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Crossplane: rethinking infrastructure management

Sebastian UllrichSebastian Ullrich
2025-05-21
3 Min.

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Cloud infrastructure management that delivers what it promises
Imagine being able to ensure that your infrastructure is exactly what it says in the code. No deviations, no guesswork - just consistency and control. That was our goal when we used Crossplane in one of our projects. 

The advantages of Crossplane

  • Less effort: Automatic drift detection ensures that code and infrastructure always remain synchronized. No manual rework required.
  • Reduce costs: Unified management via the Kubernetes API saves us time and resources, as no additional tools are necessary.
  • Sustainability: Efficient resource utilization and scalable solutions ensure a long-term, stable infrastructure.

The challenge

For the implementation of a highly available RDS database in a major banking project, we wanted a solution that:

  • Minimizes manual intervention
  • Detects deviations between code and deployment (drift detection)
  • Seamlessly integrates Kubernetes
  • And fits perfectly into our automation strategy via GitOps approaches.

Why Crossplane?

Crossplane won us over because, as a control plane for cloud resources, it offers the following advantages:

✅ Uniform API for managing a wide variety of cloud resources

Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs) for modeling infrastructure as code

✅ GitOps principles for automatic synchronization between code and infrastructure

✅ Native integration with the Kubernetes API

Project results

With Crossplane, we were not only able to reliably set up the AWS RDS database, but also create a robust, error-resistant environment. Thanks to GitOps and Kubernetes integration, the entire setup was less prone to errors – and completely automated.

The potential of Crossplane

Crossplane can do much more than “just” database provisioning:

  • Cloud resource management: With Crossplane, you can control resources in different cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP) uniformly and efficiently.
  • Multi-cloud strategies: Use Crossplane to manage workloads across multiple cloud providers—without additional tools.
  • Platforms as a service: Build scalable and automated platforms that seamlessly connect your development and infrastructure teams.
  • Custom resource definitions: Tailor your infrastructure to your exact needs by creating your own CRDs for specific requirements.
  • Self-service for teams: Developers can provision infrastructure resources directly via the Kubernetes API without having to wait for central teams.

Results in the project

With Crossplane, we were not only able to reliably set up the AWS RDS database, but also create a robust, error-resistant environment. Thanks to GitOps and Kubernetes integration, the entire setup was less prone to errors - and completely automated.

The potential of Crossplane

Crossplane can do much more than “just” database provisioning: 

  • Cloud resource management: with Crossplane, you can control resources in different cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP) uniformly and efficiently. 
  • Multi-cloud strategies: Use Crossplane to manage workloads across multiple cloud providers - without additional tools.
  • Platforms as a service: Build scalable and automated platforms that seamlessly connect your development and infrastructure teams.
  • Custom Resource Definitions: Customize your infrastructure to your exact needs by creating your own CRDs for specific requirements. 
  • Self-Service for teams: Developers can provision infrastructure resources directly via the Kubernetes API without having to wait for centralized teams. 

Conclusion

For us, Crossplane is the key to a consistent, secure and scalable infrastructure. It closes the gap between code and reality and makes it possible to deliver exactly what was promised - nothing more, nothing less.

Sebastian Ullrich

Sebastian Ullrich

CEO

In addition to the strategic establishment and expansion of companies, his main areas of focus included the acquisition and preparation of mergers and acquisitions, as well as project management in cloud and IT infrastructure projects. At the same time, Andreas Sass completed a part-time master's degree in Leadership in Digital Communication at the Berlin University of the Arts and the University of St. Gallen with distinction.
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