If you work in IT or are a software geek, microservices are a hot topic. If you live your life outside of those circles, though? Totally different story. Let’s start changing that now...
Software architecture is a niche subject, and probably not the greatest topic for dinner parties. But if you want to improve almost every aspect of your business, read on: around 80% of SMEs are missing out on the benefits of microservices, simply because they don’t know what it is or understand the value it creates.
What is a microservice?
Firstly, don’t let the term ‘software architecture’ intimidate you. It’s just a fancy way of describing how a piece of software is organised and how each component of the system interacts with another.
There are two types of software architecture: monolithic and microservice. Monolithic architecture is a single piece of software with many different components, all sharing the same code base. It’s kind of like a supermarket: a huge space with everything you need, all under one roof. But - importantly - it sells lots of stuff you don’t need, too.
Microservices are single-purpose applications: smaller and simpler, and more agile, robust, and inexpensive. In our analogy, they are more like a street market. The market exists but it is made up of many different, smaller components - or stalls. You get a much different experience from shopping at a supermarket because each stall owner is a highly focused specialist - they have one job. And if the stall fails and sells nothing, it can be replaced by another. Or, the market can grow by adding new stalls.
Monolith v Micro
Both supermarkets and monolithic software are designed to appeal to the masses. There are many benefits, but essentially you are buying off the shelf and there is always compromise with software that isn’t designed specifically to meet your business goals. Microservices, on the other hand, are created specifically to address those critical needs of your business.
Let’s say you have invested in two big software systems: a CRM package and a financial service package. Each one is written in a different language and operates independently from the other: communication between them is impossible without any intervention. One option is to invest in what’s known as middleware, but this can be hugely expensive and wholly unnecessary for the simple tasks you need it to deal with.
Instead of overspending (and overkilling), you could have several microservices sitting between the software systems. For example, one could handle customer and contact info while the other deals with invoices and purchase orders. But instead of working independently in a silo, your microservices help knit them together.
And there is a vast array of benefits of using microservices, which ultimately reduce your operating costs, optimise your resources, and improve accuracy and functionality. Let’s take a look.
Microservices: the key benefits
Small and simple
Each microservice is small and simple, focused only on one job. This makes it easier for developers to create, improve, and/or replace them when necessary.
Fast and flexible
Updating a single, small service without having to redeploy the entire application ensures everything else in your technology is working as usual. Microservices speed up innovation, too: it’s quicker and cheaper to create something new than it is to adapt monolithic software or middleware to meet your needs.
Scale with strength
Just like adding more stalls to a street market, you can add more services to handle increased demand, making the application more robust and responsive.
Happier customers
Each microservice runs independently and is designed to help the overall performance of larger applications. That means a better, more consistent, and far smoother experience for your customers at any stage of the buying process. And ultimately, leads to greater profits.
To conclude, microservices are not just a trend. They represent a modern approach to building software that gives you flexibility, helps you scale, and increases your business performance while being easier to manage. Like them or loathe them, the likes of Amazon, Netflix and Uber are all embracing microservice architecture for good reasons: they help save money, boost performance, and free up significant resources.
But the key message is: you don’t need to be a global corporation or industry giant to enjoy the benefits of microservices. They are perfect for smaller businesses and SMEs who need to be agile and adaptive to the needs of their customers.
