diff --git a/ibm_catalog.json b/ibm_catalog.json
index cfe896b6..bd4d618b 100644
--- a/ibm_catalog.json
+++ b/ibm_catalog.json
@@ -124,7 +124,9 @@
               ]
             },
             {
-              "key": "prefix"
+              "key": "prefix",
+              "required": true,
+              "decsription": "Prefix to add to all resources created by this solution. To not use any prefix value, you can enter the string `__NULL__`."
             },
             {
               "key": "use_existing_resource_group"
@@ -568,7 +570,9 @@
               ]
             },
             {
-              "key": "prefix"
+              "key": "prefix",
+              "required": true,
+              "decsription": "Prefix to add to all resources created by this solution. To not use any prefix value, you can enter the string `__NULL__`."
             },
             {
               "key": "cluster_id"
diff --git a/solutions/agents/main.tf b/solutions/agents/main.tf
index 10c01b0d..b8b3a8d7 100644
--- a/solutions/agents/main.tf
+++ b/solutions/agents/main.tf
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+locals {
+  prefix = var.prefix != null ? (var.prefix != "" ? var.prefix : null) : null
+}
 ##############################################################################
 # Observability Agents
 ##############################################################################
@@ -19,11 +22,11 @@ module "observability_agents" {
   wait_till                    = var.wait_till
   # Cloud Monitoring (Sysdig) Agent
   cloud_monitoring_enabled           = var.cloud_monitoring_enabled
-  cloud_monitoring_agent_name        = var.prefix != null ? "${var.prefix}-${var.cloud_monitoring_agent_name}" : var.cloud_monitoring_agent_name
+  cloud_monitoring_agent_name        = try("${local.prefix}-${var.cloud_monitoring_agent_name}", var.cloud_monitoring_agent_name)
   cloud_monitoring_agent_namespace   = var.cloud_monitoring_agent_namespace
   cloud_monitoring_endpoint_type     = var.cloud_monitoring_endpoint_type
   cloud_monitoring_access_key        = var.cloud_monitoring_access_key
-  cloud_monitoring_secret_name       = var.prefix != null ? "${var.prefix}-${var.cloud_monitoring_secret_name}" : var.cloud_monitoring_secret_name
+  cloud_monitoring_secret_name       = try("${local.prefix}-${var.cloud_monitoring_secret_name}", var.cloud_monitoring_secret_name)
   cloud_monitoring_metrics_filter    = var.cloud_monitoring_metrics_filter
   cloud_monitoring_container_filter  = var.cloud_monitoring_container_filter
   cloud_monitoring_agent_tags        = var.cloud_monitoring_agent_tags
diff --git a/solutions/agents/variables.tf b/solutions/agents/variables.tf
index dd6db963..14eeebdb 100644
--- a/solutions/agents/variables.tf
+++ b/solutions/agents/variables.tf
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@ variable "ibmcloud_api_key" {
 
 variable "prefix" {
   type        = string
-  description = "The prefix for resources created by this solution."
-  default     = null
+  description = "The prefix to add to all resources that this solution creates. To not use any prefix value, you can set this value to `null` or an empty string."
+  default     = "dev"
 }
 variable "provider_visibility" {
   description = "Set the visibility value for the IBM terraform provider. Supported values are `public`, `private`, `public-and-private`. [Learn more](https://registry.terraform.io/providers/IBM-Cloud/ibm/latest/docs/guides/custom-service-endpoints)."
diff --git a/solutions/instances/main.tf b/solutions/instances/main.tf
index e7934bd2..02d8254a 100644
--- a/solutions/instances/main.tf
+++ b/solutions/instances/main.tf
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 #######################################################################################################################
 # Local Variables
 #######################################################################################################################
+locals {
+  prefix = var.prefix != null ? (var.prefix != "" ? var.prefix : null) : null
+}
 
 locals {
 
@@ -15,10 +18,10 @@ locals {
 
   default_cos_region = var.cos_region != null ? var.cos_region : var.region
 
-  cos_key_ring_name           = var.prefix != null ? "${var.prefix}-${var.cos_key_ring_name}" : var.cos_key_ring_name
-  cos_key_name                = var.prefix != null ? "${var.prefix}-${var.cos_key_name}" : var.cos_key_name
-  log_archive_cos_bucket_name = var.prefix != null ? "${var.prefix}-${var.log_archive_cos_bucket_name}" : var.log_archive_cos_bucket_name
-  at_cos_target_bucket_name   = var.prefix != null ? "${var.prefix}-${var.at_cos_target_bucket_name}" : var.at_cos_target_bucket_name
+  cos_key_ring_name           = try("${local.prefix}-${var.cos_key_ring_name}", var.cos_key_ring_name)
+  cos_key_name                = try("${local.prefix}-${var.cos_key_name}", var.cos_key_name)
+  log_archive_cos_bucket_name = try("${local.prefix}-${var.log_archive_cos_bucket_name}", var.log_archive_cos_bucket_name)
+  at_cos_target_bucket_name   = try("${local.prefix}-${var.at_cos_target_bucket_name}", var.at_cos_target_bucket_name)
 
