# AWS Service Governance Guidelines

## Overview

This document establishes governance guidelines for AWS service selection, implementation, and management to ensure consistent, secure, and cost-effective cloud operations aligned with organizational standards and compliance requirements.

## Service Selection Governance

### Service Evaluation Framework

**Business Alignment Criteria**
- Strategic business objective support
- Operational requirement fulfillment
- Performance and scalability needs
- Integration capability assessment
- Total cost of ownership evaluation

**Technical Assessment**
- Architecture compatibility and fit
- Security and compliance capabilities
- Reliability and availability characteristics
- Performance and latency requirements
- Monitoring and observability features

**Risk Evaluation**
- Vendor lock-in and portability risks
- Data sovereignty and jurisdiction concerns
- Compliance and regulatory implications
- Security and privacy considerations
- Business continuity and disaster recovery

**Financial Analysis**
- Initial implementation costs
- Ongoing operational expenses
- Resource optimization opportunities
- Cost predictability and control
- Return on investment projection

### Service Approval Process

**Evaluation Stages**
1. Business case development and justification
2. Technical architecture review and approval
3. Security and compliance assessment
4. Financial analysis and budget approval
5. Pilot implementation and validation
6. Production deployment authorization

**Approval Authority Matrix**
- Standard Services: Team Lead approval
- Approved Services: Architecture review required
- New Services: Executive approval required
- Restricted Services: CISO and Legal approval required

## Service Categories and Guidelines

### Compute Services

**Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud)**
- Use Cases: General-purpose computing, legacy application migration
- Governance: Instance type standardization, rightsizing requirements
- Security: Security group management, key pair governance
- Cost Control: Reserved instance planning, spot instance utilization

**AWS Lambda (Serverless Computing)**
- Use Cases: Event-driven processing, microservices architecture
- Governance: Function naming conventions, runtime standardization
- Security: IAM role least privilege, VPC configuration
- Cost Control: Memory optimization, execution time monitoring

**Amazon ECS/EKS (Container Services)**
- Use Cases: Containerized application deployment, microservices
- Governance: Container image standards, cluster management
- Security: Image scanning, network policies, secrets management
- Cost Control: Resource allocation, auto-scaling configuration

### Storage Services

**Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service)**
- Use Cases: Object storage, data archiving, static website hosting
- Governance: Bucket naming conventions, lifecycle policies
- Security: Bucket policies, access logging, encryption requirements
- Cost Control: Storage class optimization, lifecycle management

**Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Store)**
- Use Cases: Persistent block storage for EC2 instances
- Governance: Volume type standardization, snapshot policies
- Security: Encryption at rest, access control management
- Cost Control: Volume rightsizing, snapshot lifecycle management

**Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)**
- Use Cases: Shared file storage, distributed applications
- Governance: File system access patterns, performance modes
- Security: Access point management, encryption in transit
- Cost Control: Performance class selection, throughput optimization

### Database Services

**Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service)**
- Use Cases: Traditional relational databases, OLTP workloads
- Governance: Engine version management, parameter group standards
- Security: Encryption, network isolation, access control
- Cost Control: Instance rightsizing, Reserved Instance utilization

**Amazon DynamoDB (NoSQL Database)**
- Use Cases: High-performance NoSQL, serverless applications
- Governance: Table design patterns, capacity planning
- Security: Fine-grained access control, encryption configuration
- Cost Control: On-demand vs. provisioned capacity, auto-scaling

**Amazon Aurora (Cloud-Native Database)**
- Use Cases: High-performance relational workloads, global applications
- Governance: Cluster configuration, read replica management
- Security: Database activity streams, network isolation
- Cost Control: Serverless options, storage optimization

### Networking Services

**Amazon VPC (Virtual Private Cloud)**
- Use Cases: Network isolation, hybrid connectivity
- Governance: CIDR planning, subnet design standards
- Security: Security group rules, NACLs, flow logs
- Cost Control: NAT Gateway optimization, data transfer costs

**AWS Direct Connect**
- Use Cases: Dedicated network connectivity, hybrid architectures
- Governance: Connection redundancy, bandwidth planning
- Security: BGP configuration, encryption requirements
- Cost Control: Bandwidth utilization, connection sharing

**Amazon CloudFront (Content Delivery Network)**
- Use Cases: Content distribution, application acceleration
- Governance: Distribution configuration, origin management
- Security: SSL/TLS certificates, access restrictions
- Cost Control: Cache behavior optimization, geographic restrictions

## Security and Compliance Governance

### Security Service Requirements

**AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)**
- Mandatory for all AWS accounts and services
- Principle of least privilege enforcement
- Multi-factor authentication requirements
- Regular access reviews and certifications

**AWS CloudTrail**
- Required for all production accounts
- Comprehensive API logging and monitoring
- Log integrity and tamper protection
- Integration with SIEM and monitoring systems

**AWS Config**
- Mandatory for compliance-sensitive workloads
- Configuration drift detection and remediation
- Compliance rule automation and reporting
- Resource inventory and change tracking

