Better Cloud policies: How governance helps your organization move forward

Why Cloud Governance Matters More Than Ever

Managing your IT environment has never been more important. Yet many organizations still lack a clear governance strategy. The consequences? Unsecured resources, unclear ownership, unnecessary costs — or even serious security incidents. Without clear rules and controls, things can go wrong fast in the cloud.

The good news: governance doesn’t have to be a hurdle. In fact, with the right setup, it gives you clarity, prevents mistakes, and leaves room for innovation.

In this blog post, we’ll explain why governance is essential — and how to build a better cloud policy!

No Governance: What Can Go Wrong?

Cloud technology offers endless opportunities. But without clear frameworks, you face major risks — from inefficiency to cyberattacks.

In 2018, for example, a task at Adobe kept running in Azure, costing the company $80,000 per day. Since it went unnoticed for over a week, nearly $1 million in resources was wasted.

That same year, a Kubernetes environment at Tesla was publicly accessible, allowing attackers to use it for crypto mining.

These incidents show exactly what can happen without strong governance. A clear policy is essential to maintain control, mitigate risks, and create a scalable environment.

How Wortell Gets Governance Right

Cloud governance requires more than a few policy documents. It needs structure, alignment, and smart tooling.

At Wortell, we help organizations implement governance the right way using a structured methodology that’s fully integrated into our managed services. Our approach aligns with the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework and plays a key role in our journey toward achieving the Azure Expert MSP certification — Microsoft’s highest level of recognition in this field (we’re currently in the final phase!).

Here’s how we do it:

1. Mapping ownership: We identify which teams own governance and who’s responsible for what.

2. Risk assessment: We analyze your cloud risks to understand where the biggest threats lie.

3. Defining policies: Based on your needs and risks, we create clear, actionable governance policies.

4. Implementation and monitoring: We make sure policies are enforced and continuously monitored.

And when it comes to the technical setup, everything is handled down to the finest detail.
We use Azure Policy, Microsoft’s native solution for enforcing and managing governance, combined with Infrastructure as Code.
We’re also implementing Enterprise Policy as Code (EPAC) — a community-driven framework that helps enforce Azure Policy quickly and efficiently.

Centralized Control and Clarity

The result of Wortell’s approach? Our clients have a clear governance framework — giving them full control over their cloud environment.
They maintain oversight at a centralized level, which is crucial when working with multiple teams or external partners. 

Curious about what this could mean for your organization?
Our expert Robert van Dijk would be happy to tell you more.