Infrastructure as code (IaC) is becoming outdated for modern devops environments
Infrastructure-as-Code has done its job. It helped bring consistency and automation to complex environments. But it’s stuck. The basic principle, define your infrastructure using static code, usually YAML or something similar, store it in a Git repository, hasn’t changed much since the ’90s. And now it’s not scaling well anymore.
Cloud adoption, containers, real-time changes, these have all reshaped infrastructure. But IaC tools haven’t kept up. Terraform, OpenTofu, Pulumi, these work, but they’re slow to adapt, hard to maintain, and rigid. You’re dealing with configuration drift, mismatched states, and debugging issues that often require more engineering hours than the feature being deployed.
For C-level leaders, the takeaway is this: traditional IaC methods don’t align with what your business needs today. You need infrastructure systems that can evolve at the speed of your product, without turning engineers into configuration janitors. When your automation tools can’t scale with your product velocity, you’re bottlenecked in ways that cost time and money, across teams.
Adam Jacob, CEO of System Initiative, said something worth repeating: “We’ve taken that idea [of declarative configuration] as far as it can go.” He’s right. The tech environment evolved, but infrastructure automation didn’t. Ryan Ryke, CEO of Cloud Life, summed the problem up well: “You build your castle, and on Day Two, it’s falling apart because someone made changes you didn’t sync.”
That’s a problem not just for engineers. That’s a reliability issue. It’s a coordination issue. It’s operational drag. If you’re managing multiple teams or operating across cloud environments, it’s time to think past legacy IaC.
System initiative introduces a dynamic, data-driven model that revolutionizes infrastructure management
System Initiative changes how infrastructure is defined, understood, and upgraded. Instead of writing static code and praying it stands the test of time, this platform builds data-driven models that evolve with the environment. No more stale configuration. No more surprised engineers. You manage real-time representations of your system, graphical, queryable, and always in sync.
The platform centers around digital twins. These are models that represent your entire infrastructure, how services are connected, what tasks they perform, and how they change over time. It’s not just a visual diagram, it’s the source of truth. Restarting a server, spinning up a container, or rolling out a deployment, each of these becomes an action tied to the model and executed from it. It’s automatic. It’s auditable. It’s scalable.
Executives need to pay attention to what this enables. Cross-functional teams can now operate from a shared, intuitive interface. Developers work faster because context is clearer. Ops maintains oversight without micromanagement. Tools aren’t fighting each other. Infrastructure becomes a product, with its own velocity and intelligence. That means less firefighting. Fewer outages. More trust between development and operations.
Neil Hanlon, founder and infrastructure lead at Rocky Linux, calls System Initiative “a huge force multiplier.” He’s not exaggerating. When you give teams a system where intent meets action without the friction, you get exponential gains, not just incremental improvements.
Long-term, this doesn’t just change tooling. It redefines the way you plan, secure, and grow infrastructure. You don’t need to reinvent devops, but you do need to remove the pain points that shouldn’t exist anymore. System Initiative is showing what that next chapter looks like.
System initiative streamlines infrastructure management for decentralized and open-source communities
When infrastructure teams are spread across different organizations, geographies, and time zones, as is often the case in open-source projects, clarity and control can become hard to maintain. That’s where the old tooling model breaks down. Tools like Terraform and Ansible work when you have a tightly controlled team, but once things go decentralized, productivity starts to suffer. Engineers spend more time syncing on infrastructure details than building real progress.
System Initiative solves this problem by introducing a central, living system that’s accessible and easy to modify, even for contributors who aren’t deep into infrastructure. It lowers the barrier to entry. You don’t need months of tribal knowledge or to memorize hundreds of lines of IaC just to make small operational changes. That enables broader team ownership, even across a loosely organized ecosystem.
One example is the Rocky Linux team, which is using System Initiative to overhaul their MirrorManager, a critical service that directs users to download packages from geographically optimal mirrors. Founder Neil Hanlon pointed out how the older, fragmented tool stack made collaboration harder and slowed cross-functional progress. With System Initiative in place, their community teams can now operate with more flexibility, without sacrificing governance or security.
The implications for executive leaders in similar organizations are straightforward. If you run a decentralized team, you need tools that reduce friction, tools that enable autonomy without losing control. Having infrastructure that’s queryable, visual, and versioned like a living document gives you resilience, even when teams are switching contexts or when contributors change rapidly.
Cloud life leverages system initiative to reduce inefficiencies and accelerate deployment processes for diverse client needs
Cloud consultancy work is complex by design. Every client has different cloud setups, compliance requirements, and constraints. For engineering firms like Cloud Life, trying to reuse Terraform modules across 20 or more clients becomes unsustainable. Too much time is wasted adapting modules that don’t translate well from one project to another. That kills delivery speed and eats into margins.
System Initiative removes the need for that kind of over-customization. Instead of trying to shoehorn existing IaC into projects, Cloud Life now builds reusable infrastructure workflows directly into System Initiative. These aren’t static templates. They’re functional models that can be reused, understood, and handed off without chasing version mismatches or outdated dependencies.
