Well-Architected CI/CD Project Planning Chart
| Phase | Activities | Deliverables | Tools/Resources | Responsible Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Assessment & Strategy | – Define goals and business requirements – Identify stakeholders – Assess current state and infrastructure – Identify key metrics and success criteria | – Assessment document – CI/CD Strategy roadmap | – Stakeholder interviews – Infrastructure review docs | Project Management, DevOps, Architects |
| 2. Design & Architecture | – Create CI/CD pipeline architecture – Select appropriate tools – Define branching and merging strategy – Security and compliance design – Disaster recovery planning | – Architecture diagrams – Tool selection matrix – Security & compliance guidelines | – Lucidchart, Draw.io – AWS/Azure/GCP Architecture references | DevOps, Security, Architects |
| 3. Implementation | – Configure SCM (Git) – Setup build automation – Implement automated testing – Configure deployment automation – Integrate monitoring and notifications | – Version-controlled repositories – Automated build/test scripts – CI/CD pipeline deployment | – GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket – Jenkins/GitLab CI/GitHub Actions/Azure DevOps – Docker/Kubernetes/Helm | Developers, DevOps |
| 4. Testing & Validation | – Validate pipeline with unit, integration, security tests – Conduct performance and load testing – Security scanning (SAST/DAST) | – Test reports – Security scan results | – JUnit, Jest, Selenium, Cypress – SonarQube, Checkmarx, OWASP ZAP | QA, Security, DevOps |
| 5. Deployment & Release | – Execute controlled deployments (staging → production) – Setup rollback & recovery strategies – Monitor releases | – Deployment runbook – Release notes | – Kubernetes, Helm, Argo CD, Spinnaker | DevOps, Operations |
| 6. Monitoring & Optimization | – Setup monitoring and alerting – Performance tracking – Continuous improvement reviews | – Monitoring dashboards – Performance reports | – Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog – New Relic, Splunk | Operations, DevOps |
| 7. Governance & Compliance | – Regular audits – Ensure adherence to compliance standards – Documentation and reporting | – Compliance reports – Audit logs – Documentation repositories | – Confluence, SharePoint, Compliance tools – Cloud compliance frameworks | Governance, Security |
SaaS with Daily Deployments
| Phase | Activities | Deliverables | Tools/Resources | Responsible Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Daily Planning & Review | – Daily stand-ups to prioritize features & bug fixes- Identify deployment risks & blockers | – Daily deployment plan- Risk mitigation log | Jira, Trello, Notion | Dev, Product Management |
| 2. Continuous Development | – Implement feature flags- Commit small incremental changes- Daily branching/merging strategy | – Feature toggles- Code commits- Branch/merge strategy doc | GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket | Development Team |
| 3. Continuous Integration | – Automated build & unit testing on every commit- Integration testing daily | – CI build reports- Test coverage reports | GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, CircleCI | DevOps, QA |
| 4. Continuous Delivery | – Daily deployments to staging environment- Automated acceptance & regression testing | – Staging deployment logs- Test automation reports | Docker, Kubernetes, Helm, Selenium, Cypress | DevOps, QA |
| 5. Continuous Deployment | – Daily controlled production deployments- Use Blue/Green or Canary deployment strategies | – Deployment logs & audit trails- Rollback & recovery plan | Kubernetes, ArgoCD, Spinnaker, AWS ECS/Fargate, Azure App Service | DevOps, Operations |
| 6. Monitoring & Feedback | – Real-time application monitoring & alerts- Performance & usage tracking- User feedback collection daily | – Monitoring dashboards- Incident reports- User feedback logs | Datadog, Prometheus, Grafana, New Relic, Sentry, Hotjar | DevOps, Operations, Product |
| 7. Optimization & Security | – Daily security scans (SAST, DAST)- Identify & address bottlenecks- Continuous infrastructure optimization | – Security scan reports- Optimization recommendations | SonarQube, Checkmarx, OWASP ZAP, Dependabot, Cloud optimization tools | Security, DevOps |
| 8. Governance & Compliance | – Daily documentation & compliance check-ins- Automated audit logs | – Compliance & audit logs- Updated documentation | Confluence, SharePoint, Compliance automation tools | Compliance, Security, Operations |
Summary of Recommended SaaS Stack
| Category | Recommended Tools/Technologies |
|---|---|
| Lambda Runtime (Server-side) | Node.js runtime (JavaScript, TypeScript) |
| Frontend Language | JavaScript, TypeScript |
| Frontend Frameworks | React.js, Next.js, Tailwind CSS, React Native/Expo |
| Backend Frameworks | Serverless Framework, AWS CDK, Middy, Express.js, Fastify |
| REST API Management | AWS API Gateway, Swagger/OpenAPI |
| Authentication | AWS Cognito, JWT |
| Database/Storage | DynamoDB, Amazon RDS, Amazon S3 |
| Security/Vulnerability | AWS Inspector, Snyk, Dependabot, OWASP ZAP |
| Observability | AWS CloudWatch, AWS X-Ray, Datadog, New Relic |
| Project Management | GitHub, GitLab, AWS CodePipeline, Jira, Trello, Confluence |
AI Feature Development by Function:
| AI Use Case | Recommended Language & Framework | AI API & Services |
|---|---|---|
| Recommendation Engine | Python | AWS Personalize, TensorFlow, PyTorch |
| Predictive Analytics | Python | Amazon SageMaker, TensorFlow, Scikit-learn |
| Natural Language Processing (NLP) | Python | AWS Bedrock, OpenAI API, Hugging Face |
| Image & Video Analysis | Python | AWS Rekognition, OpenCV |
| Chatbot & Conversational AI | Python / Node.js | AWS Lex, OpenAI GPT APIs, AWS Bedrock |
| Anomaly Detection & Forecasting | Python | AWS Forecast, TensorFlow, Scikit-learn |
Reference
1. AWS Well-Architected Framework (CI/CD Lens)
- Provider: Amazon Web Services
- Purpose: Offers best practices specifically tailored for CI/CD implementations covering areas like operational excellence, security, reliability, performance efficiency, and cost optimization.
- Resource: AWS Well-Architected Framework – CI/CD
2. Microsoft Azure Well-Architected Framework (DevOps)
- Provider: Microsoft Azure
- Purpose: Guidance for planning, designing, implementing, and governing CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices on Azure.
- Resource: Azure Well-Architected Framework – DevOps
3. Google Cloud DevOps Research and Assessment (DORA)
- Provider: Google (DORA team)
- Purpose: Widely respected DevOps benchmarking and guidance providing insights into best practices for CI/CD, release management, and overall DevOps maturity.
- Resource: Google DORA
4. Continuous Delivery Foundation (CDF) Guidelines
- Provider: Linux Foundation’s Continuous Delivery Foundation
- Purpose: Open-source foundation supporting industry standards, practices, and tools around continuous integration and delivery. Provides vendor-neutral resources and best practices.
- Resource: Continuous Delivery Foundation
5. Open Practice Library (Red Hat)
- Provider: Red Hat
- Purpose: Open-source library sharing practices for DevOps, Agile, and CI/CD, offering practical guides and templates.
- Resource: Open Practice Library
6. OWASP DevSecOps Guidelines
- Provider: OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project)
- Purpose: Guidelines for integrating security (DevSecOps) within CI/CD pipelines. Widely adopted for building secure and compliant continuous delivery processes.
- Resource: OWASP DevSecOps Guidelines