The Rise of microservices

Now that everyone is jumping on the Cloud bandwagon and that companies are uploading their data wholesale, some visionaries are already predicting the next groundswell to sweep the IT sector. Including Steve Singh, head of software giant SAP, who went so far as to say that “Cloud computing is so 2016”. It seems that the next buzzword will be microservices.

But what exactly are microservices? Basically, they’re tiny, highly-specialized applications that perform very simple, focused tasks. M. Singh gave the example of an application integrated in users’ email that automatically detects an upcoming trip based on the contents of the email messages and looks after reserving hotels or transportation.

So, as their name implies, microservices are small applications rather than a complete software solution. As they are dedicated to one specific task, they can easily be integrated into any number of applications, allowing developers to focus on their actual value proposition. It follows that shortened development time translates into better reactivity to market demands.

The Market is ripe

Google and Amazon are once again pioneers in the field, having already adopted this development architecture, based on open, well-defined APIs.

The trend seems to be market-driven, with a growing demand for automation that is fully transparent for users, who no longer have to switch from one application to another, or one service to another. Integrating specialized components standardizes the process and leads to much faster deployment.

Microservices reduce the development burden and simplify updates, while providing superior adaptability and extendability. They enable very agile development, doing away with the need to code entire applications over and over again.

The Cloud is here to stay

Companies that have adopted microservices still have to review their development and maintenance processes, become more agile and select the best components available.

Far from ringing the death knell of the Cloud, microservices-based applications in fact take advantage of distributed components present in the Cloud to provide faster deployment, greater flexibility and enhanced quality.