Technology is evolving rapidly, and in such a world, businesses are in constant need of new innovative solutions to help them stay sharp and competitive.
But it’s not only about solutions, as companies seek ways to streamline their development processes as well.
One such approach, gaining a lot of attention in both the tech and business world is the use of microservices.
Not sure what this means or how it can help your company?
Worry not, as we have prepared a small guide to show you potential benefits, but also point to pitfalls when it comes to overusing microservices.
Let’s dive in!
What Are Microservices?
Businesses need to innovate faster and with more agility.
In turn, that means, they need to deliver software more frequently and as reliably as possible.
This need has driven a new approach where the development of large applications’ architecture has been broken down into smaller chunks.
These chunks, the “microservices”, are smaller, independent services, working together to create a larger system.
Microservices can be implemented on any application domain.
Microservices Market Overview and Latest Trends
Based on the latest stats from Allied Market Research, the global microservices architecture market is set to hit $8,073 million by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 18.6%.
Based on IBM’s analysis of companies already using microservices for their business needs, the largest portion uses them for business intelligence and data analytics (45%). The research has highlighted the significance of successful implementations, stating that 84% of surveyed companies are planning further investment in this architectural approach.
Maximizing Business Potential with Microservices
(While Staying Aware of Potential Drawbacks)
When implemented correctly, and if your application is an appropriate candidate, the microservices architecture can brings huge benefits:
- Increased agility and flexibility: Microservices allow you to develop and deploy applications more quickly and easily. This is because you can break down your application into smaller, more manageable services, which can be handled by independent development teams, fostering faster time to market.
- Improved scalability: Microservices are easier to scale than monolithic applications. This is because you can scale individual services independently, rather than having to scale the entire application.
- Another crucial benefit from using microservices is resilience, they are more fault-tolerant.
This is because if one service fails, the other services can continue to operate. This can help to keep your application up and running even in the event of a problem. - Reduced risk: Microservices can help to reduce the risk of outages and security breaches. This is because each service is isolated from the others, which means that a problem with one service is less likely to affect the entire system.
- Simplified testing: Microservices are easier to test than monolithic applications. This is because you can test each service independently, rather than having to test the entire application at once..
But..
Microservices come at a cost!
Microservices are not a one-size-fits-all approach for all applications, as they can introduce unnecessary complexity and cost overhead.
It is important to adopt this architecture approach smartly, and make sure the overhead is worth it before jumping into it. We’ve even observed instances where a microservice architecture had been implemented in such a wrong way that ultimately led to the death of the application (distributed monolith).
Alternative architecture patterns exist to achieve similar goals, such as decoupling services and applications, and can be implemented incrementally on existing systems.
net2 & microservices
At net2, we are well aware of the immense value microservices can bring to the business, but also potential risks.
Thanks to our knowledge and experience with this approach, we know how to leverage the advantages of Microservices to your benefit.
To ensure our team is well-equipped to handle all the complexities of microservices development, our company supports their continuous training.
As a Microsoft Solutions Partner, we rely on Microsoft .NET and Azure, which are the ideal technologies to support microservices and cloud native applications.
Summary
Microservices, when thoughtfully applied, unlock agility and scalability.
But indiscriminate adoption can hinder progress.
Business leaders, with technical guidance, should critically assess their strategic value.
How Can We Help?
The first step is to complete our technical assessment, so our team helps you determine if the positive aspects of microservices outweigh potential costs in your specific case.
Do not hesitate to contact us to get a more detailed explanation and a free technical analysis.
For Techies
Architecture patterns that can help decoupling services and applications, including, not exhaustively:
- Mediator Pattern simplifies the communication between services.
- CQRS to segregate write and read operations.
- Messages Brokers support asynch communication between services…
We highly recommend the LinkedIn introductory training on ‘Top Tactics to Build Advanced .NET Microservices’.
