If anything defines the technology world and the information technology market, it is innovation. Microservices and their benefits are a result of this evolution.
In the field of software and application development, we have migrated from centralized or monolithic architectures to decentralized service-based architectures (SOA) and from there to a simpler, more granular, cloud-compatible approach, microservices.
For IBM, microservices are a reflection of the architectural approach that leaders want to structure and implement for their teams, processes and developments:
“The architectural model that best facilitates a desired operating model.”
In a previous installment we discussed the definition of microservices and the basics you should understand, now let’s dive into how this development architecture benefits your organization.
Availability, reliability, scalability, easy implementation and agile management are some of the benefits of microservices, let’s go into detail!
Benefits for users and developers
A publication of a survey conducted in 2021 by IBM titled “Microservices in the Enterprise 2021” gathers the impressions of more than 1,200 IT executives on the benefits and challenges of microservices.
Part of their findings conclude how enterprises and their IT teams gain resiliency, speed and agility from microservices architecture.
There are benefits for both customers (users) and providers (developers, service integrators, and other members of the IT ecosystem)
For the former we have:
- Increased reliability and availability of their stock of applications
- Improved customer experience
- Increased employee productivity
- Faster time to market
- Better growth prospects.
And for developers and IT operators, microservices represent simplification in application development and management, better collaboration between teams, agile support and scalability or easy deployment of on-demand capabilities.
Now, let’s pinpoint why.
Here we talk about the benefits, but also know the top 10 advantages of microservices architecture.
Rapid fault detection and isolation
One of the benefits of microservices architecture most appreciated by users is that systems and applications will not have to go completely out of operation when faced with a failure, vulnerability, patch or upgrade.
This is because the microservices approach creates modular, independent and loosely coupled functionality that targets a business function or objective and can be self-contained.
A distribution that gives developers the ease of identifying faults or gaps quickly, intervening and resolving them without having to compromise other parts of the business.
Availability and reliability of your systems
Unlike a monolithic structure, in a microservices architecture, after solving a problem it is not necessary to update the entire stock of applications or to develop a new version, only the service responsible for the error is intervened and updated.
Even each microservice can be duplicated, so if there is a problem that limits a specific functionality, it is intervened while the duplicate or twin continues to support it, to the benefit of the availability and reliability of the service.
This is what Red Hat calls a resilient approach:
‘If one component fails, the entire application won’t.’
Learn about eCommerce trends towards microservices.
Easy-to-add functionality and fast updates
By not relying on a single code or executable base, the microservices approach is dynamic or evolutionary.
As business requirements evolve, new functionality can be added or existing functionality can be updated very easily.
Quite the opposite of a monolithic block, where a new module ends up in a complete development with the consequent impact on time, effort and budget.
The approach confers versatility and interoperability, leveraging any technology to implement a new feature.
With microservices it is even possible to rewrite an entire application in order to upgrade progressively, changing parts or modules one by one, without users suffering service availability failures.
Real scalability for your resources
Scaling a system is the possibility of releasing resources in peaks of demand, in an agile and economical way. Something totally feasible with microservices.
One of the benefits of this architecture is its agile horizontal scalability, that is, the possibility of duplicating services by adding blocks of resources in certain functionalities almost in real time, avoiding bottlenecks.
Changing the rules of the game again when service demand returns to normal levels without having to incur large investments in idle resources.
It’s what IBM calls ‘precise scaling’.
In this regard, let’s talk about reliability engineering in microservices.
Better IT talent management
Microservices, it is said, is not just a development architecture but a form of organization, because the talent pool can be reorganized to support and manage specific services.
Small groups will work with better focus and specialization, IT executives or managers can choose which team will handle which component based on the shared strengths and competencies of its members.
And when so engaged, they can hire external talent to provide specific functionality, which can even be co-managed or outsourced.
We are talking about an architecture that enables distributed teams to work on several components in multiple data centers or servers simultaneously, making development, implementation and support efficient.
Environment that simplifies migration to the cloud
If you consider a legacy application or system indispensable, the interoperability offered by microservices makes it possible to modernize that application and migrate it to the cloud progressively.
When migrating to a Cloud environment, don’t worry about having to get rid of those applications that have supported your processes for years or having to create a native application from scratch.
Microservices offers the possibility of agile redesign of the legacy application by taking as many compatible components as possible, saving time and money in development.
Speaking of migration: take a look at the best practices when migrating from a monolithic to a microservices architecture.
It is not challenge-free
As you can see the benefits of microservices for your business are many, but experience dictates that this architecture is not without risks and challenges.
IBM summarizes them as follows:
- Potential complexity: many more services, created by more teams, deployed in more places.
- Staff inexperience in this new development architecture.
- Management clashes: Small groups will now be responsible for their own processes with their specific internal and external cadences and customers.
- Multiple services connected by one interface demand greater connectivity and latency issues may be present.
As with any new implementation, planning, preparation and proper support are key to overcoming the challenges and capitalizing on the benefits.
If you want to scale your systems and upgrade your service under this promising cloud-native environment, NU Technology is here to provide you with comprehensive support at all stages of design, development, migration, management and support.