Where Do Approval Gates Fit Within a Modern CI/CD Workflow?

The core promise of a modern Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) pipeline is speed and automation. By automating the process of building, testing, and deploying an application, a team can deliver new features to end-users faster and more reliably. However, in this rush toward full automation, a key question arises: How do we balance the need for speed with the need for control? This is where approval gates come into play. An approval gate is a control point within a CI/CD pipeline where a human or an automated system must give explicit permission for the pipeline to proceed to the next stage. It is a key mechanism for balancing the speed of automation with the need for oversight and control. By strategically placing approval gates at key stages of a pipeline, an organization can ensure that certain conditions—be it a human review, a security scan, or a compliance check—are met before a change is allowed to move forward. This blog post will explore where these control points fit in a modern CI/CD workflow and why they are a crucial part of a modern security and compliance strategy, which is a major part of the modern workflow that is focused on providing a high level of service to the business and its customers and is a major part of a successful business that is looking to scale its operations.

Table of Contents

• What Are Approval Gates and Why Are They Important?
• Where Do They Fit in the CI/CD Workflow?
• How Do They Balance Automation and Control?
• Who Is Responsible for Approving a Gate?
• How Do They Help with Security and Compliance?
• A Comparison of Gate Types: Manual vs. Automated
• What Are the Challenges and Best Practices?
• Conclusion
• Frequently Asked Questions

What Are Approval Gates and Why Are They Important?

An approval gate is a control point within a CI/CD pipeline where a human or an automated system must give explicit permission for the pipeline to proceed to the next stage. They are important because they prevent unverified or risky changes from being deployed to critical environments, such as staging or production. They act as a "check" to ensure that certain conditions are met before a change is allowed to move forward. For example, a gate might require a human to review the code before it is merged into the main branch or it might require an automated security scan to pass before it is deployed to a staging environment. This is a major part of the modern workflow that is focused on providing a high level of service to the business and its customers and is a major part of a successful business that is looking to scale its operations.

The Role of Control Points

Approval gates are a key mechanism for balancing the speed of automation with the need for oversight and control. They act as control points that prevent unverified or risky changes from being deployed to critical environments, which is a major part of the modern workflow and is a major part of a successful business that is looking to scale its operations.

Where Do They Fit in the CI/CD Workflow?

The placement of an approval gate is strategic and depends on the level of risk. The most common places to insert them are at the most critical stages of a pipeline. One of the most common places to put an approval gate is before merging to a main branch. This ensures that all code is reviewed and approved before it is integrated into the main branch. Another common place is before deploying to a staging environment. This ensures that a new version of the application has been tested and approved before it is deployed to a staging environment for further testing. The most critical approval gate is before deploying to a production environment. This ensures that all security, compliance, and quality checks have been met before a change is made live to end-users. This is a common practice for highly-regulated industries, which is a major part of the modern workflow and is a major part of a successful business that is looking to scale its operations.

The Importance of Strategic Placement

The strategic placement of approval gates is crucial for balancing the need for control with the need for speed. They should be placed at the most critical stages of a pipeline to prevent unverified or risky changes from being deployed, which is a major part of the modern workflow that is focused on providing a high level of service to the business and its customers.

How Do They Balance Automation and Control?

The core tension in a modern CI/CD workflow is between the speed of automation and the need for control. Approval gates provide a way to manage this tension. By automating as much as possible, a team can achieve a high level of speed and reliability. By strategically placing approval gates at key stages, a team can ensure that certain conditions are met before a change is allowed to move forward. This provides a crucial safety net that prevents unverified or risky changes from being deployed. The key is to use a small number of strategic gates and to automate as much as possible. This is a major part of the modern workflow that is focused on providing a high level of service to the business and its customers and is a major part of a successful business that is looking to scale its operations.

The Role of Automation

Automation is the key to a modern CI/CD workflow. It ensures that the entire process of building, testing, and deploying an application is a clean, consistent process that can be automated, which is a major part of the modern workflow and is a major part of a successful business that is looking to scale its operations.

Who Is Responsible for Approving a Gate?

