1. Objectives and Scope Definition
2. Standardisation and Baseline Engineering
3. Infrastructure as Code and Automation Pipelines
4. Desired State and Drift Control
5. Patch Governance and Vulnerability Remediation
6. Secrets, Credentials and Key Management
7. Environment Promotion and Release Hygiene
8. Inventory, CMDB and Dependency Mapping
9. Compliance Assurance and Policy as Code
10. Observability for Configuration State
11. Collaboration Model and Operating Rhythm
12. Commercial Models and Value Realisation
13. Adoption Journey and Implementation Stages
1. Objectives and Scope Definition

We start by aligning technical practice with business outcomes, clarifying priorities and constraints.

Classification of platforms, applications and data by criticality

Definition of service levels for configuration currency, patch cadence and remediation windows

Identification of regulatory obligations and evidence requirements

Agreement on ownership, handoffs and escalation routes across teams

2. Standardisation and Baseline Engineering

Eliminate variance at the source. We design and maintain hardened baselines that express security and operational standards without impeding performance.

Golden images for operating systems, middleware and runtimes

CIS aligned hardening with tailored exceptions and documented rationale

Parameterised builds to accommodate environment specifics without drift

Versioned patterns for servers, containers and network devices

3. Infrastructure as Code and Automation Pipelines

We codify the platform so that builds are deterministic, reviewable and repeatable.

Declarative definitions for infrastructure (Terraform), configuration (Ansible, DSC) and packaging

Git-centred workflows with branching, code review and policy gates

CI/CD pipelines to validate syntax, test idempotency and run compliance checks

Controlled promotion from development to production with signed artefacts

4. Desired State and Drift Control

Maintaining intent over time is critical. We enforce desired state and expose variance quickly.

Scheduled and event-driven convergence to remediate configuration deviation

Drift detection with context: who changed what, where and when

Safe guardrails to prevent destructive remediations during incident conditions

Exceptions managed by policy with expiry, owner and documented justification

5. Patch Governance and Vulnerability Remediation

Currency is non negotiable for resilience and security.
We engineer a disciplined, data-led approach.

Risk-based patching windows mapped to asset criticality and exposure

Automated pre-checks, dependency validation and staged roll outs

Integration with vulnerability scanners and vendor advisories

Measurement of coverage, mean time to remediate and SLA adherence

6. Secrets, Credentials and Key Management

Credential sprawl erodes control.
We implement robust practices for sensitive material.

Centralised secret stores with RBAC, MFA and detailed audit trails

Just-in-time credential issuance and automatic rotation

Encryption key lifecycle management and HSM integration where required

Elimination of secrets from code and configuration via template injection

7. Environment Promotion and Release Hygiene

Changes must be traceable and reversible. We build release processes that protect stability and speed.

Pre-production parity to validate changes under realistic conditions

Canary and blue green strategies to minimise risk during rollout

Structured back out plans with tested restore points

Change notes auto generated from commits and pipeline runs

8. Inventory, CMDB and Dependency Mapping

Accurate metadata underpins effective change and incident response.

Automatic asset discovery and normalisation across data centres

Real time enrichment of CMDB with configuration state and ownership

Application dependency graphs to inform sequencing and impact analysis

Lifecycle attributes (support status, patch level, baseline version) maintained as sources of truth

9. Compliance Assurance and Policy as Code

Controls must be enforced consistently and evidenced reliably.

Policies codified and evaluated continuously against live configuration

Control mapping to ISO 27001, NCSC guidance, NIS2 and sector frameworks

Evidence packs including test results, drift logs and approval histories

Readiness for audits with demonstrable lineage from requirement to proof

10. Observability for Configuration State

Visibility is essential to prevent blind spots and reduce time to restore normal operations.

Dashboards for baseline adherence, drift hotspots and patch exposure

Alerting on configuration events that change risk posture

Correlation of config changes with performance and incident metrics

Trend analysis to identify chronic issues and inform backlog priorities

11. Collaboration Model and Operating Rhythm

We integrate with your teams and partners to ensure clarity, pace and accountability.

Co-managed options with clearly defined swimlanes for platform, security and application teams

ITIL aligned practices for change, release and configuration management

Routine cadences: CAB participation, backlog grooming and service reviews

Knowledge transfer, runbooks and enablement to establish capabilities

12. Commercial Models and Value Realisation

Cost control should accompany control improvement.
Our commercial approach is transparent and outcomes oriented.

Subscription tiers that bundle tooling, management and reporting

Consumption pricing for seasonal or project based expansion

Cost attribution by portfolio, environment or business unit

Periodic value reviews tied to risk reduction, stability gains and speed of delivery

13. Adoption Journey and Implementation Stages

We deliver in structured phases to de risk adoption and accelerate benefits.

Discovery: estate inventory, standards review and gap analysis

Design: target operating model, patterns, policies and implementations

Build: baseline creation, pipeline setup and pilot workloads

Expand: phased onboarding, remediation of technical debt and process maturation

Operate: continuous enforcement, reporting and iterative improvement

Why Cloud Complex?

Consult with our specialists

With disciplined standardisation, automation and continuous assurance, our configuration management services transform configuration from a source of risk into a strategic asset.

Engage our specialists to arrange a technical assessment and receive a tailored roadmap aligned to your objectives, risk appetite and regulatory context.