AWS Control Tower Adds Controls-Only Mode for Existing Environments
Executive Summary
AWS has launched the "Controls Dedicated experience" for AWS Control Tower, a new feature designed for customers with established multi-account environments. This allows organizations to implement AWS's comprehensive suite of managed governance controls for security and compliance without the requirement of setting up a full AWS landing zone. The new mode provides a faster, more flexible on-ramp to centralized governance, reducing setup complexity for experienced AWS users.
Key Takeaways
* Product Name: Controls Dedicated experience in AWS Control Tower.
* Primary Function: Enables customers to use AWS Control Tower's managed controls (preventive and detective) on an existing AWS Organization without deploying a full landing zone.
* Target Audience: Customers who already have a well-architected, multi-account AWS environment and want to incrementally add centralized governance.
* Key Capabilities:
* Provides seamless access to the full catalog of managed controls.
* Avoids the need to adopt Control Tower's prescribed organizational unit (OU) structure and shared accounts.
* Simplifies and accelerates the adoption of governance rules.
* Optimizes AWS Config costs by only enabling recording for resources required by the deployed detective controls.
* Availability: The feature is available today in all AWS Regions where AWS Control Tower is supported.
Strategic Importance
This feature significantly lowers the barrier to adoption for AWS Control Tower, making its powerful governance capabilities accessible to established enterprise customers who were previously unwilling to refactor their existing cloud environments.