Well-Architected Framework review in GCP - Step-by-Step Execution

Process Flow - Well-Architected Framework review

Start Review

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Identify Workload

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Assess 5 Pillars

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Security

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Operational Excellence

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Identify Improvements

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Implement Changes

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Review Again or Exit

The review starts by identifying the workload, then assesses it against the five pillars of the framework, identifies improvements, implements changes, and repeats or finishes.

Execution Sample

GCP

1. Identify workload
2. Check Security
3. Check Reliability
4. Check Performance
5. Check Cost
6. Check Operational Excellence

This sequence reviews a workload step-by-step against each pillar of the Well-Architected Framework.

Process Table

Step	Action	Pillar Assessed	Result	Next Step
1	Identify workload	N/A	Workload defined	Assess Security
2	Assess Security	Security	Risks found: None	Assess Reliability
3	Assess Reliability	Reliability	Potential single point of failure	Assess Performance
4	Assess Performance	Performance	Latency acceptable	Assess Cost
5	Assess Cost	Cost Optimization	Costs higher than expected	Assess Operational Excellence
6	Assess Operational Excellence	Operational Excellence	Monitoring needs improvement	Identify Improvements
7	Identify Improvements	All Pillars	Plan to add redundancy, optimize costs, improve monitoring	Implement Changes
8	Implement Changes	All Pillars	Changes deployed	Review Again or Exit
9	Review Again or Exit	N/A	Decide to repeat review or finish	Exit or Restart Review

💡 Review ends when workload meets all pillar standards or user decides to stop.

Status Tracker

Variable	Start	After Step 2	After Step 3	After Step 5	After Step 6	Final
Workload	Undefined	Defined	Defined	Defined	Defined	Defined
Security Status	Unchecked	No risks	No risks	No risks	No risks	No risks
Reliability Status	Unchecked	Unchecked	Potential single point of failure	Potential single point of failure	Potential single point of failure	Improved after changes
Performance Status	Unchecked	Unchecked	Unchecked	Latency acceptable	Latency acceptable	Latency acceptable
Cost Status	Unchecked	Unchecked	Unchecked	Costs higher than expected	Costs higher than expected	Optimized after changes
Operational Excellence Status	Unchecked	Unchecked	Unchecked	Unchecked	Monitoring needs improvement	Monitoring improved

Key Moments - 3 Insights

Why do we assess each pillar separately instead of all at once?

Assessing pillars separately (see execution_table steps 2-6) helps focus on specific areas and identify precise improvements.

What happens if a pillar shows issues during assessment?

Issues found (like reliability single point of failure at step 3) lead to identifying improvements and implementing changes before finishing.

Why repeat the review after implementing changes?

Repeating ensures changes fixed problems and no new issues appeared, as shown in step 9 where review can restart or exit.

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution table, what was found during the Reliability assessment at step 3?

A No risks found

B Single point of failure found

C Latency acceptable

D Costs higher than expected

💡 Hint

Check the 'Result' column for step 3 in the execution_table.

At which step does the review identify the need to improve monitoring?

A Step 6

B Step 5

C Step 2

D Step 8

💡 Hint

Look at the 'Pillar Assessed' and 'Result' columns for step 6.

If the cost was acceptable at step 5, how would the next step's action change?

A Skip Operational Excellence assessment

B Repeat Cost assessment

C Proceed to identify improvements without cost concerns

D End review immediately

💡 Hint

Refer to the flow from step 5 to step 6 and then to step 7 in the execution_table.

Concept Snapshot

Well-Architected Framework review steps:
1. Identify workload
2. Assess each pillar: Security, Reliability, Performance, Cost, Operational Excellence
3. Identify improvements based on assessments
4. Implement changes
5. Repeat review or finish
Focus on one pillar at a time for clear improvements.

Full Transcript

The Well-Architected Framework review starts by defining the workload. Then, it checks each of the five pillars: Security, Reliability, Performance, Cost Optimization, and Operational Excellence. Each pillar is assessed separately to find any issues. For example, reliability might reveal a single point of failure, or cost might be higher than expected. After all assessments, improvements are planned and implemented. The review can then be repeated to confirm improvements or ended if the workload meets standards. This step-by-step approach helps keep cloud workloads secure, reliable, efficient, and cost-effective.