Azure Policy Questions

Question

Hi,

I am trying to understand the difference between a policy assignment with policies listed directly under the assignment, as opposed to using a defintion / initiative, and what are the pros and cons of each option.

Any guidance much appreciated.

Dave

Answer 1

Hello Dave O'Donohoe, Policy Assignment is when you assign a specific policy directly to a scope (like a subscription, resource group, or resource). Each policy assignment enforces a single policy definition.

Pros:

• Simplicity - Easy to understand and manage for small-scale or specific use cases.
• Direct Control - You can directly control and monitor the compliance of individual policies.

Cons:

• Scalability - Managing multiple individual policy assignments can become cumbersome as the number of policies grows.
• Consistency - Ensuring consistent policy application across multiple scopes can be challenging.

Policy Definition is a single policy that defines the conditions and effects to enforce. Initiative is a collection of policy definitions grouped together to achieve a specific goal.

Pros:

• Simplified Management - Initiatives allow you to manage multiple policies as a single unit, making it easier to apply and update policies across your environment.
• Consistency - Ensures consistent application of policies across different scopes.
• Scalability - Easier to scale and manage large numbers of policies by grouping them into initiatives.

Cons:

• Complexity - Can be more complex to set up initially, especially for smaller environments or specific use cases.
• Overhead - May introduce additional overhead in terms of management and monitoring, especially if not all policies in an initiative are relevant to all scopes.

When to use each:

• Use Individual Policy assignment when you have a small number of policies or specific, isolated use cases.
• Use initiatives when you need to manage a large number of policies, ensure consistency across multiple scopes, or achieve a specific compliance goal (e.g., PCI-DSS compliance).

In most cases, using initiatives is recommended for better scalability and management.

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