Digital Native Governance Check

Digital Native Governance Check

Purpose

Evaluate whether a startup's Azure environment has the foundational governance that enterprise customers, investors, and auditors expect. Produces a maturity score (0–100) with clear next steps.

This is NOT a deep compliance audit (use the Compliance & Governance skill for that). This is a focused "did you get the basics right?" diagnostic for teams of 5–50 engineers who set up Azure fast and moved on.

When to use this skill

• Startup preparing for first enterprise customer security review
• CTO asks "are we production-ready?"
• Pre-Series A infrastructure maturity check
• After first incident: "what basics did we miss?"
• Quarterly governance health check for Digital Natives

Maturity levels

Assessment procedure

Run all checks in parallel where possible. Score each and sum for total.

🏥 CATEGORY 1 — Alerting & Observability (20 points)

Detects: "Azure VM went down and nobody knew" + "you configured one alert type out of four"

Check 1.1 — Service Health alerts exist (8 pts)

az monitor activity-log alert list \
  --subscription <sub-id> \
  --query "[?contains(to_string(condition.allOf), 'ServiceHealth')].{name:name, enabled:enabled}" \
  -o json

Scoring:

• 8 pts: Alert exists covering all 4 event types (Service Issues, Health Advisories, Planned Maintenance, Security Advisories)
• 4 pts: Alert exists but covers only 1–2 types
• 0 pts: No Service Health alerts at all

📖 https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/service-health/alerts-activity-log-service-notifications-portal

Check 1.2 — Resource Health alerts for compute (6 pts)

az monitor activity-log alert list \
  --subscription <sub-id> \
  --query "[?contains(to_string(condition.allOf), 'ResourceHealth')].{name:name, enabled:enabled}" \
  -o json

Scoring:

• 6 pts: Resource Health alerts exist and are enabled
• 0 pts: No Resource Health alerts — VMs can go Unavailable silently

📖 https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/service-health/resource-health-alert-monitor-guide

Check 1.3 — Action Groups with valid receivers (6 pts)

az monitor action-group list \
  --subscription <sub-id> \
  --query "[].{name:name, emails:length(emailReceivers), webhooks:length(webhookReceivers)}" \
  -o table

Scoring:

• 6 pts: Action group with email + at least one other channel (webhook, SMS)
• 3 pts: Action group with email only
• 0 pts: No action groups configured

📖 https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/alerts/action-groups

🏗️ CATEGORY 2 — Subscription Topology (20 points)

Detects: "the flat subscription problem" + "dev/test/prod in the same subscription"

Check 2.1 — Management Groups beyond Tenant Root (8 pts)

az account management-group list \
  --query "[].{name:name, displayName:displayName}" \
  -o table

Scoring:

• 8 pts: Custom MG hierarchy exists (nonprod/prod/platform pattern)
• 4 pts: At least one custom MG beyond Tenant Root Group
• 0 pts: Only Tenant Root Group — completely flat

📖 https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/governance/management-groups/overview

Check 2.2 — Environment separation (8 pts)

az account list --all \
  --query "[?state=='Enabled'].{name:name, id:id}" \
  -o table

Look for prod/nonprod/dev/staging patterns in subscription names.

Scoring:

• 8 pts: Clear separation (prod ≠ nonprod in distinct subscriptions)
• 4 pts: Multiple subscriptions but unclear separation
• 0 pts: Single subscription for everything

📖 https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cloud-adoption-framework/ready/landing-zone/design-area/resource-org-subscriptions

Check 2.3 — Resource Locks on critical infrastructure (4 pts)

az lock list --subscription <sub-id> \
  --query "[].{name:name, level:level, notes:notes}" \
  -o table

Scoring:

• 4 pts: CanNotDelete locks on infra resources (Log Analytics, Key Vault, Terraform state)
• 2 pts: Locks exist but only on non-critical resources
• 0 pts: Zero locks — anything can be accidentally deleted

📖 https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-resource-manager/management/lock-resources

💰 CATEGORY 3 — Cost Controls (15 points)

Detects: "surprise bill" + "VMs running in dev all weekend"

