Setting Up AWS Landing Zone: Best Practices for aSecure and Scalable Multi-Account Environment

As organizations expand their cloud footprint, managing multiple AWS accounts becomes both

a necessity and a challenge. Whether it’s separating workloads by teams, environments, or

compliance boundaries, a well-structured multi-account setup is key to maintaining security,

cost control, and agility.

Enter the AWS Landing Zone, a framework designed to help enterprises set up a secure,

scalable, and governed multi-account environment from day one. In 2025, Landing Zones are

not just an architectural convenience; they’re a foundation for sustainable cloud operations.

This article explores what an AWS Landing Zone is, why it matters, and the best practices for

implementing one that aligns with your organization’s long-term security, governance, and

scalability goals.

What Is an AWS Landing Zone?

An AWS Landing Zone is a pre-configured, automated environment that provides a

standardized foundation for deploying and managing multiple AWS accounts. It enforces

governance, security baselines, and operational best practices through a consistent

architecture.

Think of it as a “blueprint for your cloud organization,” one that defines:

● How accounts are created and organized

● How users and roles access resources

● What security policies and guardrails are in place

● How logs, compliance data, and costs are centralized

AWS offers two main ways to set this up:

1. AWS Control Tower – A managed service that automates the setup of a landing zone

using best practices.

2. Custom Landing Zone (via AWS Landing Zone solution or IaC tools) – A fully

customized approach for complex enterprises needing deep control.

Why You Need a Landing Zone in 2025

Many organizations start their AWS journey with a single account and gradually scale. But

without a defined structure, they quickly run into issues such as:

● Security misconfigurations

● Unclear cost ownership

● Inconsistent IAM permissions

● Compliance gaps across teams

A landing zone solves these by enforcing a standardized architecture across all AWS accounts,

providing:

● Centralized security controls

● Automated account provisioning

● Cross-account visibility and logging

● Simplified compliance and auditing

In 2025, with the growing focus on multi-cloud governance, FinOps, and data security

regulations, setting up a landing zone is no longer optional it’s essential.

Core Components of an AWS Landing Zone

Before diving into best practices, it’s important to understand the main building blocks that make

up a secure AWS Landing Zone.

1. AWS Organizations

At the heart of every landing zone is AWS Organizations, which allows you to group and

manage multiple AWS accounts under one umbrella. It provides:

● Service Control Policies (SCPs) for permission boundaries

● Consolidated billing for unified cost visibility

● Organizational Units (OUs) for logical grouping (e.g., Prod, Dev, Security)

2. AWS Control Tower

AWS Control Tower automates the setup of the foundational accounts (Management, Log

Archive, Security) and applies preconfigured guardrails. It’s ideal for teams that want a quick,

best-practice setup with minimal manual configuration.

3. Security and Logging Accounts

Dedicated accounts are used to isolate critical functions:

● Security Account – Central location for IAM roles, security alerts, and audit tools like

GuardDuty and Security Hub.

● Log Archive Account – Central repository for all logs, CloudTrail records, and

configuration data.

4. Shared Services Account

This account hosts common infrastructure shared across teams, such as networking, CI/CD

pipelines, or directory services.

5. Networking and Connectivity

A landing zone typically uses AWS Transit Gateway, VPC Peering, or PrivateLink to ensure

secure, scalable communication across accounts.

Best Practices for Setting Up an AWS Landing Zone

Now that we know what it includes, let’s explore the best practices to build a landing zone that’s

secure, scalable, and ready for enterprise growth.

1. Start with a Clear Organizational Structure

Before deploying anything, design a clear account hierarchy using Organizational Units (OUs).

For example:

● Security OU: Contains security and logging accounts

● Infrastructure OU: Contains shared services like networking

● Workloads OU: Contains dev, staging, and production accounts

● Sandbox OU: For experimentation and innovation

This structure makes it easier to apply guardrails, manage budgets, and maintain isolation

between environments.

2. Enforce Security Baselines from Day One

Security must be embedded at the foundation level.

Key recommendations include:

● Enable AWS CloudTrail in all accounts and send logs to the centralized Log Archive

account.

● Use AWS Config and Security Hub to monitor compliance continuously.

● Implement Service Control Policies (SCPs) to block risky actions (e.g., disabling logging

or deleting IAM roles).

● Use AWS GuardDuty and Inspector for continuous threat detection and vulnerability

scanning.

By enforcing these baselines early, you prevent misconfigurations from spreading across

accounts later.

3. Automate Account Provisioning

Manual account creation can lead to inconsistencies. Instead, automate it using:

● AWS Control Tower Account Factory

● AWS Service Catalog or Terraform for custom setups

Automation ensures that every new account comes preconfigured with the correct guardrails,

IAM roles, networking settings, and baseline controls.

4. Centralize Identity and Access Management

Managing permissions across multiple accounts can become chaotic without centralization.

Adopt AWS IAM Identity Center (formerly AWS SSO) to:

● Manage users and groups centrally

● Enforce MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication)

● Map roles to organizational units and accounts

Integrating with corporate identity providers (like Okta, Azure AD, or Google Workspace)

streamlines authentication and improves compliance tracking.

5. Standardize Networking Design

A scalable landing zone requires a well-thought-out networking model.

Use:

● AWS Transit Gateway for centralized routing

● VPC segmentation by account and environment

● PrivateLink for secure service-to-service communication

● AWS Firewall Manager and Network Firewall for centralized security

Avoid overlapping CIDR ranges early on — fixing them later can be costly.

6. Implement Centralized Logging and Monitoring

Logs are the backbone of auditing and troubleshooting.

Best practice is to:

● Route all CloudTrail, VPC Flow Logs, and Config logs to the centralized Log Archive

account.

● Use Amazon CloudWatch or OpenSearch for cross-account monitoring.

● Enable AWS Detective and Security Hub for correlation and incident analysis.

This ensures that even if one account is compromised, logs remain tamper-proof and

accessible.

7. Manage Costs Through Visibility and Guardrails

As multi-account environments grow, costs can spiral quickly.

To stay in control:

● Use AWS Billing Conductor and Cost Explorer for chargeback and budgeting.

● Tag all resources consistently (e.g., Environment, Owner, Project).

● Set up AWS Budgets and Cost Anomaly Detection alerts per OU.

● Periodically review with AWS Compute Optimizer and Savings Plans.

A strong FinOps practice should be integrated with your landing zone design from day one.

8. Establish Governance and Continuous Compliance

A well-designed landing zone enforces governance automatically.

Leverage:

● AWS Control Tower Guardrails for pre-built policies.

● AWS Config Conformance Packs to audit resources continuously.

● Automation through Lambda or Step Functions to remediate violations automatically.

Compliance shouldn’t slow you down — automation keeps teams agile while staying secure.

9. Prioritize Scalability and Future Growth

Design your landing zone to handle future scale.

That means:

● Modular account structures

● Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) for repeatability

● Consistent naming and tagging conventions

● Documentation for onboarding new teams

Scalability isn’t just about infrastructure — it’s about organizational clarity.

10. Regularly Review and Evolve the Landing Zone

A landing zone is not “set and forget.” AWS continuously releases new features, services, and

compliance tools.

Schedule regular reviews (quarterly or bi-annually) to:

● Update guardrails and SCPs

● Optimize cost allocations

● Adopt new Control Tower capabilities

● Evolve your OU structure as your teams grow

Continuous improvement ensures your landing zone stays aligned with business and security

goals.