In today’s digital landscape, cloud platform teams are vital in driving innovation and scalability. They must adopt best practices across automation, security, and cost management to stay efficient and agile. This blog highlights key strategies to empower cloud platform teams to maximize performance and deliver value faster.
| Category | Best Practices | AWS | Azure | GCP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infrastructure as Code (IaC) | Standardize and Modularize IaC: Break down infrastructure into reusable modules, version control IaC templates, and implement automated testing for IaC changes. | – Tools: AWS CDK, CloudFormation, Terraform – Modularization: AWS CDK constructs, CloudFormation nested stacks – Testing: cfn-lint, Terratest | – Tools: ARM Templates, Terraform, Bicep – Modularization: Linked templates – Testing: Pester, Azure Resource Manager Template Toolkit | – Tools: Deployment Manager, Terraform – Modularization: Jinja, Python templates – Testing: InSpec-GCP, tftest |
| Security | Implement Comprehensive Security Controls: Use MFA, apply security policies across all accounts, and continuously monitor for vulnerabilities. | – Identity: AWS IAM, MFA, AWS Organizations – Encryption: AWS KMS, S3 bucket encryption – Monitoring: Amazon GuardDuty, AWS Security Hub | – Identity: Azure AD, RBAC, Conditional Access Policies – Encryption: Azure Key Vault, Azure Disk Encryption – Monitoring: Azure Security Center | – Identity: Cloud IAM, Google Identity, MFA – Encryption: Cloud KMS, GCS and BigQuery encryption – Monitoring: Google Security Command Center |
| Cost Management | Optimize Resource Usage and Cost: Set up automated rules for idle resources, use reserved instances, and leverage cost forecasting tools. | – Optimization: AWS Cost Explorer, AWS Trusted Advisor – Automation: Lambda scripts for stopping EC2 instances – Budgeting: AWS Budgets and Alerts | – Optimization: Azure Cost Management, Azure Advisor – Automation: Azure Automation, Logic Apps for idle VMs – Budgeting: Azure Budgets, Cost Management | – Optimization: GCP Recommender for instance rightsizing – Automation: Cloud Functions, Cloud Scheduler – Budgeting: GCP Cost Management, Budget Alerts |
| Monitoring & Logging | Centralize and Automate Monitoring & Logging: Implement centralized logging, automate alerting, and ensure multi-cloud visibility. | – Centralization: AWS CloudWatch Logs, CloudWatch Metrics dashboards – Alerting: SNS, CloudWatch Alarms – Tracing: AWS X-Ray | – Centralization: Azure Log Analytics, Azure Monitor dashboards – Alerting: Action groups, Azure Monitor – Tracing: Azure Application Insights | – Centralization: Google Cloud Operations Suite (Stackdriver) – Alerting: Google Cloud Monitoring – Tracing: Google Cloud Trace |
| CI/CD | Automate and Standardize CI/CD Pipelines: Automate the software development lifecycle and integrate security checks into pipelines. | – Automation: AWS CodePipeline, AWS CodeDeploy – Security: AWS CodeBuild for scanning – Testing: JUnit in AWS CodePipeline | – Automation: Azure DevOps Pipelines – Security: Azure Security Center, GitHub Actions for scanning – Testing: Azure Test Plans | – Automation: Google Cloud Build, Google Cloud Deploy – Security: Google Cloud Security Scanner – Testing: Cloud Build Test, Spinnaker |
| High Availability & DR | Design for Resilience and Recovery: Architect solutions to withstand failures, leverage multi-region deployments, and automate DR testing. | – High Availability: Auto Scaling, Elastic Load Balancing – Disaster Recovery: AWS Backup, Route 53 DNS failover – Testing: AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery | – High Availability: Azure Availability Zones, Azure Load Balancer – Disaster Recovery: Azure Site Recovery – Testing: Azure Site Recovery Test Failover | – High Availability: GCP Load Balancing, Managed Instance Groups – Disaster Recovery: GCP Backup, Persistent Disk snapshots – Testing: GCP DR Playbooks |
| Networking | Optimize Network Architecture: Securely connect on-premises and cloud resources, manage traffic, and optimize network performance. | – Security: AWS VPC, Security Groups, NACLs – Performance: AWS Global Accelerator – Connectivity: AWS Direct Connect | – Security: Azure VNet, NSGs, ASGs – Performance: Azure Traffic Manager – Connectivity: Azure ExpressRoute | – Security: Google VPC, Firewall Rules, VPC Service Controls – Performance: Cloud CDN, Cloud DNS – Connectivity: Google Cloud Interconnect |
| Data Management | Implement Robust Data Strategies: Ensure data durability, availability, and compliance with automated backup processes. | – Storage: Amazon S3, Amazon RDS – Backup: AWS Backup, lifecycle policies – Compliance: Amazon Macie | – Storage: Azure Blob Storage, Azure SQL Database – Backup: Azure Backup, Azure Storage Explorer – Compliance: Azure Policy, Azure Blueprints | – Storage: Google Cloud Storage, Google Cloud SQL – Backup: Cloud SQL automated backups, lifecycle management – Compliance: Google DLP API |
| Automation | Leverage Automation for Efficiency: Automate tasks, reduce manual interventions, and integrate with CI/CD pipelines. | – Automation: AWS Lambda, AWS Systems Manager – Scripting: AWS CLI, AWS SDKs – Integration: AWS CodePipeline automation scripts | – Automation: Azure Automation, Azure Functions – Scripting: PowerShell, Azure CLI – Integration: Azure DevOps Pipelines | – Automation: Google Cloud Functions – Scripting: GCP CLI, Python scripts – Integration: Cloud Build CI/CD pipelines |