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This page explains the maturity model for Terraform on Google Cloud.
This model provides best practices, recommendations, and learning materials that
meet you at your level of comfort and expertise with Terraform on
Google Cloud.
Overview
Terraform on Google Cloud has three user personas (Learners, Builders, and
Operators), and three stages of the maturity model (Adopt, Build, and Scale).
As organizations advance through the process of adopting, building, and scaling
Terraform on Google Cloud for their infrastructure use-cases, they need
accessible learning materials that provide the guidance they need wherever
they are at on their journey.
Determine which of these personas represent you the best and look
at the associated content to find resources that will help you and your
organization advance through the maturity stages, enabling you to apply your use
case to Terraform on Google Cloud at scale.
Adopt (Learner)
Learners are beginning their journey on Google Cloud and focus on opinionated guidance to learn how to use Terraform on Google Cloud and adopt it for their use case.
They may have some knowledge of Bash or other scripting languages,
but they don't use automation or CI/CD today to provision infrastructure.
Build (Builder)
Builders have experience with Infrastructure as Code and use Google Cloud to build their projects.
They work with foundational infrastructure and a few applications on Google Cloud. Builders plan on growing their cloud usage, specific use cases, and customizations, and think about scaling and onboarding more teams or applications.
Scale (Operator)
Operators are experienced with Google Cloud and use Terraform to provision infrastructure for their workloads at scale.
They scale and grow cloud usage, specific use cases, customizations, and onboard more teams and workloads.
Operators set policies and self serve workflows for workload teams.
You may be a Learner if you are:
a developer
new to Google Cloud, Infrastructure as Code, or Terraform
You may be a Builder if you are:
a developer
on a platform admin team
on a Cloud team
a SRE
familiar with working on Google Cloud, Terraform, and have a Infrastructure as Code operation model
You may be an Operator if you are:
on a platform admin team
on a Cloud team
a SRE
experienced operating a Google Cloud, and a Terraform operation model at scale
Criteria
This table details some of the criteria for each maturity stage to help you
determine which fits best with your level of familiarity with Terraform on
Google Cloud and your use case.
Adopt
Build
Scale
Method
UI, CLI, and/or Terraform as a Service
Infrastructure as Code via Infra Manager
Infrastructure as Code via (1) Terraform OSS + Custom Pipelines or (2) Terraform Enterprise on Google Cloud
Automation
None or Limited
Limited
Yes
Consistency
None or Limited
Limited
Yes
Configuration
Unstructured, stored in a variety of locations
Structured, stored in a central location
Structured, stored in a version control system and versioned
Deployment
Manual
Automated using a CI/CD pipeline
Automated using a CI/CD pipeline
State
Not stored
Stored in a central location
Stored in a central location
Drift
Not monitored or managed
Monitored and managed
Monitored and managed
Documentation
Not maintained
Maintained
Well-documented
Review and Approval
Not required
Required
Required
Integration with Cloud Management Platform
Not integrated
Not integrated
Integrated with a cloud management platform
Range of Cloud Resources
Limited
Wide
Wide
Cost Optimization
Some concern
Some concern
Used
Security
Not a concern
Some concern
High concern
Compliance
Not a concern
Some concern
High concern
Recommendations
The following table lists some recommended topics based on the maturity stage of your
organization and your use case with Terraform on Google Cloud.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-29 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eThis document outlines a maturity model for using Terraform on Google Cloud, catering to users with varying levels of expertise, from beginners to advanced operators.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe model categorizes users into three personas: Learners, Builders, and Operators, each with corresponding stages of maturity: Adopt, Build, and Scale.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eLearners focus on initial adoption, Builders on expanding their use cases, and Operators on scaling Terraform deployments with Google Cloud.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe document provides specific criteria and recommendations for each stage, including methods, automation levels, consistency, and other key factors.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe different learning materials, best practices, and tools that are available are highlighted to help users progress through the model at their own pace and reach a level of mastery that best suits their needs.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# Terraform on Google Cloud maturity model\n\nThis page explains the maturity model for Terraform on Google Cloud.\nThis model provides best practices, recommendations, and learning materials that\nmeet you at your level of comfort and expertise with Terraform on\nGoogle Cloud.\n\nOverview\n--------\n\nTerraform on Google Cloud has three user personas (Learners, Builders, and\nOperators), and three stages of the maturity model (Adopt, Build, and Scale).\n\nAs organizations advance through the process of adopting, building, and scaling\nTerraform on Google Cloud for their infrastructure use-cases, they need\naccessible learning materials that provide the guidance they need wherever\nthey are at on their journey.\n\nDetermine which of these personas represent you the best and look\nat the associated content to find resources that will help you and your\norganization advance through the maturity stages, enabling you to apply your use\ncase to Terraform on Google Cloud at scale.\n\n### Adopt (Learner)\n\nLearners are beginning their journey on Google Cloud and focus on opinionated guidance to learn how to use Terraform on Google Cloud and adopt it for their use case.\n\nThey may have some knowledge of Bash or other scripting languages,\nbut they don't use automation or CI/CD today to provision infrastructure. \n\n### Build (Builder)\n\nBuilders have experience with Infrastructure as Code and use Google Cloud to build their projects.\n\nThey work with foundational infrastructure and a few applications on Google Cloud. Builders plan on growing their cloud usage, specific use cases, and customizations, and think about scaling and onboarding more teams or applications. \n\n### Scale (Operator)\n\nOperators are experienced with Google Cloud and use Terraform to provision infrastructure for their workloads at scale.\n\nThey scale and grow cloud usage, specific use cases, customizations, and onboard more teams and workloads.\nOperators set policies and self serve workflows for workload teams.\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\nYou may be a **Learner** if you are:\n\n- a developer\n- new to Google Cloud, Infrastructure as Code, or Terraform \nYou may be a **Builder** if you are:\n\n- a developer\n- on a platform admin team\n- on a Cloud team\n- a SRE\n- familiar with working on Google Cloud, Terraform, and have a Infrastructure as Code operation model \nYou may be an **Operator** if you are:\n\n- on a platform admin team\n- on a Cloud team\n- a SRE\n- experienced operating a Google Cloud, and a Terraform operation model at scale\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\nCriteria\n--------\n\nThis table details some of the criteria for each maturity stage to help you\ndetermine which fits best with your level of familiarity with Terraform on\nGoogle Cloud and your use case. \n\nRecommendations\n---------------\n\nThe following table lists some recommended topics based on the maturity stage of your\norganization and your use case with Terraform on Google Cloud."]]