Well-Architected Frameworks

Well-Architected Frameworks provide structured approaches to evaluating and improving cloud and enterprise architectures. This page documents how Orthogramic domains map to well-architected concepts, enabling alignment between business architecture and technical architecture assessment.

Mapping Version: 2.1
Supported Frameworks: AWS, Azure, GCP, Enterprise

Overview

What are Well-Architected Frameworks?

Well-Architected Frameworks are assessment methodologies that evaluate architectures against best practices across key pillars:

Operational Excellence — Running and monitoring systems
Security — Protecting information and systems
Reliability — Recovering from failures, meeting demand
Performance Efficiency — Using resources efficiently
Cost Optimization — Avoiding unnecessary costs
Sustainability — Minimizing environmental impact (newer pillar)

Why Map to Well-Architected?

Benefit	Description
Business-technical alignment	Connect business capabilities to technical quality
Assessment consistency	Use common framework across organization
Cloud readiness	Evaluate readiness for cloud migration
Continuous improvement	Drive architecture improvements systematically

Framework Comparison

Pillar Alignment Across Frameworks

Pillar	AWS	Azure	GCP	Orthogramic Domain
Operational Excellence	✓	✓	✓	Capabilities, Value Stream
Security	✓	✓	✓	Policy, Risk Management
Reliability	✓	✓	✓	Technology, Capabilities
Performance	✓	✓	✓	Performance, Technology
Cost Optimization	✓	✓	✓	Finance, Technology
Sustainability	✓	✓	-	Sustainability

Domain Mappings by Pillar

Operational Excellence

Focus: Running and monitoring systems to deliver business value

Orthogramic Domain	Mapping	Relevance
Capabilities	Business capabilities require operational support	High
Value Stream	Value delivery depends on operational health	High
Performance	KPIs measure operational outcomes	High
Technology	Technical operations enable capabilities	Medium
People	Skills and culture support operations	Medium

Key Mappings:

Capability maturity → Operational readiness
Value stream performance → Operational metrics
SLAs/SLOs → Service-level expectations

Security

Focus: Protecting information, systems, and assets

Orthogramic Domain	Mapping	Relevance
Policy	Security policies govern behavior	High
Risk Management	Security risks require management	High
Information	Data classification and protection	High
Technology	Security controls implementation	High
Capabilities	Security capabilities required	Medium

Key Mappings:

Policy compliance → Security controls
Risk appetite → Security investment
Information classification → Data protection requirements

Reliability

Focus: Recovering from failures and meeting demand

Orthogramic Domain	Mapping	Relevance
Technology	Infrastructure reliability	High
Capabilities	Business continuity requirements	High
Risk Management	Availability risk management	High
Value Stream	Critical path identification	Medium
Supply Chain	Dependency management	Medium

Key Mappings:

Capability criticality → Recovery requirements (RTO/RPO)
Technology dependencies → Single points of failure
Value stream stages → Resilience requirements

Performance Efficiency

Focus: Using resources efficiently to meet requirements

Orthogramic Domain	Mapping	Relevance
Performance	Performance metrics and targets	High
Technology	Technical performance characteristics	High
Capabilities	Capability performance requirements	Medium
Value Stream	Process efficiency	Medium

Key Mappings:

Performance indicators → Technical metrics
Capability SLAs → Performance targets
Value stream throughput → System capacity

Cost Optimization

Focus: Avoiding unnecessary costs while delivering value

Orthogramic Domain	Mapping	Relevance
Finance	Cost management and optimization	High
Technology	Infrastructure cost efficiency	High
Capabilities	Capability cost-effectiveness	Medium
Value Stream	Value vs. cost analysis	Medium

Key Mappings:

Finance domain costs → Infrastructure spending
Capability ROI → Technology investment
Value stream value → Cost justification

Sustainability

Focus: Minimizing environmental impact

Orthogramic Domain	Mapping	Relevance
Sustainability	Environmental objectives	High
Technology	Green technology choices	High
Supply Chain	Sustainable sourcing	Medium
Capabilities	Sustainable practices	Medium

Key Mappings:

Sustainability goals → Carbon reduction targets
Technology choices → Energy efficiency
Supply chain policies → Environmental requirements

Assessment Integration

Mapping Orthogramic to Well-Architected Review

Assessment Workflow

Identify scope — Which capabilities/value streams to assess?
Map to pillars — Connect business requirements to WA pillars
Conduct review — Use WA questions against mapped areas
Identify gaps — Where does architecture fall short?
Prioritize improvements — Use business value to prioritize
Track in SRM — Create strategic responses for improvements

