Cloud and Infrastructure Principles
Approved
These principles have been approved by the DHCW TDA
Multi Cloud
For SaaS solutions and specialist PaaS services, we will choose our provider based on analysis of capabilities in the marketplace. For IaaS and generic PaaS deployments we will identify a single provider of these services.
Make security easy to adopt
Common security tooling and monitoring to be implemented for all clouds. We will build the underpinning cloud security infrastructure and monitoring systems, so that these are available for everyone to use. Technical solutions (guardrails/policies) will be implemented to reduce risk of user error when configuring cloud services.
Design for portability
Design for portability and avoid vendor lock-in unless there is compelling case for doing so.
Design for self-service
Leverage automation for infrastructure deployment, configuration management, and testing. Utilise Infrastructure as Code (IaC) practices and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines. Self-service should be adopted where possible.
Keep the network simple, resilient and reliable
The network systems should be kept as simple as possible with a focus on reliability and availability, even during periods of planned maintenance.
Optimise cloud benefits
Maximise the benefits of using the cloud. Utilise the cloud services that deliver most value to the organisation. Select the most optimum service model (SaaS, FaaS, PaaS, IaaS, etc). Offload management overhead where possible.
Design for elasticity and cost optimisation
Design for efficiency and cost minimisation – lever the elasticity of cloud services.
Design for reliability
Design for high-availability, resilience, data protection and disaster recovery. Follow best practices and patterns available from the relevant cloud provider.
Design for performance
Design applications and infrastructure to ensure that they meet user response time expectations and can grow and adapt to changes in demand.
Consider open-source first
Optimise use of Open-Source vs Proprietary products. Choose the most economically advantageous solution.
Simplify and standardise
Avoid technology sprawl. Balance the supportability implications of technology choices with the benefits of using unfamiliar technologies.