Cloud Alignment

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when you need to:

• Check alignment with Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF)

• Validate against AWS Well-Architected Framework pillars

• Identify cloud architecture gaps

• Get cloud-specific best practice recommendations

Keywords: cloud adoption framework, caf, well-architected, azure, aws, landing zone, governance, security pillar, reliability, cost optimization, sustainability

Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF)

CAF provides comprehensive guidance for Azure cloud adoption through 7 methodologies:

CAF Methodologies

Methodology Purpose Key Activities

1 Strategy Define business justification Motivations, outcomes, business case

2 Plan Create adoption plan Digital estate, skills, timeline

3 Ready Prepare environment Landing zones, governance baseline

4 Adopt Migrate/innovate workloads Migration waves, modernization

5 Govern Manage cloud governance Policies, compliance, cost management

6 Secure Implement security Zero trust, identity, data protection

7 Manage Operate cloud estate Monitoring, optimization, resilience

CAF Alignment Checklist

Strategy

• Cloud motivations documented

• Business outcomes defined

• Financial considerations addressed

• Technical considerations documented

Plan

• Digital estate assessed

• Skills readiness evaluated

• Cloud adoption plan created

• Azure readiness confirmed

Ready

• Landing zone deployed

• Governance baseline established

• Network topology defined

• Identity management configured

Adopt

• Workload assessment complete

• Migration/modernization approach selected

• Testing and validation plan

• Cutover plan documented

Govern

• Governance policies defined

• Cost management implemented

• Compliance requirements mapped

• Security baselines established

Secure

• Identity and access management

• Network security configured

• Data protection implemented

• Threat protection enabled

Manage

• Monitoring configured

• Backup and recovery tested

• Operations procedures documented

• Optimization practices established

MCP Integration

For current CAF documentation, use the microsoft-learn MCP server:

mcp__microsoft-learn__microsoft_docs_search: "cloud adoption framework [topic]" mcp__microsoft-learn__microsoft_docs_fetch: [specific URL]

MCP Server Requirement: This skill uses mcp__microsoft-learn__* tools for fetching current Microsoft documentation. If the microsoft-learn MCP server is not configured:

• Check availability: The skill's allowed-tools includes MCP tools - if unavailable, queries will fail

• Fallback approach: Use WebSearch or WebFetch to access Microsoft Learn documentation directly at https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/cloud-adoption-framework/

• Offline reference: The references/caf-pillars.md file contains static CAF reference content

AWS Well-Architected Framework

The Well-Architected Framework provides guidance through 6 pillars:

Well-Architected Pillars

Pillar Focus Key Questions

Operational Excellence Run and monitor systems How do you manage workload and events?

Security Protect data and systems How do you manage identities and permissions?

Reliability Recover from failures How do you manage service failures?

Performance Efficiency Use resources efficiently How do you select appropriate resources?

Cost Optimization Avoid unnecessary costs How do you manage usage and cost?

Sustainability Minimize environmental impact How do you reduce carbon footprint?

Well-Architected Alignment Checklist

Operational Excellence

• Operations as code implemented

• Documentation maintained

• Small, frequent changes practiced

• Failure procedures tested

• Lessons learned captured

Security

• Strong identity foundation

• Traceability enabled

• Security at all layers

• Risk assessment automated

• Data protected in transit and at rest

Reliability

• Automatic recovery configured

• Recovery procedures tested

• Horizontal scaling enabled

• Capacity planning in place

• Change management automated

Performance Efficiency

• Right-sized resources

• Global reach where needed

• Serverless where appropriate

• Performance monitoring active

• Experimentation enabled

Cost Optimization

• Cloud financial management

• Expenditure awareness

• Cost-effective resources

• Demand management

• Optimization over time

Sustainability

• Region selection for carbon

• Resource efficiency

• Data management practices

• Software efficiency patterns

• Hardware lifecycle management

Framework Comparison

Aspect Microsoft CAF AWS Well-Architected

Scope End-to-end adoption Workload design

Structure 7 methodologies 6 pillars

Focus Journey/transformation Design principles

Governance Strong emphasis Part of security

Sustainability Part of manage Dedicated pillar

When to Use Which

• Starting cloud journey: Microsoft CAF (comprehensive adoption guidance)

• Designing workloads: AWS Well-Architected (design review)

• Both: Use CAF for strategy/planning, Well-Architected for implementation

Cloud Alignment Analysis

Output Structure

Cloud Alignment Assessment: [System Name]

Date: YYYY-MM-DD Framework: [CAF | Well-Architected | Both] Cloud Provider: [Azure | AWS | Multi-cloud]

Executive Summary

[High-level alignment status]

Alignment Score

Detailed Assessment

[Area 1]

Status: [Aligned | Partial | Gap] Current state: [Description] Recommendation: [Action] Priority: [High | Medium | Low]

Improvement Roadmap

[Prioritized list of improvements]

References

[Links to relevant framework documentation]

Integration with Other Skills

• togaf-guidance: Align CAF methodologies with TOGAF phases

• gap-analysis: Use cloud frameworks to identify gaps

• architecture-documentation: Document cloud architecture decisions

• adr-management: Record cloud platform decisions

Version History

• v1.0.0 (2025-12-05): Initial release

• Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF) alignment checklists

• AWS Well-Architected Framework pillar checklists

• Framework comparison and guidance

• MCP integration with fallback documentation

Last Updated

Date: 2025-12-05 Model: claude-opus-4-5-20251101