This article will describe the steps required to create a Well-Architected Review in MontyCloud and provide tips for execution and reporting. Creating a Well-Architected Review in MontyCloud creates a corresponding Workload in the Well-Architected Tool. All actions taken in MontyCloud sync in real-time to the Workload, so no effort needs to be recreated in the Console.


Well Architected Framework Reviews in MontyCloud


Prerequisite: At least 1 account has been onboarded into the target tenant in MontyCloud prior to initiating the Well Architected Framework Review



Step 1: Create a Review in the Well-Architected Assessments page


  1. Navigate to the Well-Architected Assessments page from the Home page.
  2. From the Well-Architected Page, click the “+New Review” button to create a new review and then follow the wizard.
  3. Fill out the Details page. The fields with a “*” are required.  It may be relevant to note that the Assessment Region field does not restrict the target of the Assessment to only resources in that Region, it only provides a selection for where the Review data should reside.
  4. On the Scope page, select the Accounts and Regions that are within scope of the WAFR. The review will analyze all accounts and regions selected in this page.
  5. Review the Details, then click “Create Review”.


Step 2: Review the Findings


MontyCloud’s Well-Architected Assessment tool runs a comprehensive assessment of the customer’s architecture using our Autonomous Checks. The output of those checks are what MontyCloud calls the “Findings”.


  1. Any link referencing "Findings" in the Overview dashboard or in the questionnaire will lead the user to the Findings page. The easiest way to navigate to the page is to use the Findings tab at the top of the Overview page.
  2. The Findings page serves as a grid style report for which each row is a result of an evaluative check against the customer's infrastructure. Each row will have the following attributes
    1. Resource ID: Identifier of the resource evaluated by the check.
    2. Status: "Passed/Failed" indicator. Reads "Suppressed" for checks that are manually suppressed, and "Error" for checks that do not execute successfully.
    3. Check Title: The title of the executed check.
    4. Severity: Severity of the Finding. Possible values are Critical, High, Medium, Low, and Informational.
    5. Pillar: The pillar of the Well-Architected Framework that the check is mapped to.
    6. Question: The question under the pillar of the Well-Architected Framework that the check is mapped to.
    7. Account: The account in which the check was evaluated.
    8. (Region): The region in which the check was evaluated.
    9. (Resource Type): The AWS Service that the evaluated resource belongs to.
    10. (Check Description): A verbose description of the executed check.
  3. Users can Group the findings by Severity and Pillar using the "Group By" button in the top right of the table. Users can filter the findings by using the "funnel" icon directly below it. Columns in the report can be adjusted using the "Columns" selector on the far right of the table.
  4. The "Suppress" button applies a "Suppressed" status to a check that allows for easy manual exclusion of Findings from reporting.
  5. The "Remediated" button opens the Automation Task library to allow for response to a given Finding. If a Finding has an associated Task that MontyCloud knows will resolve the issue, it will show at the top of the Task list in a "Recommended Task" section.
  6. Users can export a list of Findings using the "Export Report" button at the top right of the page. Filtering can be applied on export using the pop-up window. The export function will also output a copy of the Well-Architected Report PDF from the Well-Architected Tool
  7. Using the "Actions" button from the top right of all pages in the Well-Architected Assessment section, Findings can be refreshed with the "Re-scan Findings" button.


Step 3: Generating Milestones, Sharing, and the Properties

  1. Milestones: MontyCloud allows users to create milestones for a given Workload through the tool. The "Save Milestone" button in the Milestones page opens a pop-up that accepts a Milestone name and creates the Milestone. Milestones save both the status of the Workload and the current state of the Findings. By clicking on the name of the Milestone, users can navigate the Overview page, the questionnaire, and the Findings as they were when the Milestone was captured.
  2. Shares: When a Workload is created in MontyCloud, the Workload is created within a MontyCloud-owned AWS Account. It is critical that the Workload is Shared to the customer account if the customer wants to review the Workload from their AWS console. On the Shares tab, use the "Share Workload" button, then fill out the pop-up to share the Workload. Note: "Sharing" the workload generates a "Share Invitation" that must be accepted from within the Well-Architected Tool in the AWS Console in the account it is shared to. Then, the Workload will appear in the Workload list.
  3. Properties: The Properties tab contains important information about the Well-Architected Workload, including the ARN. You can edit the Workload from this page with the "Edit Workload" button.