New visualization tool is the first native visualization for AWS infrastructure, and a groundbreaking development in the adoption of infrastructure as a code.
Cloud developers and architects use AWS CloudFormation to design, launch and update an AWS application or service architecture stack for repeatable workloads. CloudFormation provides templates for creating an entire environment, such as a website, using the JSON scripting language. Developers don’t need to figure out the order for provisioning AWS services or worry about the dependencies, as the free tool handles all the behind the scene configurations.
This is a huge help when you have workloads that must launch over and over again, saving time on provisioning and configuration. You can actually launch “with the click of a button.” On the other hand, CloudFormation files typically consist of thousands of lines of code, which doesn’t make them easy to modify or share.
Now, with the new AWS CloudFormation Designer, customers can view the details behind an AWS environment through a simpler, graphical view. You don’t need JSON expertise to collaborate on design and planning. The visual drag-and-drop interface is remarkably easy to use, compared with how cloud developers have been working thus far. Instead of writing several lines of code, you can draw a line on the screen connecting one resource to another.
The big picture
AWS CloudFormation Designer will expand the universe of IT people who can write AWS scripts and manage workloads, since they won’t need to know JSON. That means more hands on deck for new projects. After you create the visualization in the tool, you can launch the environment right then and there. We’ve seen that CloudFormation Designer reduces the time to create and launch a new workload from hours to minutes.
What’s also intriguing about this new feature is that it further affirms the infrastructure-as-code mindset. Consider the impact that tools like Visual Studio, Borland and IDEs have had on Microsoft .NET and Java developers. Developers can write code faster and reduce errors. Similarly, AWS has in effect created an interactive development environment (IDE) type tool for the cloud. This is a radical departure for the public cloud leader; AWS is known for its boxes and pipes, not sophisticated visual tools.
AWS CloudFormation Designer is a refreshing development for those who believe public cloud infrastructure will take over the world. One of the challenges with cloud computing adoption is that infrastructure as a service remains a new language to many corporate IT departments. AWS has made a smart move here by introducing more transparency to its platform, and opening the door for IT generalists to get involved. We’re excited that our customers and other companies will benefit from this new view of AWS.
-Kris Bliesner, Founder and CTO