The responsibility for an approval gate depends on the stage. For a code review, a peer developer is responsible for approving the code. For a staging deployment, a product manager or a QA lead is responsible for approving the deployment. For a production deployment, an SRE, a security engineer, or a compliance officer is responsible for approving the deployment. The principle of separation of duties is often applied here to prevent a developer from deploying their own code to a production environment. This ensures that a change is reviewed and approved by a person with a different set of responsibilities, which is a major part of the modern workflow that is focused on providing a high level of service to the business and its customers and is a major part of a successful business that is looking to scale its operations.

The Role of Separation of Duties

Separation of duties is a fundamental principle of modern security. It ensures that a change is reviewed and approved by a person with a different set of responsibilities, which is a major part of the modern workflow that is focused on providing a high level of service to the business and its customers.

How Do They Help with Security and Compliance?

Approval gates are a fundamental part of a modern security and compliance strategy. They help to enforce policies, such as the separation of duties, and to provide a clear audit trail of who approved a change and when. This is a major part of the modern workflow that is focused on providing a high level of service to the business and its customers. For example, a gate might require a security scan to pass before a change is deployed to a production environment. This ensures that all security checks have been met before a change is made live to end-users. The tools can also be integrated into a security information and event management (SIEM) system to provide a centralized view of security events, which is a major part of a successful business that is looking to scale its operations and is a major part of the modern workflow that is focused on providing a high level of service to the business and its customers.

The Role of a Clear Audit Trail

A clear audit trail is a critical part of a modern security and compliance strategy. It provides a clear record of who approved a change and when, which is a major part of the modern workflow that is focused on providing a high level of service to the business and its customers.

A Comparison of Gate Types: Manual vs. Automated

The following table provides a high-level comparison of the two types of approval gates. It is designed to quickly illustrate the inherent limitations of the old approach and the corresponding strengths of the new one, making the value proposition of a modern approach readily apparent. By evaluating these factors, an organization can easily determine if they have reached the point where a traditional approach is no longer a viable or safe option for their business and is a major part of the strategic conversation that is needed for any organization that is looking to scale its operations.

What Are the Challenges and Best Practices?

While approval gates provide a wide variety of benefits, they are not without their challenges. The main challenge is balancing the need for control with the need for speed. Too many manual gates can slow down the pipeline and can create a bottleneck. The best practices include: automating as much as possible, using a small number of strategic gates, and defining clear roles and responsibilities. A team must also have a clear and consistent process for making a data-driven decision about whether to approve or to deny a pipeline stage. This is a major part of the modern workflow that is focused on providing a high level of service to the business and its customers and is a major part of a successful business that is looking to scale its operations.

The Role of a Data-Driven Decision

A data-driven decision is a critical part of a modern CI/CD workflow. It ensures that the decision to approve or to deny a pipeline stage is based on real-time metrics, not guesswork, which is a major part of the modern workflow that is focused on providing a high level of service to the business and its customers.

Conclusion

Approval gates are a crucial part of a modern CI/CD workflow. They provide a key mechanism for balancing the speed of automation with the need for oversight and control. By strategically placing approval gates at key stages of a pipeline, an organization can ensure that certain conditions—be it a human review, a security scan, or a compliance check—are met before a change is allowed to move forward. This provides a crucial safety net that prevents unverified or risky changes from being deployed to critical environments. By understanding where these control points fit in a modern CI/CD workflow, an organization can achieve a high level of speed, reliability, and security, which is a major part of a successful business that is looking to scale its operations and is a major part of the modern workflow that is focused on providing a high level of service to the business and its customers.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an approval gate?

An approval gate is a control point within a CI/CD pipeline where a human or an automated system must give explicit permission for the pipeline to proceed to the next stage. It is a major part of the modern workflow and is a major part of a successful business that is looking to scale its operations.

Why are approval gates important in a CI/CD workflow?

Approval gates are important because they prevent unverified or risky changes from being deployed to critical environments. They act as a "check" to ensure that certain conditions are met before a change is allowed to move forward, which is a major part of the modern workflow and is a major part of a successful business that is looking to scale its operations.

Where do you put an approval gate in a CI/CD pipeline?

Approval gates are strategically placed at the most critical stages of a pipeline, such as: before merging to a main branch, before deploying to a staging environment, and before deploying to a production environment. This is a major part of the modern workflow that is focused on providing a high level of service to the business and its customers and is a major part of a successful business that is looking to scale its operations.

What is the difference between a manual and an automated approval gate?

