Recommend a Structure for Management Groups, Subscriptions, and Resource Groups, and a Strategy for Resource Tagging

Structuring Management Groups, Subscriptions, and Resource Groups

Organizational Hierarchies and Workload Domains

Management groups in Azure are vital for organizing and managing hierarchical structures across subscriptions. Analyzing organizational hierarchies and workload domains involves mapping departments, environments, and projects. This mapping helps organize management groups and subscriptions in a logical manner for better governance. Allocating resource groups is essential for workload isolation and policy scoping. By doing this, organizations can ensure resources are efficiently managed.

Role Assignments in Management Groups

A role definition can be applied within a management group hierarchy, with roles defined at higher levels (e.g., parent management groups) propagating to child subscriptions. However, moving subscriptions or management groups may break these role assignment paths, possibly leading to errors. To resolve this issue, consider the following methods:

• Remove the role assignment before moving the subscription.
• Add the new target subscription to the role's assignable scope.
• Update the assignable scope to include the root management group.

Permissions for Moving Management Groups and Subscriptions

When moving a subscription or management group under another management group, specific permissions are required. These include management group write permissions on both the existing and target parent groups, and role assignment write permissions on the child subscription or management group. An exception occurs with the root management group, which does not require permissions since it's the default landing spot for new groups and subscriptions.

Resource Tagging Strategy

Resource tagging is critical for governance, cost management, and resource tracking in Azure. Tags are key-value pairs applied to Azure resources, resource groups, or subscriptions. They help categorize and manage resources based on organizational needs such as billing, security, and compliance. Implementing an effective tagging strategy involves:

• Creating a consistent tagging taxonomy
• Applying tags during initial resource provisioning and ensuring alignment with organizational policies
• Enabling automated scripts to enforce and manage tags

Limitations and Best Practices

When working with custom roles in management groups, there are certain limitations to be aware of:

• Only one management group can be defined in the assignable scopes of a new role.
• Custom roles with DataActions cannot be assigned at the management group scope.

It's crucial to ensure permissions are aligned and roles are updated accordingly when moving resources to prevent disconnection in role assignments which could impact access control and compliance.

Auditing and Monitoring

Azure provides robust tools for auditing management groups through activity logs available in Azure Monitor. These logs allow querying all events related to management groups, such as role assignments and policy changes. This enhances transparency and supports compliance efforts. Additionally, diagnostic settings can be used to send log entries to a Log Analytics workspace, Azure Storage, or Azure Event Hubs.

Conclusion

Structuring management groups, subscriptions, and resource groups in Azure demands careful planning and execution of governance strategies. Implementing a consistent tagging strategy coupled with effective monitoring and auditing practices ensures seamless management and compliance across your Azure environment. Adhering to best practices in aligning permissions and understanding limitations helps maintain an organized and structured hierarchy.