Positioning · Vendor-neutral · v1.1

Why not X?

Strong frameworks already exist — and that's a good thing. WAF++ does not replace them; it makes governance, traceability and vendor-neutral multi-cloud decision-making a first-class objective. With 8 pillars, 83+ controls and an open-source CLI.

8
Pillars
83+
Controls
50+
Frameworks mapped
15+
Countries / regions
v1.1
WAF++ release
Short answer

When WAF++ belongs in your stack

Three signals that WAF++ is the right addition — regardless of what else you already use.

01
You decide across providers

If architectural decisions don't happen within a single cloud provider — or you take exit capability seriously — you need a neutral lens. WAF++ is multi-cloud by design, not by accident.

02
You want decisions to be auditable

WAF++ relies on evidence, RFCs and transparent trade-offs. Architecture decisions become traceable artifacts — not tribal knowledge — which makes reviews, audits and long-term operations easier.

03
You need governance that scales

Maintainers, working groups and a TSC are part of the system — not "maybe later". WAF++ ships with community governance out of the box, so the framework evolves with your organization.

Principle

An overlay, not a replacement

Many teams already use AWS Well-Architected, Azure CAF or GCP frameworks — and should keep doing so. WAF++ sits on top as a governance, sovereignty and assessment layer.

Vendor-neutral assessment

WAF++ applies a consistent lens across any cloud. Provider-specific guidance feeds into it — not the other way around.

RFC-driven governance

Every change to the framework goes through a documented, reviewable RFC. No silent updates, no opaque vendor decisions.

Sovereignty as a first-class pillar

Data residency, vendor neutrality and exit strategies are built into the framework — not bolted on as an afterthought.

Agentic controls for AI autonomy

New in v1.1: a dedicated pillar for identity, guardrails and observability of autonomous agents — something no provider framework covers end-to-end.

Framework Stack
WAF++ v1.1
Governance · Sovereignty · Multi-cloud assessment · Agentic AI
Overlay
works alongside ↓
AWS WA
Well-Architected
Azure CAF
Cloud Adoption
GCP
Architecture Framework
and maps to ↓
CNCF
Ecosystem
ISO 27001
Standards
BSI C5
Compliance
Comparison

What the alternatives offer — and where WAF++ complements

No framework-bashing. Each has a role. Here is an honest look at where each excels and where WAF++ fills the gap.

Provider Frameworks
AWS WA · Azure CAF · GCP

Concrete, product-aligned recommendations within a single ecosystem — rich tooling, many quick wins, deep service guidance.

WAF++ adds neutral assessment RFCs & governance Sovereignty as first-class
Open Source Ecosystem
CNCF

Standards, best practices and proven project governance across the cloud-native landscape — TAGs, working groups and a rich reference ecosystem.

Consistent scoring Auditability as artifact Cross-provider criteria
Compliance Standards
ISO 27001 · NIST · BSI C5

Legally robust, audit-ready standards with broad acceptance — a strong foundation for controls, compliance terminology and risk management.

Day-to-day architecture guidance Cloud-native pattern lens Evidence structure
Practical guidance

How to use WAF++ together with X

These are not competing choices — they are complementary layers. Here is the practical split.

With AWS / Azure / GCP

Use provider frameworks for concrete service and implementation guidance — they know their products best. Use WAF++ as the neutral assessment overlay: governance, sovereignty and multi-cloud consistency sit here.

With CNCF

Use CNCF for ecosystem standards, project maturity and cloud-native best practices. Use WAF++ for scoring, assessment criteria and the governance process that turns those practices into auditable architecture decisions.

With ISO / NIST / BSI

Use ISO/NIST/BSI as the control and compliance foundation — they provide the legally accepted terminology. Use WAF++ to operationalize those controls for architecture and platform teams in day-to-day engineering.

Next step

See where WAF++ clearly differs

The comparison page shows a side-by-side breakdown — or jump straight into the 8 pillars to understand what WAF++ covers in practice.