A shift from the conventional monolithic architecture to the popular micro-services architecture may seem like a huge step for your company – but this transition will be the best decision that you make for the progress of your organization. Building applications using a micro-services architectural framework is much more efficient than using a monolithic architectural foundation. The former consists of small groups of associated yet independent services that collectively serve a unique domain of your business. This framework enables developers to easily build, maintain, upgrade and scale the applications required by your company. A monolithic framework on the other hand exists as a single rigid unit that forms the architecture of an application.
The turnovers brought by the app development team of your company are directly proportional to the architecture that it uses. The quality and longevity of applications offered by micro-services architecture surpass those offered by a monolithic framework. The following are 8 reasons why you should move to a micro-services architecture.
1. It is reusable.
When you build an application using a micro-services architecture, you will have a core architectural framework that contains the design of its component micro-services. This basic blueprint is recyclable and can be reused for future ventures. The core design can be modified for other applications and projects even if they involve different programming languages or app development tools. This ensures that the effort and investment that go into formulating a micro-services architectural framework give long-term results by serving as a base for future projects.
2. It is flexible.
App development using micro-services involves different autonomous clusters of services and associated technologies. You can assign different teams to different groups of services where each team can function and make decisions independently. The autonomy of each cluster gives flexibility to the developers to execute the framework according to their choices. For instance, they can use a programming language of their choice that may be different from the one used by other micro-service units contributing to the same application. The developers can choose a specific technology stack that aligns with the needs of a particular service within the framework.
3. It occupies the low-risk end of the spectrum.
Each service in a micro-services architecture is independent and can be regulated as a small unit. Hence if there is an issue with the application, only the component that is associated with the root problem needs to be reevaluated. This architecture is designed in a way that allows your developers to engage in niche-specific problem-solving. Unlike the monolithic architecture in which the failure of one component affects the entire functioning of the application, the micro-services architecture provides a platform where individual failures or errors exhibited by the components can be remedied at the smallest level without disrupting the overall working of the application. This attributes a low-risk factor to it.
4. It provides better scalability.
Scalability is an inevitable requirement of any business. The products, services and applications offered by your company need to be scalable with time. Owing to the multi-parted nature of micro-services architecture, the services can be scaled at different rates. Your developers can scale particular services of the architecture, independent of the others. This improved scalability at an individual level is better than having to scale the entire application. Based on the feedback and demands from your clients, your developers can upgrade specific services to improve the efficiency of the application on those particular fronts.
5. It offers better data security and accountability.
The services that encompass the application built using a micro-services architecture offer more data security than those provided by the monolithic architecture. The communication between the micro-services happens through Application Programming Interfaces that are inherently more secure. This architecture also increases the accountability of the developers because each team is responsible for a particular service that makes its members accountable for the security of the data that they handle.
6. It is cost-efficient.
Micro-services architecture helps you to get the best results from your investments. Being a collection of smaller services, it facilitates the optimal use of your monetary resources for various activities like maintenance, detecting problems, developing solutions and adding new services. Depending on the needs generated, the developers can work on a standalone microservice without having to take apart the whole application. This reduces the downtime and saves you a lot of money. The expenditure of adding new services to the architecture is also lesser than that involved in a monolithic framework because the addition of new features and service clusters can be done without disturbing the functioning of the application. The elimination of services can be done in the same manner without having to disassemble the application altogether.
7. It gives you a smaller code base to deal with.
One of the perks of having a micro-services architecture is waving goodbye to a long continuous chunk of a codebase that governs the monolithic framework. Your developers engage with a smaller code base that makes it easier to test, scale and deploy applications, leaving less room for mistakes. The autonomous clusters of services ensure that the code base is manageable and that any unprecedented problems can be detected and resolved without much hassle.
8. It assures continuous delivery.
Micro-services architecture redefines the DevOps of your company by facilitating faster, sustainable and efficient ways of testing, detecting, analysing, maintaining, revamping and monitoring services. It establishes a balance between autonomy and cross-functional teamwork to achieve the collective goal. The presence of a small team of developers ensures the best continuous integration practices because the technical decisions are taken immediately and efficiently with a lesser number of people getting on board.
Therefore, embracing a micro-services architecture will take your company to great lengths. It will help you design and execute applications and projects that provide the best services that you can ever offer. Resource allocation, project management and efficient teamwork are bonuses of this architecture.