What are Microservices?

Classic applications are complex structures, usually consisting of a piece of software that includes thousands of lines of code that describe a variety of different features of the application. In many cases they have grown and become more complex over the years. They require deep expertise and in some cases even knowledge of old programming languages like COBOL. This makes them inflexible: changes to these structures are costly tasks that require a lot of time and resources and are often associated with downtime. Updates and changes must therefore be carefully planned and placed so as not to affect working hours.

Microservices are the opposite. They are self-contained components that describe specific features and each perform a specific business function. You could say classic applications (or monolithic applications) are a complete house, while microservices are the individual building blocks that make up a house. You can build the whole house from these blocks by having the individual, separate components communicate with each other or extend an existing house with new blocks. At the same time, microservices are much more flexible and resource-efficient than monolithic applications and can be easily placed in different locations. For example, a microservice application can be moved from an on premises data center to the cloud or from one cloud provider to another with less effort.

The Advantages of Cloud Microservices

• Resource-efficient: They can be deployed individually with only the resources they need to do their job and scale as needed.
• Flexibility: Microservices are easier to move than complex applications, for example to another provider’s cloud.
• Integration of third-party services from the cloud via APIs
• Modernity: the microservices are written in modern software languages and meet modern software requirements. Everything is perfectly aligned with the task of this specific microservice.
• Modularity: An application can consist of numerous microservices. It is therefore conceivable to scale individual microservices without having to scale the entire application.
• Easier updates: Each microservice can be updated individually. This enables seamless upgrades that are hardly noticeable for companies, since a complex application does not have to be patched and then restarted

Cloud microservices vs classic applications: Either-or?

Microservices can replace complex classic applications by breaking the application down into its individual components and then mapping these as microservices in the cloud or choosing a mixture of cloud microservices and on premises. Such an approach can be worthwhile due to the numerous advantages of microservices, but requires a corresponding investment of time and resources.

However, microservices do not have to replace classic applications in order to use their advantages. Instead, they can also act as a supplement to the company’s own legacy applications. Instead of programming new features for the legacy application at great expense, it is possible to program these as microservices in the cloud and then link them to one’s own legacy application via an API. This makes it possible to modernize legacy applications or integrate third-party applications from the cloud, for example in the area of artificial intelligence, with less time and expense.

So it’s less about choosing one model over another, and more about leveraging the many benefits of microservices for your own business today.

Are you interested in microservices? Then contact us. DATAGROUP covers the entire spectrum: From on premises to the private cloud and hybrid models to the public cloud. Our experts will find the solution that perfectly fits you and your requirements.