Systematic Review of Scalable CI/CD Pipeline Architectures in Regulated Business Environments

The implementation of Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Deployment (CD) pipelines has become a key practice for improving software development and delivery cycles. However, in regulated business environments, where compliance with legal and industry standards is paramount, the design of scalable CI/CD pipeline architectures requires careful consideration. This systematic review examines existing research and industry practices related to CI/CD pipeline architectures in regulated environments. It focuses on the challenges, methodologies, and best practices for ensuring scalability while maintaining strict adherence to regulatory frameworks such as data privacy laws, security standards, and audit requirements. Through a comprehensive analysis of scholarly articles, case studies, and industry reports, this review identifies key factors that influence the design and implementation of CI/CD pipelines in regulated environments. These include the need for secure data handling, automated compliance checks, version control, and traceability of changes. The review further explores the scalability of CI/CD systems, emphasizing the importance of maintaining performance as demand increases while ensuring that pipelines remain flexible enough to adapt to evolving regulatory requirements. Key findings indicate that successful scalable CI/CD pipeline architectures integrate security and compliance automation throughout the development lifecycle. Additionally, hybrid cloud and containerized environments have proven to be effective for scaling deployments while adhering to compliance constraints. This review also highlights common pitfalls such as the complexity of maintaining audit trails and the challenges associated with integrating CI/CD tools with legacy systems in regulated industries. This concludes by offering recommendations for both practitioners and researchers, emphasizing the need for further research into automated compliance and the development of frameworks that balance scalability, security, and regulatory requirements in CI/CD pipeline architectures.