AWS Well-Architected Review

We run AWS Well-Architected Framework Reviews (WAFR) as an authorised AWS Partner. Identify high-risk issues across security, reliability, cost, performance, and operations - then fix them with a structured remediation plan and ongoing support.

Sound familiar?

Your AWS bill keeps growing and nobody knows why

Resources accumulate, costs drift, and nobody has done a structured review of whether the architecture still fits the workload.

You're preparing for a compliance audit

SOC 2, ISO 27001, or PCI DSS auditors will ask about your cloud architecture practices. A WAFR gives you documented evidence.

The team inherited infrastructure and doesn't trust it

After a migration, acquisition, or team change - nobody is confident the architecture is sound. You need an independent assessment.

AWS keeps flagging high-risk items you can't prioritise

The Well-Architected Tool shows dozens of HRIs but your team has no bandwidth to triage them systematically.

You want the 10% AWS discount but don't know how to qualify

AWS offers 10% off on resources directly linked to remediation work. You need a partner to run the review and track the link between findings and fixes.

You've never done a WAFR and don't know where to start

The framework has 6 pillars, hundreds of questions, and no clear guidance on what's critical vs. nice-to-have for your specific situation.

What you get from a Well-Architected Review with Devopsity

Prioritised risk report

Prioritised risk report

Not a 200-page PDF nobody reads. A ranked list of high-risk items with business impact, effort estimate, and recommended fix for each.

10% AWS discount on remediated resources

10% AWS discount on remediated resources

We track the link between WAFR findings and remediation work, qualifying you for the AWS Partner-led 10% discount programme.

Remediation plan with timelines

Remediation plan with timelines

Each finding gets a fix - either implemented by us during the engagement or documented as a backlog item with clear instructions for your team.

Repeatable review cadence

Repeatable review cadence

WAFR isn't a one-off. We set up quarterly or bi-annual review cycles so your architecture stays aligned as workloads evolve.

Problems we solve with Well-Architected Reviews

Problem

Architecture decisions were made 2 years ago and never revisited

We review against current AWS best practices and identify where original decisions no longer fit your scale, traffic patterns, or compliance requirements.

Problem

Security findings pile up with no triage process

We prioritise HRIs by business impact and exploitability, not just severity. The top 5 get fixed during the engagement; the rest go into a tracked backlog.

Problem

Cloud costs grew 40% year-over-year without matching business growth

The Cost Optimisation pillar review identifies right-sizing opportunities, missing reservations, orphaned resources, and architecture-level inefficiencies.

Problem

The team doesn't know what "good" looks like on AWS

WAFR gives your team a benchmark. After the review they know exactly where you stand vs. AWS best practices - with evidence, not opinions.

Problem

You need compliance evidence for auditors

The WAFR report maps directly to SOC 2 trust criteria and ISO 27001 controls. We provide auditor-ready documentation of your architecture posture.

Problem

You want the AWS discount but your previous partner didn't deliver

We track every finding to remediation in the AWS WA Tool. The 10% discount applies to resources directly improved by the remediation work.

Why run a Well-Architected Review

Structured assessment, not opinions

Structured assessment, not opinions

The review follows AWS's official methodology with standardised questions across 6 pillars. Results are objective and comparable across review cycles.

AWS-recognised findings

AWS-recognised findings

Results are recorded in the AWS Well-Architected Tool, visible to AWS and qualifying for partner programmes and discount incentives.

Directly actionable output

Directly actionable output

Every finding comes with a recommended fix, effort estimate, and priority level. No generic advice - specific changes to your environment.

Cost recovery through AWS discount

Cost recovery through AWS discount

Remediation work tracked through the WA Tool qualifies for the AWS 10% discount on improved resources. The review often pays for itself.

Compliance acceleration

Compliance acceleration

WAFR findings map to SOC 2, ISO 27001, NIS2, and DORA requirements. The review doubles as compliance gap analysis at no extra cost.

Team upskilling

Team upskilling

The review process involves your engineers. They learn AWS best practices by working through real findings in their own environment.

How the Well-Architected Review process works

Our WAFR process follows the AWS Partner methodology. As an authorised AWS Partner in the Well-Architected programme since 2024, we run reviews that qualify for AWS incentives and produce actionable results.

1

Step 1: Scoping

We define which workload(s) to review, identify stakeholders, and agree on pillar focus areas based on your priorities.

  • Identify the workload boundary (which AWS accounts, services, and environments)
  • Select pillar focus (all 6 or prioritised subset based on risk appetite)
  • Schedule stakeholder interviews (architecture, security, operations, finance)
  • Create the workload in the AWS Well-Architected Tool
1-2 days
2

Step 2: Review

Structured interviews with your team, walking through the Well-Architected questions for each selected pillar. We document answers, identify risks, and note current architecture decisions.

