cloud environments are only getting more complex, and regulatory pressure (SOC2, ISO, DORA) keeps rising. Staying in ClickOps creates hidden risks that surface later as outages, compliance failures, or IaC security risks .

Companies that adopt AI-powered IaC will not only move faster but also operate with far more confidence.

ClickOps is where most teams start.
IaC is where they need to be.
AI is the bridge that makes it possible.