   cos_instance_crn  = var.existing_cos_instance_crn != null ? var.existing_cos_instance_crn : length(module.cos_instance) != 0 ? module.cos_instance[0].cos_instance_crn : null
   cos_instance_guid = var.existing_cos_instance_crn == null ? length(module.cos_instance) != 0 ? module.cos_instance[0].cos_instance_guid : null : element(split(":", var.existing_cos_instance_crn), length(split(":", var.existing_cos_instance_crn)) - 3)
@@ -49,12 +52,12 @@ locals {
   cos_target_bucket_name     = var.existing_at_cos_target_bucket_name != null ? var.existing_at_cos_target_bucket_name : var.enable_at_event_routing_to_cos_bucket ? module.cos_bucket[0].buckets[local.at_cos_target_bucket_name].bucket_name : null
   cos_resource_group_id      = var.cos_resource_group_name != null ? module.cos_resource_group[0].resource_group_id : module.resource_group.resource_group_id
   cos_target_bucket_endpoint = var.existing_at_cos_target_bucket_endpoint != null ? var.existing_at_cos_target_bucket_endpoint : var.enable_at_event_routing_to_cos_bucket ? module.cos_bucket[0].buckets[local.at_cos_target_bucket_name].s3_endpoint_private : null
-  cos_target_name            = var.prefix != null ? "${var.prefix}-cos-target" : "cos-target"
-  cloud_logs_target_name     = var.prefix != null ? "${var.prefix}-cloud-logs-target" : "cloud-logs-target"
-  at_cos_route_name          = var.prefix != null ? "${var.prefix}-at-cos-route" : "at-cos-route"
-  at_cloud_logs_route_name   = var.prefix != null ? "${var.prefix}-at-cloud-logs-route" : "at-cloud-logs-route"
-  metric_router_target_name  = var.prefix != null ? "${var.prefix}-cloud-monitoring-target" : "cloud-monitoring-target"
-  metric_router_route_name   = var.prefix != null ? "${var.prefix}-metric-routing-route" : "metric-routing-route"
+  cos_target_name            = try("${local.prefix}-cos-target", "cos-target")
+  cloud_logs_target_name     = try("${local.prefix}-cloud-logs-target", "cloud-logs-target")
+  at_cos_route_name          = try("${local.prefix}-at-cos-route", "at-cos-route")
+  at_cloud_logs_route_name   = try("${local.prefix}-at-cloud-logs-route", "at-cloud-logs-route")
+  metric_router_target_name  = try("${local.prefix}-cloud-monitoring-target", "cloud-monitoring-target")
+  metric_router_route_name   = try("${local.prefix}-metric-routing-route", "metric-routing-route")
 
   default_metrics_router_route = var.enable_metrics_routing_to_cloud_monitoring ? [{
     name = local.metric_router_route_name
@@ -131,13 +134,13 @@ locals {
 
 
   # Cloud Logs data bucket
-  cloud_log_data_bucket = var.prefix != null ? "${var.prefix}-${var.cloud_log_data_bucket_name}" : var.cloud_log_data_bucket_name
+  cloud_log_data_bucket = try("${local.prefix}-${var.cloud_log_data_bucket_name}", var.cloud_log_data_bucket_name)
 
   parsed_log_data_bucket_name         = var.existing_cloud_logs_data_bucket_crn != null ? split(":", var.existing_cloud_logs_data_bucket_crn) : []
   existing_cloud_log_data_bucket_name = length(local.parsed_log_data_bucket_name) > 0 ? local.parsed_log_data_bucket_name[1] : null
 
