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

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

Security

Reliability

Performance Efficiency

Cost Optimization

Sustainability

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

Claude-skill-registry cloud-alignment