WAF++ Documentation

Community Framework · Vendor-neutral · Open Source

WAF++ is a community-driven framework for the structured assessment of cloud and platform architectures. It makes architectural decisions measurable, traceable, and auditable – across 8 clear pillars.

The 8 Pillars Getting Started GitHub

Scope

Cloud · Platform · Governance

Principle

Vendor-neutral

Output

Traceability & Auditability

Pillars

The 8 Pillars of WAF++

Each pillar is a self-contained focus area with concrete controls, best practices, and measurable evidence requirements. Click a pillar to dive right in.

IAM, encryption, Zero Trust, network segmentation, Policy-as-Code.

IAM Zero Trust Policy-as-Code

Cost Optimization

FinOps, cost transparency, budgets, guardrails, right-sizing.

FinOps Budgets Right-Sizing

Performance Efficiency

Scalability, latency, load balancing, auto-scaling, caching.

Scaling Latency Caching

Resilience, SLOs, backup & recovery, failover, chaos engineering.

SLO/SLA Failover DR Testing

Operational Excellence

CI/CD, monitoring, observability, incident management, automation.

CI/CD Observability IaC

Green IT, CO₂ footprint, energy efficiency, resource-efficient architecture.

Green IT ESG Carbon

Data residency, exit strategies, GDPR, BSI C5, key ownership, jurisdiction control.

GDPR BSI C5 Data Residency

AI agents, orchestration, human-in-the-loop, safety & guardrails.

AI Agents Multi-Agent Orchestration

All 8 pillars in detail →

Practice

How to use WAF++

Architecture Reviews

Assess new platforms and workloads across the 8 pillars – structured, traceable, and auditable.

Platform Standards

Derive guardrails, default configurations, and standards – a paved road instead of ad-hoc decisions and sprawl.

Audit & Compliance

Controls and evidence requirements per pillar enable internally and externally auditable reviews.

WAF++ vs. Alternatives

A condensed comparison for quick orientation.

Criterion	WAF++	Alternatives
Vendor neutral	✅ Yes	✕ No
Governance model	✅ Yes	✕ No
Sovereignty as a pillar	✅ Yes	⚠ Partial
Evidence & auditable	✅ Yes	⚠ Partial

Contribute

WAF++ is an open community project. We welcome contributions – whether pillar content, controls, or feedback.