   # Cloud Logs metrics bucket
-  cloud_log_metrics_bucket = var.prefix != null ? "${var.prefix}-${var.cloud_log_metrics_bucket_name}" : var.cloud_log_metrics_bucket_name
+  cloud_log_metrics_bucket = try("${local.prefix}-${var.cloud_log_metrics_bucket_name}", var.cloud_log_metrics_bucket_name)
 
   parsed_log_metrics_bucket_name         = var.existing_cloud_logs_metrics_bucket_crn != null ? split(":", var.existing_cloud_logs_metrics_bucket_crn) : []
   existing_cloud_log_metrics_bucket_name = length(local.parsed_log_metrics_bucket_name) > 0 ? local.parsed_log_metrics_bucket_name[1] : null
@@ -157,7 +160,7 @@ locals {
 module "resource_group" {
   source                       = "terraform-ibm-modules/resource-group/ibm"
   version                      = "1.1.6"
-  resource_group_name          = var.use_existing_resource_group == false ? (var.prefix != null ? "${var.prefix}-${var.resource_group_name}" : var.resource_group_name) : null
+  resource_group_name          = var.use_existing_resource_group == false ? (try("${local.prefix}-${var.resource_group_name}", var.resource_group_name)) : null
   existing_resource_group_name = var.use_existing_resource_group == true ? var.resource_group_name : null
 }
 
@@ -168,7 +171,7 @@ module "cos_resource_group" {
   }
   source              = "terraform-ibm-modules/resource-group/ibm"
   version             = "1.1.6"
-  resource_group_name = var.prefix != null ? "${var.prefix}-${var.cos_resource_group_name}" : var.cos_resource_group_name
+  resource_group_name = try("${local.prefix}-${var.cos_resource_group_name}", var.cos_resource_group_name)
 }
 
 #######################################################################################################################
@@ -176,8 +179,8 @@ module "cos_resource_group" {
 #######################################################################################################################
 
 locals {
-  cloud_monitoring_instance_name = var.prefix != null ? "${var.prefix}-${var.cloud_monitoring_instance_name}" : var.cloud_monitoring_instance_name
-  cloud_logs_instance_name       = var.prefix != null ? "${var.prefix}-${var.cloud_logs_instance_name}" : var.cloud_logs_instance_name
+  cloud_monitoring_instance_name = try("${local.prefix}-${var.cloud_monitoring_instance_name}", var.cloud_monitoring_instance_name)
+  cloud_logs_instance_name       = try("${local.prefix}-${var.cloud_logs_instance_name}", var.cloud_logs_instance_name)
   cloud_logs_data_bucket_crn     = var.existing_cloud_logs_data_bucket_crn != null ? var.existing_cloud_logs_data_bucket_crn : module.cos_bucket[0].buckets[local.cloud_log_data_bucket].bucket_crn
   cloud_log_metrics_bucket_crn   = var.existing_cloud_logs_metrics_bucket_crn != null ? var.existing_cloud_logs_metrics_bucket_crn : module.cos_bucket[0].buckets[local.cloud_log_metrics_bucket].bucket_crn
   cloud_logs_buckets             = [local.cloud_logs_data_bucket_crn, local.cloud_log_metrics_bucket_crn]
@@ -281,7 +284,7 @@ module "observability_instance" {
   cloud_logs_existing_en_instances = [for index, _ in local.cloud_logs_existing_en_instances : {
     en_instance_id      = module.en_crn_parser[index]["service_instance"]
     en_region           = module.en_crn_parser[index]["region"]
-    en_integration_name = var.prefix != null ? "${var.prefix}-${local.cloud_logs_existing_en_instances[index]["integration_name"]}" : local.cloud_logs_existing_en_instances[index]["integration_name"]
+    en_integration_name = try("${local.prefix}-${local.cloud_logs_existing_en_instances[index]["integration_name"]}", local.cloud_logs_existing_en_instances[index]["integration_name"])
     skip_en_auth_policy = local.cloud_logs_existing_en_instances[index]["skip_en_auth_policy"]
   }]
   skip_logs_routing_auth_policy = var.skip_logs_routing_auth_policy
@@ -452,7 +455,7 @@ module "cos_instance" {
   version                  = "8.16.4"
   resource_group_id        = local.cos_resource_group_id
   create_cos_instance      = true
-  cos_instance_name        = var.prefix != null ? "${var.prefix}-${var.cos_instance_name}" : var.cos_instance_name
+  cos_instance_name        = try("${local.prefix}-${var.cos_instance_name}", var.cos_instance_name)
   cos_tags                 = var.cos_instance_tags
   existing_cos_instance_id = var.existing_cos_instance_crn
   access_tags              = var.cos_instance_access_tags
diff --git a/solutions/instances/variables.tf b/solutions/instances/variables.tf
index fe15551b..88026761 100644
--- a/solutions/instances/variables.tf
+++ b/solutions/instances/variables.tf
@@ -47,8 +47,8 @@ variable "region" {
 
 variable "prefix" {
   type        = string
-  description = "The prefix to add to all resources that this solution creates."
-  default     = null
+  description = "The prefix to add to all resources that this solution creates. To not use any prefix value, you can set this value to `null` or an empty string."
+  default     = "dev"
 }
 
 variable "provider_visibility" {