google-cloud-waf-operational-excellence

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• SKILL.md
• attribution.md · references/

SKILL.md (first lines)

# Google Cloud Well-Architected Framework skill for the Operational Excellence pillar

## Attribution

**MUST READ**: Before executing any `gcloud`, REST API, or MCP command, you
MUST read and follow the instructions in
[Usage Attribution](references/attribution.md).

## Overview

The operational excellence pillar in the Google Cloud Well-Architected Framework
provides recommendations to operate workloads efficiently on Google Cloud.
Operational excellence in the cloud involves designing, implementing, and
managing cloud solutions that provide value, performance, security, and
reliability. The recommendations in this pillar help you to continuously improve
and adapt workloads to meet the dynamic and ever-evolving needs in the cloud.

## Core principles

The recommendations in the operational excellence pillar of the Well-Architected
Framework are aligned with the following core principles:

-   **Ensure operational readiness**: Define and measure criteria for a workload
    to be considered ready for production across staffing, processes, tools,
    and governance. Grounding document:
    https://docs.cloud.google.com/architecture/framework/operational-excellence/operational-readiness-and-performance-using-cloudops.md.txt

-   **Manage incidents and problems**: Establish structured processes for
    incident response, communication, and root cause analysis to minimize impact
    and prevent recurrence. Grounding document:
    https://docs.cloud.google.com/architecture/framework/operational-excellence/manage-incidents-and-problems.md.txt

-   **Manage and optimize cloud resources**: Monitor resource utilization and
    right-size environments to maintain performance while ensuring operational
    efficiency. Grounding document:
    https://docs.cloud.google.com/architecture/framework/operational-excellence/manage-and-optimize-cloud-resources.md.txt

-   **Automate and manage change**: Use Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and CI/CD
    pipelines to ensure consistent, repeatable, and low-risk deployments and
    configuration changes. Grounding document:
    https://docs.cloud.google.com/architecture/framework/operational-excellence/automate-and-manage-change.md.txt

-   **Continuously improve and innovate**: Adopt a flexible and agile approach
    to cloud operations, foster a culture of continuous improvement, and
    periodically review your cloud architecture against current business
    goals, technological advancements, and industry trends. Grounding document:
    https://docs.cloud.google.com/architecture/framework/operational-excellence/continuously-improve-and-innovate.md.txt

## Relevant Google Cloud products

The following are *examples* of Google Cloud products and features that are
relevant to operational excellence:

-   **Observability and monitoring**

    -   **Cloud Monitoring**: Full-stack observability for Google Cloud and
        hybrid environments.
    -   **Cloud Logging**: Real-time log management and analysis at scale.
    -   **Error Reporting**: Aggregates and displays errors for running cloud
        services.
    -   **Service Monitoring**: Tools for defining and tracking Service Level
        Objectives (SLOs).

-   **Automation and CI/CD**

    -   **Cloud Build**: Serverless platform for building, testing, and
        deploying software.
    -   **Cloud Deploy**: Managed continuous delivery service for GKE, Cloud
        Run, and GCE.
    -   **Terraform / Infrastructure Manager**: Managed service for
        Infrastructure as Code (IaC) automation.
    -   **Artifact Registry**: Central repository for managing build artifacts
        and container images.

-   **Resource management and optimization**

    -   **Recommender (Active Assist)**: Automatically identifies idle or
        over-provisioned resources and right-sizing opportunities.
    -   **Autoscaling (Compute Engine MIGs, GKE HPA/VPA, Cloud Run)**:
        Dynamically allocates resources based on demand to prevent the risks of
        both over-provisioning and under-provisioning.
    -   **Resource Manager**: Hierarchical management of resources across
        organizations, folders, and projects.

-   **Incident response**

    -   **Incident response & management (IRM)**: Structured tools and processes
        for managing operational disruptions.

## Workload assessment questions

Ask appropriate questions to understand operations-related requirements and
constraints of the workload and the user's organization. Choose questions from
the following list:

-   **Operational readiness and performance**

    -   How do you define and measure operational readiness for your cloud
        workloads and what specific criteria or metrics do you use?
    -   Describe your process for defining, tracking, and achieving SLOs for
        your critical workloads.
    -   How do you ensure that your workloads can seamlessly leverage multiple
        machine types or families for VMs during capacity constraints?
    -   What is your strategy for modernizing your cloud resources to avoid
        technical debt and availability risks?

-   **Incident and problem management**

    -   Describe your incident management process, including roles,
        responsibilities, and communication channels.
    -   How do you conduct post-incident reviews (PIRs) to identify root causes
        and implement preventive measures?

-   **Resource management and optimization**

    -   How do you ensure that your cloud resources are right-sized for your
        workloads, and what tools or techniques do you use?

-   **Change automation**

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