# New Company Onboarding Process

When joining a new organization, I follow a structured approach to establish modern infrastructure and deployment practices. This process transforms legacy infrastructure into a cloud-native platform with automated deployments, comprehensive observability, and security best practices.

# Philosophy

Modern infrastructure should be:

• Automated: Repeatable, testable deployments via CI/CD
• Observable: Comprehensive metrics, logs, and traces
• Secure: Defense in depth with multiple security layers
• Cost-Effective: Right-sized resources with auto-scaling
• Developer-Friendly: Fast feedback loops and local development parity

# What You'll Build

By following this process, you'll establish:

✅ Multi-account AWS environment with proper security boundaries
✅ Kubernetes cluster (EKS) with production-ready configuration
✅ Complete observability stack (Prometheus, Grafana, Loki)
✅ Automated CI/CD pipelines with security scanning
✅ GitOps deployments using ArgoCD
✅ Local development environment (Docker Compose or K3s)
✅ Migration playbook for moving existing applications

# Step-by-Step Tutorial

Follow these steps in order to build a complete, production-ready infrastructure:

# 1. AWS Account Setup

Time: 2-4 hours

Set up the foundation for secure AWS infrastructure:

• Secure root account with MFA and credential policies
• Create AWS Organizations with multi-account strategy
• Set up IAM Identity Center (AWS SSO) for centralized access
• Create IAM admin user for Terraform automation

Start here → 1: AWS Account Setup

# 2. Terraform Organization Setup

Time: 2-3 hours

Bring infrastructure under Terraform management:

• Configure S3 and DynamoDB for remote state management
• Import state infrastructure into Terraform
• Enable organization-wide security (CloudTrail, GuardDuty, Security Hub, Config)
• Apply Service Control Policies (SCPs) for governance

Continue to → 2: Terraform Organization Setup

# 3. Security & Compliance Setup

Time: 2-3 hours

Establish security monitoring and cost controls:

• Enable AWS Config for compliance monitoring
• Create budget alerts to prevent surprise bills
• Implement IAM credential rotation policies
• Set up CloudTrail for audit logging

Continue to → 3: Security & Compliance Setup

# 4. Infrastructure Deployment

Time: 4-6 hours

Build core infrastructure with Terraform:

• Deploy VPC with multi-AZ networking
• Create EKS cluster with managed node groups
• Install observability stack (Prometheus, Grafana, Loki)
• Deploy sample 3-tier application as proof of concept

Continue to → 4: Infrastructure Deployment

# 5. CI/CD Pipeline Setup

Time: 3-4 hours

Automate building, testing, and deployment:

• Create GitHub Actions workflows for build and test
• Add security scanning with Trivy and SonarQube
• Install ArgoCD for GitOps deployments
• Configure automated image builds and pushes

Continue to → 5: CI/CD Pipeline Setup

# 6. Local Development Environment

Time: 1-2 hours

Enable rapid local development and testing:

• Set up Docker Compose for quick iteration
• Configure K3s for local Kubernetes testing
• Create hot-reload development workflows
• Test full stack locally without cloud costs

Continue to → 6: Local Development Environment

# 7. Production Migration

Time: Ongoing (weeks)

Execute phased migration of existing applications:

• Inventory and assess existing applications
• Containerize applications with best practices
• Migrate databases with zero-downtime strategies
• Implement blue-green or canary deployments
• Cut over DNS traffic gradually with monitoring

Continue to → 7: Production Migration

# Timeline & Milestones

# 30 Days: Foundation

• ✅ AWS infrastructure deployed (VPC, EKS, observability)
• ✅ Sample application running with CI/CD
• ✅ Local development environment operational
• ✅ Team trained on basic workflows

# 60 Days: Migration Prep

• ✅ Application inventory and dependency mapping complete
• ✅ First pilot application containerized
• ✅ Staging environment validated
• ✅ Migration runbooks documented

# 90 Days: Production Ready

• ✅ Core applications migrated to Kubernetes
• ✅ GitOps deployments operational
• ✅ Monitoring and alerting comprehensive
• ✅ Legacy infrastructure decommissioned

# Flexibility

The 90-day timeline works for most organizations but may need adjustment based on:

• Application complexity and dependencies
• Current state of automation and containerization
• Team size and cloud experience
• Compliance and security requirements

The key is establishing the foundation early so migration can proceed incrementally with full visibility.

# Get Started

Ready to begin? Start with Step 1: AWS Account Setup