What is Terraform? — UK Software Development Guide
Direct Answer
Terraform is an open-source Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tool by HashiCorp that allows you to define, provision, and manage cloud infrastructure using declarative configuration files. Instead of clicking through AWS or Azure consoles to create resources, you write HCL (HashiCorp Configuration Language) code that describes your desired infrastructure state.
Terraform in the UK
Terraform is ClickMasters' default IaC tool for AWS and Azure deployments. UK Cyber Essentials benefits significantly from Terraform: infrastructure defined as code means configurations are version-controlled, peer-reviewed, and consistently applied — eliminating the "misconfigured server" security risk. Terraform remote state in AWS S3 (eu-west-2) or Azure Storage (UK South) keeps UK data residency. ClickMasters maintains Terraform modules for standard UK cloud architectures including Cyber Essentials-aligned security group configurations.
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