JSON Schema for WA Mapping

{
  "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#",
  "$id": "https://orthogramic.com/schemas/extensions/well-architected-mapping.schema.json",
  "title": "Well-Architected Mapping",
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "mappingID": {"type": "string"},
    "framework": {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": ["aws", "azure", "gcp", "enterprise"]
    },
    "pillar": {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": ["operational-excellence", "security", "reliability", "performance-efficiency", "cost-optimization", "sustainability"]
    },
    "orthogramicDomain": {"type": "string"},
    "orthogramicEntity": {"type": "string"},
    "waQuestion": {"type": "string"},
    "waRecommendation": {"type": "string"},
    "assessmentResult": {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": ["compliant", "partial", "non-compliant", "not-applicable"]
    },
    "gap": {"type": "string"},
    "remediation": {"type": "string"},
    "priority": {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": ["critical", "high", "medium", "low"]
    }
  }
}

Example Mappings

Capability to Reliability Pillar

{
  "mappingID": "wa-map-001",
  "framework": "aws",
  "pillar": "reliability",
  "orthogramicDomain": "capabilities",
  "orthogramicEntity": "payment-processing",
  "waQuestion": "How do you back up data?",
  "waRecommendation": "Implement automated backups with tested recovery",
  "assessmentResult": "partial",
  "gap": "Recovery testing not performed regularly",
  "remediation": "Implement quarterly DR testing",
  "priority": "high"
}

Value Stream to Operational Excellence

{
  "mappingID": "wa-map-002",
  "framework": "azure",
  "pillar": "operational-excellence",
  "orthogramicDomain": "value-stream",
  "orthogramicEntity": "customer-onboarding",
  "waQuestion": "How do you evolve your workload?",
  "waRecommendation": "Implement deployment pipelines for safe changes",
  "assessmentResult": "compliant",
  "gap": null,
  "remediation": null,
  "priority": null
}

Risk to Security Pillar

{
  "mappingID": "wa-map-003",
  "framework": "aws",
  "pillar": "security",
  "orthogramicDomain": "risk-management",
  "orthogramicEntity": "data-breach-risk",
  "waQuestion": "How do you protect your data at rest?",
  "waRecommendation": "Encrypt all data at rest using customer-managed keys",
  "assessmentResult": "non-compliant",
  "gap": "Some legacy systems store data unencrypted",
  "remediation": "Migrate to encrypted storage; implement encryption-at-rest policy",
  "priority": "critical"
}

Usage Guidelines

When to Use WA Mappings

Cloud migration — Assess readiness before migration
Architecture review — Periodic health check
Incident response — Post-incident improvement
Investment justification — Link business value to technical improvements
Compliance — Meet security and reliability requirements

Best Practices

Start with critical capabilities — Focus WA reviews on business-critical areas
Use business context — Frame WA findings in business impact terms
Create SRM entries — Track improvements through Strategic Response Model
Regular cadence — Conduct WA reviews at least annually
Cross-pillar analysis — Look for improvements that address multiple pillars

Connecting to Strategic Response Model

When WA reviews identify gaps:

{
  "srmEntry": {
    "trigger": {
      "label": "Well-Architected Review Finding",
      "category": "Performance response",
      "description": "Security pillar assessment identified unencrypted data"
    },
    "rationale": {
      "driver": "Risk mitigation",
      "description": "Address security gap to reduce data breach risk"
    },
    "responses": [
      {
        "domain": "Technology",
        "responseType": "capability-enhancement",
        "description": "Implement encryption-at-rest for all storage"
      },
      {
        "domain": "Policy",
        "responseType": "policy-creation",
        "description": "Create data encryption policy"
      }
    ]
  }
}

For Data Engineers

Well-Architected mappings can inform data platform architecture decisions. Use the reliability and security pillars to define requirements for data infrastructure, then track compliance through your data catalog's quality metrics.

Technology Domain — Technology architecture modeling
Risk Management Domain — Risk modeling
Sustainability Domain — Environmental objectives
Strategic Response Model — Tracking improvements

Overview​

What are Well-Architected Frameworks?​

Why Map to Well-Architected?​

Framework Comparison​

Pillar Alignment Across Frameworks​

Domain Mappings by Pillar​

Operational Excellence​

Security​

Reliability​

Performance Efficiency​

Cost Optimization​

Sustainability​

Assessment Integration​

Mapping Orthogramic to Well-Architected Review​

Assessment Workflow​

JSON Schema for WA Mapping​

Example Mappings​

Capability to Reliability Pillar​

Value Stream to Operational Excellence​

Risk to Security Pillar​

Usage Guidelines​

When to Use WA Mappings​

Best Practices​

Connecting to Strategic Response Model​

Related Documentation​

Overview

What are Well-Architected Frameworks?

Why Map to Well-Architected?

Framework Comparison

Pillar Alignment Across Frameworks

Domain Mappings by Pillar

Operational Excellence

Security

Reliability

Performance Efficiency

Cost Optimization

Sustainability

Assessment Integration

Mapping Orthogramic to Well-Architected Review

Assessment Workflow

JSON Schema for WA Mapping

Example Mappings

Capability to Reliability Pillar

Value Stream to Operational Excellence

Risk to Security Pillar

Usage Guidelines

When to Use WA Mappings

Best Practices

Connecting to Strategic Response Model

Related Documentation