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-toolsincludes MCP tools - if unavailable, queries will fail - Fallback approach: Use
WebSearchorWebFetchto access Microsoft Learn documentation directly athttps://learn.microsoft.com/azure/cloud-adoption-framework/ - Offline reference: The
references/caf-pillars.mdfile 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
| Area | Status | Score |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Pillar/Methodology 1] | [Aligned/Partial/Gap] | X/10 |
| [Pillar/Methodology 2] | [Aligned/Partial/Gap] | X/10 |
| ... | ... | ... |
## 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