Check 3.1 — Budget alerts configured (8 pts)

az rest --method get \
  --url "https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/<sub-id>/providers/Microsoft.Consumption/budgets?api-version=2023-11-01"

Scoring:

• 8 pts: Budget exists with notifications at 80% and 100%
• 4 pts: Budget exists but missing thresholds or notifications
• 0 pts: No budgets — first warning is the invoice

📖 https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cost-management-billing/costs/tutorial-acm-create-budgets

Check 3.2 — Azure Advisor cost recommendations addressed (4 pts)

az advisor recommendation list --category Cost \
  --query "[?impact=='High'].{problem:shortDescription.problem}" \
  -o table

Scoring:

• 4 pts: Zero high-impact cost recommendations pending
• 2 pts: 1–3 high-impact recommendations
• 0 pts: 4+ unaddressed — systematic waste

📖 https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/advisor/advisor-cost-recommendations

Check 3.3 — No cost-leaking VMs (3 pts)

az vm list -d --subscription <sub-id> \
  --query "[?powerState=='VM stopped'].{name:name, rg:resourceGroup}" \
  -o table

Note: "VM stopped" (not deallocated) still incurs compute charges.

Scoring:

• 3 pts: No VMs in stopped-but-allocated state
• 0 pts: VMs burning money while stopped

📖 https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/states-billing

🔐 CATEGORY 4 — Identity & Access (20 points)

Detects: "everyone is Owner" + "secrets in code instead of Managed Identity"

Check 4.1 — Owner count ≤ 3 per subscription (6 pts)

az role assignment list --role Owner \
  --subscription <sub-id> \
  --query "[].{principal:principalName, type:principalType}" \
  -o table

Scoring:

• 6 pts: ≤ 3 Owners at subscription level
• 3 pts: 4–5 Owners
• 0 pts: 6+ Owners — the "everyone is Owner for convenience" anti-pattern

📖 https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/role-based-access-control/best-practices

Check 4.2 — Managed Identities in use (7 pts)

az identity list --subscription <sub-id> \
  --query "[].{name:name, rg:resourceGroup}" \
  -o table

az vm list --subscription <sub-id> \
  --query "[].{name:name, identityType:identity.type}" \
  -o table

Scoring:

• 7 pts: User-Assigned or System-Assigned MI actively used on resources
• 3 pts: Some resources have MI, key resources don't
• 0 pts: No Managed Identities — likely using keys/secrets everywhere

📖 https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/managed-identities-azure-resources/overview

Check 4.3 — Defender for Cloud enabled (7 pts)

az security pricing list \
  --query "value[?name=='CloudPosture' || name=='VirtualMachines' || name=='StorageAccounts'].{service:name, tier:pricingTier}" \
  -o table

Scoring:

• 7 pts: CSPM + at least one workload protection (Standard tier)
• 4 pts: Only free tier CSPM
• 0 pts: Defender not configured — zero security visibility

📖 https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/defender-for-cloud/get-started

🌐 CATEGORY 5 — Production Web Protection (15 points)

Detects: "startup running prod on .azurewebsites.net with no WAF"

Check 5.1 — Custom domain on production web apps (5 pts)

az webapp list --subscription <sub-id> \
  --query "[].{name:name, defaultHost:defaultHostName, customDomains:hostNames}" \
  -o json

az staticwebapp list --subscription <sub-id> \
  --query "[].{name:name, defaultHost:defaultHostname, customDomains:customDomains}" \
  -o json

Scoring:

• 5 pts: Production apps use custom domains
• 2 pts: Mix of custom and default domains
• 0 pts: Production on .azurewebsites.net / .azurestaticapps.net
• N/A: No web apps (score 5 pts — not applicable)

📖 https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/app-service/app-service-web-tutorial-custom-domain

Check 5.2 — WAF or Front Door protecting web endpoints (5 pts)

az network application-gateway waf-policy list \
  --subscription <sub-id> \
  --query "[].{name:name, rg:resourceGroup}" \
  -o table

az afd profile list --subscription <sub-id> \
  --query "[].{name:name, sku:sku.name}" \
  -o table

