We're dealing with a common challenge in our expanding AWS Organization. Our platform team aims to enforce strict guardrails like Service Control Policies (SCPs) and mandatory tagging to ensure security and manage costs, but our developers feel this creates unnecessary friction and slows them down. This leads to a continuous back-and-forth struggle. How have others tackled this issue? Specifically, what has worked for you in terms of balancing preventive controls (which are essential but less flexible) with detective controls (which allow for more flexibility)? What tools or strategies have proven effective at scale?
5 Answers
One way to address the issue is by using Terraform modules to incorporate the necessary tags and security defaults directly into the development process. This allows developers to maintain their velocity. For preventive controls, consider implementing SCPs for critical issues like blocking public S3 buckets and enforcing encryption. Just a tip—always test new SCPs in non-production environments first to avoid nasty surprises. For detective controls, AWS Config is super useful as it helps monitor compliance and catch issues like unencrypted EBS volumes. However, remember that detective controls are only effective if you have a solid response plan, or else they're just noise. To find the right balance, start with fewer preventive controls and tighten them as needed based on real incidents. Also, keep track of how often developers hit roadblocks versus actual security issues. Hope this helps!
I totally relate! We tried implementing strict controls, but they ended up being more trouble than they were worth. One key challenge many teams face is not closing the feedback loop on waste. We started using a tool called Pointfive that helps us create actionable insights for engineers. It has significantly reduced the chaos and improved our cost management. Definitely worth exploring!
Creating a separate Organizational Unit (OU) for Sandbox accounts can be helpful for developers. They can use this space without strict restrictions, as long as it’s periodically cleaned up to manage compliance and cost. Encouraging automation in their infrastructure setup can really benefit everyone involved too! Just my two cents!
Mandatory controls should not hinder the workflow if they're implemented thoughtfully. If a CI/CD run fails due to missing tags, it’s annoying but can be resolved with a small code change. The key is to ensure that while you restrict unsafe actions, you also don’t make it impossible for developers to get their work done. If they can adjust the necessary configurations quickly, it minimizes frustration. Just make sure you allow room for adjustments, like using CloudFront even if S3 is restricted.
Strict guardrails are essential and should be treated as the bare minimum. If you’re not enforcing them now, you'll definitely face bigger issues later. Ideally, these should have been established from the beginning. The goal is to implement controls that don’t come at the cost of productivity.
Great advice! I totally agree about starting conservatively on preventive controls and adjusting based on feedback!