  • Pillar-by-pillar questionnaire with technical stakeholders
  • Live architecture review (console walkthrough, IaC review, diagrams)
  • Document current state vs. best practice for each question
  • Mark High Risk Items (HRIs) and Medium Risk Items (MRIs) in the WA Tool
  • Cross-reference findings with existing compliance requirements
3-5 days
3

Step 3: Report & Prioritise

We produce a prioritised findings report ranked by business impact and remediation effort. Not a generic checklist - a specific action plan for your environment.

  • Generate the WAFR report from the AWS WA Tool
  • Rank findings by risk (business impact × likelihood × effort to fix)
  • Produce remediation recommendations with estimated effort for each HRI
  • Present findings to leadership and engineering (separate sessions)
  • Agree on remediation scope and timeline
2-3 days
4

Step 4: Remediate

We fix the highest-priority findings. Depending on scope, this ranges from a focused sprint on top-5 HRIs to a multi-week programme covering all findings.

  • Implement fixes for agreed HRI/MRI items
  • Track remediation in the AWS WA Tool (required for discount qualification)
  • Create milestones in the WA Tool after each batch of fixes
  • Validate fixes (security scans, cost analysis, performance tests)
  • Document changes and update architecture diagrams
2-8 weeks (depends on scope)
5

Step 5: Verify & Discount

We close the loop: verify fixes are effective, update the WA Tool, and ensure you qualify for the AWS 10% discount on remediated resources.

  • Re-answer resolved questions in the WA Tool (flip HRI → resolved)
  • Create a final milestone capturing the improved state
  • Submit for AWS Partner discount qualification (10% on improved resources)
  • Provide before/after comparison report
  • Schedule next review cycle (recommended quarterly or bi-annually)
1-2 days

Beyond the standard WAFR - focused deep-dive reviews

The standard Well-Architected questionnaire covers breadth, but often lacks depth. When your priority is a specific area - cost reduction, production readiness, or security posture - we offer focused reviews that go far beyond the WAFR checklist.

FinOps Deep-Dive

Actual workload analysis, billing review, architecture-to-business-intent mapping. We identify where costs don't align with value - not just oversized instances, but structural inefficiencies in how your architecture generates spend.

Scope: Cost Optimisation pillar + billing analysis + architecture review

Reliability & Production Readiness

Identification of single points of failure, self-hosted vs managed decision review, high availability assessment, and stress/load test planning. For teams preparing to scale or recovering from outages.

Scope: Reliability pillar + SPOF analysis + HA architecture + load testing

Security & Compliance Posture

Deep review of network segmentation, data protection, compute hardening, Organisation-level governance, access controls, and compliance readiness (SOC 2, ISO 27001, NIS2, DORA). Goes beyond the WAFR security pillar into operational security practices.

Scope: Security pillar + network/data/compute audit + governance + compliance gap analysis

AWS Well-Architected Partner Programme

Official AWS Partner

Devopsity has been part of the AWS Well-Architected Partner Programme since 2024. Reviews we conduct are recognised by AWS and qualify for incentives.

10% discount on remediated resources

AWS offers a 10% discount on resources that can be directly linked to improvements identified and implemented through a partner-led WAFR. We handle the tracking.

Recorded in the AWS WA Tool

All findings and remediations are tracked in the official AWS Well-Architected Tool - giving you a permanent, auditable record visible to AWS.

Repeatable and comparable

Milestones in the WA Tool let you compare your architecture posture across review cycles. Track improvement over time with objective metrics.

Frequently Asked Questions

An AWS Well-Architected Framework Review (WAFR) is a structured assessment of your cloud architecture against AWS best practices across 6 pillars: Operational Excellence, Security, Reliability, Performance Efficiency, Cost Optimisation, and Sustainability. It identifies high-risk items and produces a prioritised remediation plan.

A typical WAFR takes 1-2 weeks end-to-end: 1-2 days scoping, 3-5 days of interviews and review, and 2-3 days for the report. Remediation is additional and depends on the number and complexity of findings - typically 2-8 weeks for a focused programme.

The review itself typically costs between EUR 3,000 and EUR 8,000 depending on workload complexity and number of pillars reviewed. Remediation is quoted separately based on findings. The AWS 10% discount on remediated resources often recovers the review cost within 3-6 months.

AWS offers a 10% discount on resources that are directly linked to improvements identified through a partner-led WAFR. The discount applies to resources added or modified as part of remediation work tracked in the AWS Well-Architected Tool. As an authorised AWS Partner, we handle the tracking and qualification process.

No. The review produces a prioritised list. You decide which items to remediate based on business impact, budget, and timeline. We recommend addressing all High Risk Items (HRIs) but Medium Risk Items can be scheduled for future review cycles.

Yes. All WAFR sessions can be conducted remotely via video call with screen sharing. We review architecture through console access, IaC repositories, and documentation. No on-site presence is required.

AWS recommends reviewing workloads at least annually. For fast-evolving environments (frequent releases, scaling events, new services) we recommend quarterly reviews focused on changed pillars. Each review creates a milestone in the WA Tool for comparison.

Ready for a Well-Architected Review? Contact us

Ready for a Well-Architected Review? Contact us

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