Achieving Operational Excellence

Operational excellence is the second pillar in the Well-Architected Framework (WAF). In the previous chapter, we covered the first pillar, cost optimization, and we also covered the tradeoffs between the pillars. There is no specific order that states that operational excellence is the second pillar of the WAF. The pillars are arranged in order to provide the best reading experience. The key principle that operational excellence brings to the table is that all deployments must be predictable and dependable. Though it is a bit ambiguous, by the end of this chapter, you will be able to understand how we can bring predictability to our deployments.

We will adopt a similar approach that you have seen in the previous chapter; we will start with the introduction to the pillar, then the design principles. Further, we will discuss automation and release engineering. Let us start with an introduction to operational excellence.