Scoring:

• 5 pts: WAF policy active OR Front Door Premium/Standard protecting endpoints
• 2 pts: Front Door exists but without WAF enabled
• 0 pts: Web apps directly exposed without any L7 protection
• N/A: No public web apps (score 5 pts)

📖 https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/overview

Check 5.3 — DDoS protection stance (5 pts)

az network ddos-protection list \
  --subscription <sub-id> \
  --query "[].{name:name, rg:resourceGroup}" \
  -o table

Scoring:

• 5 pts: DDoS plan active on VNets with public IPs, OR architecture is PaaS-only (built-in protection)
• 0 pts: VMs/IPs exposed without DDoS plan

Note: Pure PaaS architectures (App Service, Static Web Apps, Container Apps without VNet) get Azure's built-in DDoS at the platform level. Score 5 if no VNets with public IPs exist.

📖 https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ddos-protection/ddos-protection-overview

📋 CATEGORY 6 — Operational Foundations (10 points)

Check 6.1 — Activity Log forwarding to Log Analytics (5 pts)

az monitor diagnostic-settings subscription list \
  --subscription <sub-id> \
  -o json

Scoring:

• 5 pts: Activity Logs forwarded to Log Analytics workspace
• 2 pts: Forwarded to storage only (limited query capability)
• 0 pts: No diagnostic settings — no audit trail

📖 https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/essentials/activity-log

Check 6.2 — Backup exists for stateful resources (5 pts)

az backup vault list --subscription <sub-id> \
  --query "[].{name:name, rg:resourceGroup}" \
  -o table

Scoring:

• 5 pts: Recovery Services vault with active backup items
• 2 pts: Vault exists but empty (no backup items)
• 0 pts: No backup — one deletion away from data loss

📖 https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/backup/backup-overview

Accepted exceptions (optional)

If the user provides a list of accepted exceptions, do not flag those items. Instead, note them in the report as Accepted Exception with the reason provided.

Example format the user may provide:

When exceptions are provided:

• Skip the flagged checks in scoring
• List them in a separate "Accepted Exceptions" section at the end of the report
• Recalculate the overall score excluding excepted checks

Expected output

Report header (mandatory — use this exact format)

Digital Native Governance Check Report

Score breakdown

Category status: 🟢 ≥ 80% | 🟡 40–79% | 🔴 < 40%

🚨 Critical gaps (blocks enterprise deals)

Items that would immediately fail a security questionnaire. List with severity.

⚡ Quick wins (fix this week)

Top 3 highest point-gain items with lowest effort. Include the az command to fix.

📈 Roadmap to next level

What to tackle next month to reach the next governance maturity level.

Remediation guidance

For each ❌ or ⚠️ finding, include in the output:

1. The specific az CLI command to remediate (suggest only — do not execute)
2. Use GetAzCliHelp to validate the command syntax before suggesting
3. Include the 📖 documentation link from the check that failed

📚 Learn more

Link each finding to the relevant "Digital Natives on Azure" article for deep context.

Sample output

The following is a redacted example of what the report looks like when run against a subscription.

Digital Native Governance Check Report

Score breakdown

🚨 Critical gaps (sample)

⚡ Quick wins (sample)

Remediation guidance (sample)

# Create budget with alert notifications
az rest --method put \
  --url "https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/a1b2c3d4-.../providers/Microsoft.Consumption/budgets/monthly-budget?api-version=2023-11-01" \
  --body '{"properties":{"amount":15000,"category":"Cost","timeGrain":"Monthly","timePeriod":{"startDate":"2026-07-01"},"notifications":{"at80":{"enabled":true,"operator":"GreaterThanOrEqualTo","threshold":80,"contactEmails":["ops@contoso.com"]},"at100":{"enabled":true,"operator":"GreaterThanOrEqualTo","threshold":100,"contactEmails":["ops@contoso.com"]}}}}'

# Remove excess Owner assignment
az role assignment delete --assignee user@contoso.com --role Owner --scope /subscriptions/a1b2c3d4-...