Accelerating Cloud Adoption with AWS Landing Zone Accelerator
As businesses increasingly shift their operations to the cloud, adopting a well-structured and optimized cloud environment becomes crucial for efficient management, security, and scalability. Amazon Web Services (AWS), the leading cloud service provider, offers a solution to expedite this process - the AWS Landing Zone Accelerator. This tool helps organizations create a robust foundation for their cloud infrastructure by automating the setup of best practices, security controls, and resource organization.
Understanding the AWS Landing Zone Accelerator
An AWS Landing Zone is essentially a customizable framework that lays the groundwork for building a secure, multi-account AWS environment. This framework includes various AWS resources, such as networks, identity and access management (IAM) policies, logging and monitoring tools, and security controls. AWS Landing Zone Accelerator streamlines and expedites the creation of this framework by providing a set of automation tools and deployment templates.
Key Benefits of AWS Landing Zone Accelerator
- Faster Setup
AWS Landing Zone Accelerator significantly reduces the time it takes to create a well-architected and secure AWS environment. By automating the deployment of foundational resources and services, organizations can avoid the time-consuming manual setup process.
- Best Practices
The tool is designed to incorporate AWS best practices for security, scalability, and performance. This ensures that the cloud environment is built following industry standards, reducing the risk of security vulnerabilities and operational inefficiencies.
- Consistency
With AWS Landing Zone Accelerator, organizations can establish a consistent environment across multiple accounts and regions. This is particularly beneficial for businesses with complex cloud infrastructures and distributed teams.
- Security
Security is paramount in the cloud. The accelerator helps set up security controls and policies to protect sensitive data and applications. This includes implementing network segmentation, encryption, and access controls.
- Scalability
The architecture created using the accelerator is designed to be scalable. As the organization's needs grow, it becomes easier to add new accounts, services, and resources while maintaining a coherent structure.
How AWS Landing Zone Accelerator Works
- Customization
Organizations can customize the AWS Landing Zone architecture to match their specific requirements. This involves defining networking configurations, access controls, and logging strategies.
- Automation
Once the customization is complete, AWS Landing Zone Accelerator utilizes automation to deploy the specified architecture. This involves provisioning resources, setting up networking components, establishing IAM roles, and configuring security settings.
- Account Provisioning
The accelerator allows for the streamlined creation of new AWS accounts, each with predefined configurations and policies. This is particularly useful for businesses that require separate accounts for different projects or departments.
- Resource Deployment
AWS resources like Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs), subnets, security groups, and monitoring tools are automatically deployed according to the specified architecture.
- Continual Improvement
The accelerator enables organizations to continuously enhance their cloud environment. As AWS updates its best practices and security features, organizations can apply these changes to their existing architecture.
Landing Zone Accelerator on AWS
Included Services, Features, and Configuration References
Account Configuration
Global Configuration
Identity and Access Management (IAM) Configuration
Network Configuration
AWS Organizations Configuration
Security Configuration
Customization Configuration
Other Services and Features
Industries Examples
Healthcare
We built the Healthcare configuration to provide guardrails to help mitigate the threats faced by healthcare organizations. To support these organizations, this configuration uses controls from the following frameworks:
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)
Esquema Nacional de Seguridad (ENS) High
Cloud Computing Compliance Controls Catalog (C5)
Fascicolo Sanitario Elettronico
Education
We built the Education configuration to provide guardrails to help mitigate the threats faced by education organizations. To support these organizations, this configuration uses controls from the following frameworks:
International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 800-171
NIST 800-53
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC)
Resources/References
Landing Zone Accelerator on AWS | AWS Solutions | AWS Solutions Library (amazon.com)
