How do you benchmark and improve your cloud governance maturity and capability?

1 Assess your current state

The first step is to assess your current state of cloud governance. You can use frameworks such as the Cloud Governance Maturity Model (CGMM) or the Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF) to evaluate your governance capabilities across different domains, such as strategy, security, operations, finance, and compliance. These frameworks provide a set of criteria and indicators that can help you identify your strengths and weaknesses, as well as your gaps and risks.

2 Define your desired state

The next step is to define your desired state of cloud governance. You can use the results of your assessment to set your vision, objectives, and priorities for improving your governance capabilities. You can also align your cloud governance strategy with your business goals and requirements, as well as with the industry standards and regulations that apply to your sector. You should also establish your key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics that will help you monitor and evaluate your progress.

3 Implement your governance policies

The third step is to implement your governance policies and processes. You can use tools such as cloud management platforms (CMPs) or cloud policy engines (CPEs) to automate and enforce your governance rules and actions. For example, you can use CMPs to manage your cloud resources, services, and costs across multiple providers and accounts. You can also use CPEs to apply policies such as tagging, encryption, backup, or access control to your cloud resources and services.

4 Monitor and audit your governance outcomes

The fourth step is to monitor and audit your governance outcomes and performance. You can use tools such as cloud monitoring platforms (CMPs) or cloud audit tools (CATs) to collect and analyze data on your cloud usage, security, compliance, and cost. For example, you can use CMPs to track and visualize your cloud KPIs and metrics, such as availability, reliability, performance, or efficiency. You can also use CATs to audit and report on your cloud compliance status and issues.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?