**Amazon GuardDuty**
- Required for threat detection and monitoring
- Machine learning-based anomaly detection
- Integration with incident response procedures
- Threat intelligence and IOC monitoring

### Compliance Framework Integration

**Data Protection and Privacy**
- Encryption at rest and in transit requirements
- Data classification and handling procedures
- Data residency and sovereignty compliance
- Privacy impact assessment requirements

**Regulatory Compliance**
- SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS alignment
- Industry-specific requirement adherence
- Audit trail maintenance and retention
- Compliance reporting and documentation

**Risk Management**
- Service risk assessment and mitigation
- Third-party risk evaluation procedures
- Business continuity and disaster recovery
- Incident response and communication plans

## Operational Excellence Guidelines

### Service Management Standards

**Monitoring and Observability**
- CloudWatch metrics and alarms configuration
- Application performance monitoring integration
- Log aggregation and analysis procedures
- Dashboard and reporting standardization

**Automation and Infrastructure as Code**
- CloudFormation or Terraform usage requirements
- Automated deployment and configuration management
- Change management and approval workflows
- Version control and documentation standards

**Backup and Recovery**
- Automated backup configuration and testing
- Recovery time and point objectives definition
- Cross-region replication for critical data
- Disaster recovery testing and validation

### Performance Optimization

**Resource Rightsizing**
- Regular capacity planning and optimization
- Performance monitoring and tuning procedures
- Auto-scaling configuration and management
- Resource utilization analysis and reporting

**Cost Optimization**
- Reserved Instance and Savings Plans utilization
- Spot Instance integration where appropriate
- Resource scheduling and lifecycle management
- Cost allocation and chargeback procedures

## Service Lifecycle Management

### Service Onboarding

**Planning and Design Phase**
- Business requirements analysis and documentation
- Technical architecture design and review
- Security and compliance assessment
- Cost estimation and budget approval

**Implementation Phase**
- Pilot deployment and testing procedures
- Security configuration and validation
- Performance testing and optimization
- Documentation and knowledge transfer

**Production Deployment**
- Go-live checklist and approval process
- Monitoring and alerting configuration
- Backup and recovery validation
- User training and support procedures

### Ongoing Management

**Regular Reviews and Assessments**
- Quarterly service utilization reviews
- Annual architecture and design assessments
- Security posture evaluations
- Cost optimization opportunities analysis

**Change Management**
- Service modification approval processes
- Impact assessment and risk evaluation
- Testing and validation requirements
- Rollback and recovery procedures

**End-of-Life Management**
- Service deprecation planning and communication
- Data migration and retention procedures
- Decommissioning and cleanup activities
- Knowledge preservation and documentation

## Vendor Management and Relationships

### AWS Partnership Strategy

**Account Management**
- Technical Account Manager engagement
- Solution Architect consultation utilization
- Support plan optimization and management
- Training and certification planning

**Service Level Agreements**
- SLA understanding and monitoring
- Performance metric tracking and reporting
- Escalation procedures and contacts
- Service credit management and claims

### Third-Party Integration

**Partner Service Evaluation**
- AWS Marketplace solution assessment
- Third-party integration security review
- Compliance and certification validation
- Support and maintenance considerations

**Vendor Risk Management**
- Due diligence and assessment procedures
- Contract negotiation and management
- Performance monitoring and evaluation
- Relationship review and optimization

## Governance Metrics and Reporting

### Key Performance Indicators

**Service Adoption Metrics**
- Service utilization rates and trends
- New service evaluation and approval times
- Compliance adherence and exception rates
- Cost optimization achievement and savings

**Operational Metrics**
- Service availability and performance
- Security incident frequency and resolution
- Change success rates and rollback frequency
- User satisfaction and feedback scores

**Financial Metrics**
- Cost per service and business unit
- Budget variance and forecast accuracy
- Reserved capacity utilization rates
- Cost optimization opportunity identification

### Reporting and Communication

**Executive Reporting**
- Monthly service portfolio status
- Quarterly cost and optimization reports
- Annual governance maturity assessment
- Strategic planning and roadmap updates

**Operational Reporting**
- Weekly service health and performance
- Monthly security and compliance status
- Quarterly architecture review summaries
- Ad-hoc incident and exception reports

## Continuous Improvement

### Governance Maturity Evolution

**Maturity Assessment Framework**
- Current state evaluation and benchmarking
- Target state definition and planning
- Gap analysis and improvement roadmap
- Progress monitoring and measurement

**Best Practice Integration**
- AWS Well-Architected Framework alignment
- Industry standard adoption and implementation
- Peer organization collaboration and learning
- Innovation and emerging technology evaluation

### Innovation and Adaptation

**Emerging Service Evaluation**
- New AWS service assessment and pilot programs
- Technology trend analysis and impact evaluation
- Business opportunity identification and development
- Risk assessment and mitigation planning

**Process Optimization**
- Governance process efficiency analysis
- Automation opportunity identification and implementation
- Stakeholder feedback integration and response
- Continuous learning and capability development
