AWS Organizations is a service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that helps you centrally manage and govern multiple AWS accounts within your organization. AWS Organizations is AWS’s administrative border between accounts.
Introduction.
AWS Organizations is an AWS account management service that lets users centrally manage and control groups of AWS accounts, and the workflows and policies that apply to them. AWS Organizations is a powerful service designed to streamline the management of multiple AWS accounts within an organization. The accounts can also share resources, security mechanisms, audit requirements, configurations, and policies between multiple AWS organizations.
Components.
Account Management: Group multiple AWS accounts under one umbrella. The management account is in charge of paying all fees incurred by the member accounts as well as having the duties of a payer account.
Member Account: The remaining accounts in an organization are all of these AWS accounts. Only one organization may have a member account at any given time.
Organizational Unit (OU) : Organize accounts into hierarchical structures (e.g., based on teams, projects, or environments). One account cannot be added under two different OUs.
Service Control Policy (SCP): Apply fine-grained access controls across accounts. Ensure compliance by enforcing restrictions on the use of specific AWS services or actions. In an organization, hierarchical relationships pass down policies.
Why Should You Use AWS Organizations?
AWS Organizations is essential for managing multi-account AWS environments effectively and securely.
Centralized Management of Multiple AWS Accounts: As organizations grow, managing multiple AWS accounts becomes challenging. AWS Organizations simplifies this by allowing centralized account creation, management, and monitoring.
Billing confusion: Sorting through individual account bills becomes a time-consuming headache.
Improved Security and Governance: Service Control Policies (SCPs) allow administrators to enforce granular permissions across all accounts or specific account groups. This ensures compliance with security and governance standards.
Resource mismanagement: Underutilized accounts waste resources while others struggle with capacity.
Benefits of AWS Organizations.
Simplified Management: Manage multiple accounts efficiently from a single dashboard.
Enhance Security and Compliance: Implement organization-wide policies to restrict actions, enforce encryption, and ensure service usage adheres to compliance standards.
Cost Optimization: Analyze spending patterns across your organization and identify cost-saving opportunities.
Improved Compliance: Ensure organizational-wide adherence to regulatory and governance policies.
Conclusion.
AWS Organizations provides a powerful framework for managing multi-account setups with ease. From cost optimization to improved governance, it’s an essential tool for organizations aiming to scale efficiently in the cloud. AWS Organizations stands as a cornerstone for organizations seeking to streamline the management of their cloud infrastructure. By leveraging its powerful features, such as OUs, SCPs, and consolidated billing, organizations can achieve greater efficiency, control, and security in their cloud operations.
