A secure foundation was needed before scaling on Azure. I designed a landing zone with segmentation, policy, and identity built in from the start.
Context
The organization planned to scale on Azure but had no secure platform foundation to build on.
Challenge
Without a landing zone, every new workload would reinvent network, identity, and policy, accumulating risk and inconsistency.
Scope
- Design a secure landing zone
- Establish network segmentation
- Define policy and identity guardrails
- Document the operating model
Constraints
- Public sector security and sovereignty requirements
- A need to move quickly once the foundation was ready
- Teams new to Azure at scale
Approach
- 01Designed the landing zone around least privilege and segmentation
- 02Built Azure Firewall and hub and spoke connectivity
- 03Codified guardrails with Azure Policy and a clear RBAC model
- 04Documented ownership so the platform stayed governable
Technologies
Azure Landing ZonesAzure FirewallAzure Policy
Azure Landing Zones
Azure Firewall
Azure PolicyOutcome
- A secure platform foundation ready for new workloads
- Segmentation and guardrails built in from the start
- A governed path to scale quickly and safely
Lessons
A landing zone is leverage. Get the foundation right and every workload after it inherits security, not risk.
What made it complex
Meeting public sector security expectations while keeping the platform fast to build on.
Entra ID
Microsoft Sentinel
Defender XDR
KQL
Conditional Access