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Governance and security

Apply Azure controls without hiding ownership or exceptions.

We translate organizational requirements into Azure hierarchy, access, policy, secrets, posture, logging, and control mappings that engineering teams can implement and maintain.

Scope this Azure workSee technical scope

Control inheritance

Governance and security technical model
Inherited platform controlWorkload implementation
  1. Identity
    Tenant and platform roles
    Application access
  2. Policy
    Guardrails and exceptions
    Configuration compliance
  3. Protect
    Network and key controls
    Data and runtime controls
  4. Detect
    Central telemetry
    Service signals
  5. Respond
    Coordination and escalation
    Containment and recovery
Reference pattern, adapted during design.
Guardrails
Policy as codeAssignments, parameters, exemptions, and remediation are versioned.
Privilege
Time-bound accessRBAC and PIM reduce standing permissions where supported.
Security data
Scoped integrationDefender is foundational; Sentinel is included only when contracted.

Control domains

Governance spans structure, identity, resource controls, protection, and monitoring.

Controls are selected for the workload and regulatory context supplied by the customer.

01

Structure and policy

Align management groups and subscriptions to ownership, then assign Azure Policy initiatives with parameters, exemptions, and remediation rules.

  • Azure Policy
  • Management groups
02

Identity and secrets

Design least-privilege Azure RBAC, PIM activation, managed identities, workload federation where suitable, and Key Vault access.

  • Microsoft Entra ID
  • Azure RBAC
  • PIM
  • Managed identities
  • Key Vault
03

Posture and workload protection

Configure relevant Defender for Cloud plans, recommendations, regulatory views, and workload protections based on risk and license scope.

  • Microsoft Defender for Cloud
04

Security monitoring

Route selected logs and alerts into the customer's security workflow; design Microsoft Sentinel analytics and automation only when included.

  • Azure Monitor
  • Microsoft Sentinel

Control lifecycle

Controls move from requirement mapping to sustained enforcement.

Exceptions have owners, scope, rationale, expiry, and compensating measures.

  1. 01

    Map requirements

    Connect customer policies and applicable obligations to Azure control objectives and service ownership.

  2. 02

    Design and test

    Select control behavior, evaluate workload impact, test in a non-production scope, and define remediation.

  3. 03

    Deploy progressively

    Use audit effects before enforcement where appropriate, monitor impact, and approve exemptions through customer governance.

  4. 04

    Maintain

    Track drift, privileged access, exemptions, Defender recommendations, log coverage, and control changes.

Control mapping

A technical mapping supports assurance work but does not replace it.

Customer legal, risk, and audit functions determine applicability and sufficiency.

AreaAzure implementationCustomer ownership
Least privilegeRBAC role design, PIM, managed identity, access logsApprove roles, identities, activation policy, and periodic recertification
ConfigurationPolicy initiatives, assignments, remediation, exemption recordsApprove standards, exception risk, and enforcement timing
SecretsKey Vault, private access, rotation integration, diagnostic settingsOwn secret lifecycle, consumers, and emergency access
DetectionDefender for Cloud and contracted Sentinel contentOwn response authority, retention, SOC integration, and threat model

Control assets

Governance artifacts connect requirements to deployed Azure configuration.

The artifact set varies with whether the assignment is design, implementation, or remediation.

  1. 01

    Control architecture

    Scope hierarchy, identity model, policy strategy, secrets approach, logging flows, and ownership boundaries.

  2. 02

    Policy library

    Initiatives, assignments, parameters, exemptions, tests, deployment workflow, and remediation notes.

  3. 03

    Access model

    Role mappings, privileged activation rules, managed-identity usage, segregation constraints, and emergency access dependencies.

  4. 04

    Compliance mapping

    Customer requirement, Azure control, configuration reference, owner, limitation, and residual action.

Security boundary

Security engineering is scoped separately from independent assurance and response services.

Contract language names any monitoring, investigation, testing, or assurance activity included.

Questions to answer before scoping

  1. Which requirements must map to Azure controls?
  2. Who approves exemptions and their expiry?
  3. Is Sentinel engineering or SOC service actually required?
Bring us the current estate

Best suited to

  • Landing-zone guardrails
  • Identity and privileged-access remediation
  • Defender for Cloud and policy improvement

Needed to begin

  • Customer requirements and risk owners available
  • Approved tenant access
  • Security and application contacts engaged

Customer responsibilities

  • Determine legal and regulatory applicability
  • Approve risk treatment and exceptions
  • Own incident authority and security-provider coordination

Not included by default

  • Certification or audit attestation
  • Legal or regulatory opinion
  • Penetration testing, managed SOC, or security incident response unless contracted