Architecture Blueprint - Service-Level Ownership
If Everything Is Everyone's Job, It's No One's Job. Security, stability, and governance thrive when responsibility is crystal clear.
Service-level ownership assigns accountability for every microservice to a named team or individual. That owner isn't just a maintainer — they are the authority for deployments, security posture, and compliance of their service.
But ownership isn't just about people — it's also about domains. Each service should operate within a well-defined domain (Domain Driven Design) and use a dedicated identity (System- or User-Assigned Managed Identity) with RBAC to restrict access to only what it needs. This creates a dual layer of accountability: the human owner and the service identity.
The Requirements - Every service must have
Ownership creates clear escalation paths, prevents orphaned services, and ensures someone is actively thinking about how to keep the service healthy.
A human owner
Explicitly documented person responsible for deployment, security, compliance, and lifecycle management.
A clearly defined domain (DDD)
Each service operates within a well-defined bounded context that reflects real business boundaries.
A dedicated managed identity
System- or User-Assigned Managed Identity with least-privilege RBAC to restrict access to only what it needs.
In headless-first architectures, governance depends on having a "source of truth" for both who owns a service and what domain it operates in. When a security patch is needed, governance doesn't waste days figuring out who to call — and with strict domain boundaries, the fix is easier to isolate and deploy.
Without this, governance collapses into bureaucracy and firefighting.
Governance Alignment - Clear accountability and operational control
Service-level ownership satisfies regulatory requirements for accountability and asset management.
EU AI Act: Identifiable accountable parties for AI-related services.
NIS2: Reduces vulnerability remediation time by assigning clear operational control.
ISO 27001: Satisfies roles & responsibilities requirements for asset management.