Microsoft Azure Landing Zones: The Foundation Manufacturers Need
A Landing Zone is the blueprint for how a manufacturer’s cloud environment is structured, identity, networking, security, policies, monitoring, cost controls, and workload separation. When done well, it prevents the chaos that happens when plants, IT teams, and vendors deploy resources without guardrails.
For manufacturers, a strong Landing Zone matters because:
- Plants often operate semi‑independently, creating inconsistent cloud sprawl.
- ERP, MES, IoT, and analytics workloads have different security and performance needs.
- Compliance frameworks (NIST, CMMC, ITAR, ISO) require enforceable governance.
- OT networks introduce unique segmentation and identity challenges.
A Landing Zone solves these by enforcing standardization, automation, and least privilege across every subscription and workload.
What “Good” Cloud Governance Looks Like in Manufacturing
These are the architecture‑level elements that separate a mature Landing Zone from a basic Azure setup.
Identity: The Core of Manufacturing Zero Trust
Identity is the control plane for everything in Azure. A strong Landing Zone includes:
- Entra ID as the single identity authority for IT and OT users.
- Privileged Identity Management (PIM) to eliminate standing admin access.
- Conditional Access policies that enforce MFA, compliant devices, and location controls.
- Role‑based access aligned to job functions (ERP admin, plant engineer, vendor support).
Manufacturers often rely on shared accounts or vendor logins, Landing Zones eliminate that risk.
Network Architecture: Segmentation Built for IT + OT
Manufacturing networks are complex. A Landing Zone provides:
- Hub‑and‑spoke topology to isolate ERP, MES, IoT, and analytics workloads.
- Private endpoints to keep traffic off the public internet.
- Firewall and NSG baselines that enforce east‑west segmentation.
- ExpressRoute or VPN for secure plant‑to‑cloud connectivity.
This prevents the “flat network” problem that attackers exploit in OT environments.
Security Baselines: Enforced, Not Suggested
Good governance means security is codified, not optional.
- Microsoft Defender for Cloud enabled by default across all subscriptions.
- Security Center policies that enforce encryption, logging, and vulnerability scanning.
- Key Vault for secrets, certificates, and ERP integration keys.
- Blueprints or Policy-as-Code to ensure every new resource meets compliance.
This is where manufacturers gain CMMC/NIST alignment automatically.
Cost Governance: Guardrails That Prevent Waste
Manufacturers often overspend due to over‑provisioned VMs, unused storage, or shadow IT. A Landing Zone includes:
- Budgets and alerts at the subscription and workload level.
- Tags for cost allocation (plant, department, ERP, project).
- Automated shutdown schedules for non‑production workloads.
- Policy enforcement to block expensive SKUs unless approved.
This is the difference between “we think we’re optimized” and “we know we are.”
Monitoring & Operations: Visibility Across Plants and Workloads
A mature Landing Zone ensures every workload is observable:
- Log Analytics for centralized logging.
- Azure Monitor for performance, availability, and alerting.
- Sentinel for SIEM and threat detection across IT + OT.
- Standardized dashboards for ERP, IoT, and infrastructure health.
This gives manufacturers a single pane of glass across distributed operations.
Workload Separation: ERP, MES, and IoT Each Get Their Own Space
Manufacturing workloads have different risk profiles. A Landing Zone enforces:
- Separate subscriptions for ERP, MES, IoT, and shared services.
- Isolated resource groups for dev/test/prod.
- Dedicated policies for regulated workloads (e.g., ITAR, CMMC).
This prevents a plant-floor IoT device from becoming a pivot point into ERP.
What a Manufacturing-Ready Landing Zone Looks Like (Architecture View)
A strong Landing Zone for manufacturers typically includes:
- Identity & Access Layer, Entra ID, PIM, Conditional Access
- Management Group Hierarchy, Corp → Production → Non‑Prod → OT → Shared Services
- Network Hub, Firewall, Bastion, ExpressRoute, DNS
- Spokes, ERP, MES, IoT, Analytics, R&D
- Security & Compliance Layer, Defender, Sentinel, Policy-as-Code
- Operations Layer, Monitoring, automation, backup, DR
- Cost Management Layer, Budgets, tags, policies
This is the architecture that supports ERP modernization, AI adoption, and secure OT integration.
Why Manufacturers Should Build Landing Zones Before Modernizing ERP
Landing Zones are the prerequisite for:
- Epicor in Azure
- AI/ML workloads
- IoT and sensor data ingestion
- Power BI enterprise analytics
- Copilot for manufacturing
- DR/BCP modernization
- CMMC compliance
Without a Landing Zone, modernization becomes expensive, inconsistent, and risky.
How 2W Tech Helps Manufacturers Implement Landing Zones
2W Tech builds Azure Landing Zones specifically for manufacturing environments, aligning identity, security, networking, and compliance with the realities of ERP, MES, and OT systems. Our architecture ensures every workload is deployed into a secure, governed, cost‑controlled environment that scales with your plants and modernization roadmap.
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