Senior Consultant, ISSI
During a recent audit I asked the partner, "How useful is the Well-Architected Framework." The response surprised me. "We started using it to pass the audits, and now it's fundamental to many of our processes."
This blog will provide an overview of the Well-Architected Framework (WAF), the benefits it delivers, and how to start using it. I will also briefly discuss the role of the WAF in conjunction with the Cloud Adoption Framework.
The Well-Architected Framework made its first appearance when AWS launched a program around about eight years ago. The WAF outlined the principles of cloud architectural design best practices across these five cloud-computing "pillars":
The WAF simplified the articulation of cloud architectural best practices into easy-to-digest statements. I'll refer to these as the "standard pillars" throughout this blog.
Today cloud vendors have embraced the WAF, albeit with different names or structures. Alibaba Cloud, AWS, and Microsoft have all published individual versions of the Well-Architected Framework. Google Cloud has its "Google Cloud Architecture Framework" and refers to "categories" rather than "pillars." These four vendors have a similar structure based on the five standard pillars. Oracle has its Best Practices Framework for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure; this is a whitepaper that covers the standard pillars. The link for the white paper is shown below in the reference section.
IBM and VMware take a different approach. IBM uses the five standard pillars and adds a sixth, Portable and Hybrid. VMware approaches the subject from a different perspective by providing a framework for multi-cloud scenarios, using five pillars called Plan, Build, Secure, Modernize, and Operate.
In addition to the five standard pillars, AWS recently added sustainability:
The IBM has a Hybrid and Portable pillar is described as:
Regardless of the vendor, each pillar or category defines a set of best practice design guidelines. For example, in security it entails the use of least-privilege access / Role Based Access Control and enforced multi-factor authentication. Operational Excellence examples include using DevOps for deployment, and automating standard tasks such as patching.
There are three standard ways to use the Well-Architected Framework:
Cloud services are highly dynamic and customer requirements are constantly evolving, so the best-practice architecture for a workload is likely to evolve over time. The Well-Architected Framework provides a methodology to ensure that solution designs are aligned with the vendor's best practices regardless of this constant change.
The WAF benefits these groups:
In discussing the WAF we also need to talk about the Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF), Which is which is a framework adopted by several of the vendors to describe a strategic approach to cloud adoption. CAF gives companies migrating to the cloud a set of strategic phases that increase the likelihood of the project achieving its business objectives. While each of the vendors has its version of CAF, for this blog I will summarize these as strategy, plan, environment readiness, adoption, governance, and management. CAF generally applies at the strategic level across the cloud environment and all migrated workloads. The Well-Architected Framework complements this and is applied at the workload level.
The table below shows the different approaches taken by the cloud vendors. They all provide documentation to varying degrees of detail. In addition, AWS and Microsoft provide a set of well-architected tools and use the framework in the partner audit processes. AWS takes this one step further with the AWS Well-Architected Partner Program, which ensures that participating partners have a high level of expertise and experience in implementing the Well-Architected Framework.
Cloud Partners: Develop services based on a Well-Architected Framework. Examples include:
Cloud End Users: When migrating IT services to the cloud, companies and individuals should:
The author: Barry Turner is a Senior Consultant at ISSI and has worked with a broad range of cloud partners and vendors since 2015. He has 27 years of service creation experience working with telecommunication and cloud service providers across EMEA on behalf of ISSI, Microsoft, Cisco, Mitel & Agile Programmes. He currently holds ITIL V4 Foundation, Customer Success Manager Level 2, ISO27001:2013 lead auditor certifications and is PMP certified.
As a leading consulting firm partnering closely with top cloud technology companies, ISSI is uniquely positioned to guide you through your cloud partner transformation journey. Let us help you unlock the full potential of this opportunity. Contact us today to begin your transformation. For more information, contact us at: sales@issi-inc.com
AWS
https://aws.amazon.com/architecture/well-architected/
Google
https://cloud.google.com/architecture/framework
Microsoft
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/
Oracle
https://docs.oracle.com/en/solutions/oci-best-practices/toc.htm
https://www.oracle.com/uk/cloud/oci-best-practices-guide/
IBM
https://www.ibm.com/architectures/well-architected
Alibaba
https://www.alibabacloud.com/help/en/well-architected
VMware
https://vmc.techzone.vmware.com/resource/whitepaper-vmware-cloud-well-architected-framework#audience
General
https://www.lucidchart.com/blog/aws-well-architected-framework-best-practices
https://versent.com.au/blog/how-you-can-benefit-from-the-aws-well-architected-framework/
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/solutions/cloud-enablement/well-architected#reliability
https://www.cloud-bridge.co.uk/blog/best-practice-with-an-aws-well-architected-review
CAF vs WAF
https://www.cloud4c.com/blogs/cloud-adoption-framework-versus-well-architected-framework
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/azure-architecture-blog/why-you-need-a-cloud-adoption-framework-caf-and-probably-a-waf/ba-p/3667426
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