A manual gate requires a human to give explicit permission, while an automated gate uses policy-as-code or automated checks to approve or to deny a pipeline stage. This is a major part of the modern workflow that is focused on providing a high level of service to the business and its customers and is a major part of a successful business that is looking to scale its operations.

How do approval gates help with security and compliance?

Approval gates help with security and compliance by enforcing policies, such as the separation of duties, and by providing a clear audit trail of who approved a change and when. This is a major part of the modern workflow and is a major part of a successful business that is looking to scale its operations.

What is the principle of "separation of duties"?

Separation of duties is a fundamental principle of modern security. It ensures that a change is reviewed and approved by a person with a different set of responsibilities, which is a major part of the modern workflow and is a major part of a successful business that is looking to scale its operations.

Who is responsible for approving a production deployment?

The responsibility for approving a production deployment falls to a person with a different set of responsibilities, such as an SRE, a security engineer, or a compliance officer. This is a major part of the modern workflow and is a major part of a successful business that is looking to scale its operations.

What is a good way to start with approval gates?

A good way to start with approval gates is to choose a simple service and to define a clear and consistent process for monitoring its performance. This will allow a team to get a feel for the process and to build momentum, which is a major part of the modern workflow and is a major part of a successful business that is looking to scale its operations.

How do approval gates fit into a "shift-left" security model?

Approval gates fit into a "shift-left" security model by moving security and compliance checks earlier in the CI/CD pipeline. This ensures that security issues are identified and addressed as early as possible, which is a major part of the modern workflow and is a major part of a successful business that is looking to scale its operations.

What are some common challenges with approval gates?

Some common challenges with approval gates include: balancing the need for control with the need for speed, and the potential for too many manual gates to create a bottleneck. These are a major part of the modern workflow that is focused on providing a high level of service to the business and its customers.

What is the role of automation in an approval gate?

Automation is the key to a modern approval gate. It ensures that a wide variety of checks, such as security scans and compliance checks, are performed automatically, which is a major part of the modern workflow that is focused on providing a high level of service to the business and its customers and is a major part of a successful business that is looking to scale its operations.

How do approval gates help with accountability?

Approval gates help with accountability by providing a clear audit trail of who approved a change and when. This ensures that a team is responsible for their work and that they are held accountable for their decisions, which is a major part of the modern workflow and is a major part of a successful business that is looking to scale its operations.

What is the difference between an approval gate and a quality gate?

An approval gate is a control point where a human or an automated system must give explicit permission, while a quality gate is a set of automated checks that must pass for a pipeline to proceed. This is a major part of the modern workflow that is focused on providing a high level of service to the business and its customers.

What is a good way to handle a manual approval gate?

A good way to handle a manual approval gate is to use a small number of strategic gates and to automate as much as possible. This will allow a team to balance the need for control with the need for speed, which is a major part of the modern workflow and is a major part of a successful business that is looking to scale its operations.

How do approval gates fit into a GitOps workflow?

Approval gates fit into a GitOps workflow by providing a way to review and to approve a change before it is merged into a Git repository. This ensures that a change is reviewed and approved by a person with a different set of responsibilities, which is a major part of the modern workflow and is a major part of a successful business that is looking to scale its operations.

What is the role of a product manager in an approval gate?

A product manager's role in an approval gate is to approve a staging deployment. They can also help to prioritize the work and to manage the backlog, which is a major part of the modern workflow and is a major part of a successful business that is looking to scale its operations.

What is the role of a security team in an approval gate?

A security team's role in an approval gate is to approve a production deployment. They can also provide guidance and support to a team on its journey, which is a major part of the modern workflow and is a major part of a successful business that is looking to scale its operations.

What is the role of an SRE in an approval gate?

An SRE's role in an approval gate is to approve a production deployment. They can also provide guidance and support to a team on its journey, which is a major part of the modern workflow and is a major part of a successful business that is looking to scale its operations.

What is a "pipeline as code"?

A "pipeline as code" is a practice where a team defines their CI/CD pipeline in code. This ensures that the pipeline is a consistent and repeatable part of the modern workflow that is focused on providing a high level of service to the business and its customers.

What is the role of a compliance officer in an approval gate?

A compliance officer's role in an approval gate is to approve a production deployment. They can also provide guidance and support to a team on its journey, which is a major part of the modern workflow and is a major part of a successful business that is looking to scale its operations.