Ryan Ryke, CEO of Cloud Life, made the decision to make System Initiative the company’s default. The reason is simple: it saves time. Their engineers no longer have to spend hours navigating bespoke Terraform pipelines just to make a small change. They’ve freed up operational budget and accelerated delivery timelines, all while giving clients a more transparent and maintainable interface.
Executives managing service delivery teams should take note of what this unlocks: higher project velocity, fewer handoffs, lower onboarding costs for new engineers, and a better customer experience. Infrastructure becomes something clients can engage with and even own, instead of something buried in code and hidden behind process.
This shift lets technical teams focus on high-value architectural work instead of fighting with tooling. For Cloud Life, that’s already translated into launching six new projects last quarter using System Initiative, covering both greenfield builds and cloud migrations. That’s execution speed that shows up on your balance sheet.
Adoption of system initiative involves overcoming transition challenges and may not be ideal for every use case
When a platform redefines how infrastructure is built and managed, adoption isn’t immediate. That’s the case with System Initiative. It introduces a fundamentally new model, digital twins, real-time infrastructure diagrams, function-based workflows, which can deliver major gains, but also requires a shift in how teams think, build, and operate.
For companies that have already invested heavily in Infrastructure as Code, the barrier isn’t just technical, it’s cultural. Replacing large, custom-built IaC systems isn’t easy. It takes upfront work, iterative testing, and a willingness to challenge internal legacy practices. Organizations will need to plan smart migrations and prioritize by ROI. The payoff is there, but it’s not instant.
Adam Jacob, CEO and co-founder of System Initiative, is clear-eyed about the challenge. He advises teams not to try to replace everything at once. Start with new apps or areas that haven’t fully adopted IaC. Focus on observable gains, build trust in the new model, and expand where it works.
It’s also important to recognize that System Initiative won’t be the right fit for every scenario. Teams running stable, highly repetitive infrastructure may prefer sticking with programmatic IaC. In those contexts, writing configurations once and repeating them endlessly still works.
Ryan Ryke, CEO of Cloud Life, admits the shift may disrupt existing ways of working, especially for those heavily invested in IaC tooling. Still, he’s clear on the value when the need for flexibility and speed outweighs rigid repeatability.
Executives should look at this through a strategic lens: if your infrastructure demands are increasing in complexity, if collaboration is blocked by silos, or if tool fragility is slowing your product cycle, then now is the right time to evaluate new frameworks. But don’t force a change where the current setup is still highly effective.
System initiative paves the way for enhanced AI integration in devops through structured, real-time data modeling
A major shortfall in traditional IaC tools is that they don’t expose structured, actionable data. Static config files are not built to power autonomous or intelligent agents, they weren’t designed for that purpose. So when businesses start thinking about AI-powered infrastructure management, the gap becomes obvious. You can’t optimize what you can’t properly model.
System Initiative fills that gap.
Its core architecture gives you rich, relational data about how your infrastructure functions, how components interact, how they evolve over time, and what impacts a given change might have. That’s the baseline required for effective AI assistance. Structured models like these don’t just improve ops, they feed the next layer of intelligent automation.
Adam Jacob points out a key reality about large language models (LLMs): “Most people think LLMs are magic. They’re not. It’s a technology like anything else.” These systems need consistent, high-fidelity inputs. They don’t “understand” abstract YAML or fragile code snippets. What they respond to is concrete, queryable structure, something System Initiative provides.
For C-suite leaders, this presents a forward path. As AI becomes integral to software and infrastructure ecosystems, companies need operational frameworks in place that allow AI systems to reason, recommend, and execute with precision. Without structured infrastructure models, deploying meaningful AI becomes guesswork.
System Initiative helps unlock that next chapter. It doesn’t aim to replace decision-makers or engineers, it helps deliver the systems where both humans and machines can act faster and with more clarity. If your long-term strategy includes AI-driven scaling, observability, or uptime improvement, this is a foundational tool you’ll want to evaluate.
Key takeaways for decision-makers
- IaC is showing its age: Leaders should evaluate existing Infrastructure as Code (IaC) stacks against modern demands, as legacy tools like Terraform are increasingly misaligned with dynamic, multicloud environments and real-time operational needs.
- System initiative shifts the model: Decision-makers should consider platforms like System Initiative that replace static configuration files with dynamic, data-driven models, improving visibility, scalability, and infrastructure reliability across teams.
- Open-source teams gain control: Organizations with decentralized teams should adopt tools that reduce complexity and enable shared infrastructure ownership, as System Initiative has done for Rocky Linux to streamline collaboration and oversight.
- Consultancy speed improves: Service providers and systems integrators can increase delivery velocity and reduce technical debt by moving away from overly customized IaC pipelines toward visual, reusable infrastructure workflows enabled by System Initiative.
- Not for every use case: Executive teams should assess the maturity and complexity of their infrastructure needs before adopting System Initiative, as its benefits are greatest in complex or rapidly changing environments rather than stable, templated setups.
- AI readiness starts with structure: Leaders aiming to integrate AI into operations should prioritize platforms that generate structured, queryable infrastructure models, as these are essential for enabling effective LLM-based automation in devops.
