Startup-SMB-Enterprise Microservices Architecture Adoption Timing

If organizations that have already migrated to a microservices setup, 78% of users say that their businesses will only increase their time, effort, and money invested in the microservices architecture. One fundamental question is when should a business shift to microservices architecture? The superior performance of microservices is always observed only when it correctly fits the application that they are meant for.
If your running application is a simple one or your business is only in its starting stage, it may happen that a tightly-coupled monolithic package becomes easier to design for your setup. A microservices application, on the other hand, requires discernment of design principles and awareness and greater developmental knowledge. This is particularly required when breaking down an application into parts. This means that the organization has to invest more time and effort than on a simpler monolithic application. 
So, for organizations, when is the best time to move to microservices? The important decision to choose microservices over monolithic applications depends on two crucial factors: application/business size and the availability of resources.
Whether you are a start-up, an SMB, or an enterprise, it is important to keep in mind that shifting to microservices means you have to keep resources handy for ready disposal. Otherwise, the shift almost always becomes an expensive one in the long term.

• Application/Business Size

 Whether your business is a start-up or an SMB, if your business application has a limited scope, then a monolithic package would work best for you. Such an application would handle very few requests, have very few points of failure, and need only data from a single database. These are typical cases when the business can be serviced with a monolithic application package.
Even in such a case, when the business grows in size, i.e., when it has to handle a larger number of customers, the monolithic package starts slowing down when processing customer requests. There is a heavier load on the server and, when there are a higher number of requests, the application becomes increasingly inefficient and the output takes a longer time to process and show up. 
If functional requirements for a start-up or SMB increase, then it makes sense to move to a microservices architecture. The advantages thereof are listed below.

• The system becomes more flexible and you can deploy any functionality whenever you want to.
• Every new microservice can be developed independently by different teams, saving time. Applications and modifications can be rolled out faster.
• These teams are independent and can make modifications as and when required. Downtime is, therefore, at a minimum, which impacts the finances of the growing start-up or SMB only to a minor extent.

Download and read our eBook "Porting from Monoliths to Microservices – Is the Shift Worth It?"

The rule of thumb is to settle for or transition into a microservices architecture only when your application is/becomes large and it needs to be both scalable and flexible.

• Availability of Resources

 For any start-up or SMB, the availability of resources is a major factor that can stop you from moving to a microservices architecture.

•  Team size, If you have access only to a small team, a monolithic application is the right choice. Fewer points of failure make it easy for smaller teams to identify problems quickly and resolve them so that there is minimal loss of time and money.
•  However, it has to be ensured that each team member, however small, must have complete contextual knowledge and know in depth how each module works. Because of the tight coupling involved, even a small modification can disturb the stability of the package.
• You can opt for microservices if you have larger teams at your disposal. You can then employ different independent teams to develop, test, and deploy the different services. In this case, the different points of failure do not affect the functioning of the whole application package. Any independent team can isolate a failure and fix it up as required.
• If you outsource your microservices application development to a third party, you may be required to onboard new developers frequently. If yours is a monolithic application, then this means that each of your new developer members has to fully understand the package at hand. 
• If you have shifted to microservices architecture, adding new developer team members to a specific service is easier. With each of the services being self-contained, they only have to know how to handle that particular service. They do not need to have in-depth knowledge of the entire application.

What Next

Startups and SMBs that have monolithic application packages maintain separate teams for functions such as development, testing, deployment, and maintenance. Once the organization shifts to a microservices architecture, changes are imperative.

One team per Service, Autonomous

Each service has a different function to perform. The service needs to go through the entire cycle of development, testing, deployment, and maintenance. Therefore, each service needs a team that has experts in each of these functions.

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As the services are autonomous, the teams should be autonomous too. In such an atmosphere, independent teams can make for faster time-to-market solutions. Communication with a different service depends only on the extent of coupling with the specific service. 

When Should Enterprises Shift to Microservices

Before shifting to microservices architecture, it is important for enterprises to grade themselves on the basis of a pre-requisites chart comprising the following: 
A clear vision of the target microservices architecture

• API, core, infrastructure, and aggregate
• The responsibilities of each service
• Shared concerns
• Clarity of service relationships (ingress and egress points)
• Third-party integration points

Form teams based on business needs.

The management has to form, manage, and govern many teams for a stable DevOps environment.

Team members should have the necessary competencies to handle distributed systems and take a product from concept stage to retirement.

Entire teams should be made knowledgeable about the requisite technologies so that they are on par to handle the service.

Read our blog "How Microservices Architecture Consulting Services can Help."

The stakeholders should be able to select the right microservices platform from one that is flexible, scalable, cloud-ready, and resilient.

should be conversant with tools like Docker to be able to manage and leverage containerization.

Organizations should be equipped with automation servers to enable CD/CI for quick updates and versions to be rolled out.

Should be ready to adopt orchestration and infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS).

Be ready for the long haul. 

Enterprises ready to adopt a Microservices Architecture

Any business can first evaluate itself based on these prerequisites.If the answer to all the questions in this self-assessment chart is a resounding yes, then the enterprise can think of shifting its operations to a microservices architecture.

This model can help enterprises assess their position on the readiness to shift to microservices. It is a good yardstick that can tell an enterprise where it stands and what it takes for its organization to shift to a microservices model of operation.

In short, the maturity of the shift to microservices can be evaluated on the basis of the following parameters:

Decomposition of Business Requirements

• Infrastructure
• Codebase
• Architecture
• Data
• Team Structure
• Deployment
• Monitoring
• Testing
• Governance
• Tools and Processes

For each of these parameters, the enterprise can grade itself as belonging to a specific level. According to the specific level, they can rate their maturity in the specific area, with 0 meaning "not yet ready" and 4 meaning "ready for the shift".
 

Based on recommendations, the organization can then formulate a plan to shift to a microservices architecture.

Conclusion

Thus, a microservices architecture implementation journey for an enterprise will most likely take place in a phased manner, starting from scratch or transforming their existing legacy software part by part. 

Do you want to migrate to microservices? Talk to us today!

As far as startups and SMBs are concerned, it is important that they adopt microservices architecture because this model will help business development and allow the teams to manage the infrastructure better, innovate faster, and reduce the overall cost of adding new features to the app. 

How can SayOne help

At Sayone, we design and implement microservices systems that do not have complex architectural layers, and this enables the services to deliver exceptionally fast performance. Moreover, we provide services that are significantly decoupled, allowing you to launch independent services and not end up with the usual inter-dependent microservices that work more or less like a monolith.

We design the microservices keeping in mind the margin required to allow for the transition into the new system of your organization’s legacy architecture as well as expand into the cloud system. Our microservices comprise lightweight code, and we provide competitive pricing options for our clients. 
Our microservices are built according to the latest international security guidelines that ensure the complete safety of all the data. We also ensure that we deliver the services within the stipulated deadlines and we always guarantee a quick turnaround time for our clients. Equipped with the best infrastructure and the latest tools and technologies, our expert developers will provide you with the best microservices that are easily scalable, enabling a good ROI in the shortest period of time.