Building a Defensible Azure Foundation
How we modernized cloud, identity, security, and governance for a regulated financial institution.
This engagement focused on modernizing cloud, identity, security, and governance foundations to support a regulated financial institution operating under FFIEC / GLBA expectations. The work spanned strategy, architecture, hands-on implementation, and automation, with a clear emphasis on control-plane rigor, repeatability, and audit defensibility.
1. Azure Platform & Landing Zone Strategy
Objectives
- Establish a bank-grade Azure foundation aligned to Microsoft ESLZ
- Enforce strong separation of duties across management, identity, and networking
Work Completed
- Defined subscription hierarchy and management group structure (Platform vs. Workload)
- Designed policy-driven governance model with Azure Policy initiatives
- Established naming standards and resource conventions
- Documented Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) for audit trails
Outcome: A defensible, regulator-friendly Azure foundation that prevents ad-hoc sprawl.
Azure Cloud Transformation
Enterprise Financial Services Architecture
Environment View
Full enterprise-grade configuration with high availability
Data Flow Legend
Identity & Access Management
Azure Active Directory
Enterprise SSO & MFA
Azure AD B2C
Customer Identity
Privileged Identity Mgmt
JIT Access Control
Security & Compliance
Azure Security Center
Threat Protection
Key Vault
Secrets Management
Azure Sentinel
SIEM & SOAR
DDoS Protection
Premium
Network Infrastructure
Azure Virtual Network
Private Network
Application Gateway
Load Balancer & WAF
Azure ExpressRoute
Dedicated Connectivity
Application Services
App Service
Web & API Apps
Azure Kubernetes
Container Orchestration
Logic Apps
Workflow Automation
Functions
Serverless Compute
Data Platform
Azure SQL Database
Managed RDBMS
Cosmos DB
Global Distribution
Synapse Analytics
Data Warehouse
Data Lake Storage
Big Data Storage
Integration & Messaging
Service Bus
Enterprise Messaging
Event Grid
Event-Driven Architecture
API Management
API Gateway
Monitoring & Management
Azure Monitor
Observability Platform
Log Analytics
Centralized Logging
Application Insights
APM & Diagnostics
Azure Policy
Governance & Compliance
Key Architecture Principles
Zero Trust
Verify explicitly, least privilege
High Availability
Multi-region, 99.99% SLA
Compliance
PCI-DSS, SOC 2, ISO 27001
Resiliency
Automated DR & Backup
2. Identity & Access Control (Entra ID)
Objectives
- Centralize identity control and minimize standing privilege
- Support strong audit evidence
Work Completed
- Implemented Privileged Identity Management (PIM) with JIT elevation
- Defined break-glass access strategy with Conditional Access exclusions
- Established admin role separation to avoid Global Admin reliance
- Designed Conditional Access patterns with "What-If" testing
Outcome: Identity is no longer “trust-based”; it is policy-enforced and auditable.
3. Network Architecture (Hub-and-Spoke / vWAN)
Objectives
- Centralize connectivity and inspection
- Support hybrid banking workloads without flat routing
Work Completed
- Designed Azure Virtual WAN hub architecture
- Defined hub/spoke segmentation for workload isolation
- Standardized DNS architecture with Private DNS zones
- Defined routing strategy to avoid transitive trust
Outcome: Network design favors deterministic routing and inspection, not convenience.
4. Security Controls & Inspection
Objectives
- Enforce centralized traffic inspection
- Reduce lateral movement risk
Work Completed
- Designed Azure Firewall Premium architecture with centralized policy
- Defined rule taxonomy (DNAT vs Network vs Application)
- Standardized logging and diagnostics for flow visibility
Outcome: Security is explicitly engineered, not bolted on.
5. Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD)
Objectives
- Secure remote access to banking workloads
- Enforce location-based access control
Work Completed
- Designed AVD access control model
- Authored Conditional Access PRD specific to AVD
- Designed policy comparison framework and What-If testing approach
Outcome: AVD access is intentionally constrained, not broadly permissive.
6. Logging, Monitoring & Audit Readiness
Objectives
- Provide audit evidence on demand
- Avoid reactive log hunting
Work Completed
- Defined Log Analytics workspace strategy
- Standardized diagnostic settings for platform and security services
- Built KQL patterns for firewall traffic and security events
Outcome: Audit questions can be answered with queries, not guesswork.
7. Automation & Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
Objectives
- Eliminate click-ops and ensure repeatability
- Reduce configuration drift
Work Completed
- Standardized Bicep-first deployment approach
- Defined parameterized templates for platform and security controls
- Established GitHub-based workflow for source-controlled infrastructure
Outcome: Infrastructure changes are reviewable artifacts, not console actions.
8. Documentation & Stakeholder Artifacts
Objectives
- Enable executive understanding and support regulators
- Create long-term institutional knowledge
Work Completed
- Architecture diagrams (platform, identity, network)
- Formal PRDs for security initiatives
- Decision logs explaining why, not just what
Outcome: The program is explainable, not opaque.
9. What We Explicitly Did NOT Do
To be clear and direct, this was intentional and appropriate for a regulated bank:
- No unmanaged services
- No 24×7 SOC or NOC operations
- No vendor-driven “black box” designs
- No shortcutting governance for speed
AI Foundry Workstream
The AI Foundry effort was treated as a regulated platform capability, not a “data science sandbox.” The goal was to enable GenAI workloads without weakening the bank’s security posture.
Core Design Principles
- •Identity-first: Managed Identities / Service Principals
- •Private-only: Private endpoints + private DNS
- •Centralized logging: Audit trails for compliance
- •Tight guardrails: Policy enforcement
Practical Outcomes
- ✓No uncontrolled public endpoints
- ✓No mystery authentication
- ✓No “we’ll figure out logging later”
- ✓No one-off snowflake builds
Facing similar regulatory challenges?
We help financial institutions build audit-ready Azure foundations.