How do you design an Azure Landing Zone for a multi-team enterprise with proper governance, networking, and security?
Quick Answer
Use Azure Landing Zone architecture with Management Groups for hierarchy, Hub-Spoke networking with Azure Firewall, Azure Policy for guardrails, and separate subscriptions per workload/environment.
Detailed Answer
Azure Landing Zone Architecture
Management Group Hierarchy
`` Root Management Group ├── Platform │ ├── Identity (Azure AD, domain controllers) │ ├── Management (Log Analytics, Automation) │ └── Connectivity (Hub VNet, Firewall, VPN/ExpressRoute) ├── Landing Zones │ ├── Corp (internal apps, private connectivity) │ └── Online (public-facing apps, internet access) ├── Sandbox (dev/experimentation, no prod data) └── Decommissioned (retired subscriptions) ``
Networking (Hub-Spoke)
- Hub VNet: Azure Firewall, VPN Gateway, ExpressRoute, shared services - Spoke VNets: One per workload/team, peered to hub - All internet egress through Azure Firewall (centralized logging and filtering) - Private Endpoints for PaaS services (no public endpoints)
Governance
- Azure Policy: Enforce tagging, allowed regions, required encryption, blocked resource types - Azure Blueprints: Pre-configured subscription templates with policies + RBAC - Cost Management: Budgets per subscription with alerts - Microsoft Defender for Cloud: Security posture management
Identity
- Azure AD with Conditional Access policies - Privileged Identity Management (PIM) for just-in-time admin access - Managed Identities for workload-to-Azure-service authentication
Code Example
# Bicep: Hub VNet with Azure Firewall
resource hubVnet 'Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks@2023-05-01' = {
name: 'hub-vnet'
location: location
properties: {
addressSpace: { addressPrefixes: ['10.0.0.0/16'] }
subnets: [
{
name: 'AzureFirewallSubnet'
properties: { addressPrefix: '10.0.1.0/24' }
}
{
name: 'GatewaySubnet'
properties: { addressPrefix: '10.0.2.0/24' }
}
]
}
}
# Azure Policy: Require tags
resource policyAssignment 'Microsoft.Authorization/policyAssignments@2022-06-01' = {
name: 'require-cost-center-tag'
properties: {
policyDefinitionId: '/providers/Microsoft.Authorization/policyDefinitions/1e30110a-5ceb-460c-a204-c1c3969c6d62'
parameters: {
tagName: { value: 'CostCenter' }
}
enforcementMode: 'Default'
}
}
# Azure CLI: Create management group hierarchy
az account management-group create --name Platform --display-name 'Platform'
az account management-group create --name LandingZones --display-name 'Landing Zones'
az account management-group create --name Corp --display-name 'Corp' --parent LandingZonesInterview Tip
The CAF (Cloud Adoption Framework) Landing Zone is Microsoft's reference architecture. Knowing the management group hierarchy and hub-spoke pattern demonstrates enterprise Azure experience.