SOA and microservices: what are the benefits for an enterprise?

The notion of microservice designates a particular architecture during the development of applications. It differs from more traditional approaches (sometimes called monolithic architectures) by isolating the essential functions of an application. These are then called “services” and become totally independent of each other.
SOA and microservices: how do they relate to each other, and how can companies benefit from them? You will find this theme in our technological innovation file.

A concept already well established

The division of an application’s functionality into independent services is not a new idea for development teams. In fact, this concept is largely inspired by an existing software practice, namely Service Oriented Architecture (SO A).

Before the emergence of this new technology, all the code of an application was concentrated in a single development tool (monolithic applications). In the event of an error during a code update, companies had the luxury of putting the entire application and its functionality online. This is no longer an option.

The SOA architecture will allow each of the services to be deployed independently. Tests, parameterization and other developments will no longer have to suffer the constraints of an old architecture.

How to move from SOA to microservices?

Performing such a migration is not as complex as one might imagine. Technical advances in virtualization, particularly through the concept of containerization, are contributing to its success. It is now possible to independently launch each function of a single application in a common environment (operating system, network and own database).

This offers much more flexibility and security than previous practices, which required the creation of complex interfaces that were particularly difficult to evolve and maintain in order to facilitate communication between heterogeneous systems. After a few weeks of use, this set was very much like a black box that could not be debugged quickly.

What are the benefits?

Micro-services architecture will significantlyreduce application development cycles and accelerate patch deployment, especially if accompanied by agile working methods.
For teams, such a change in habits will be stimulating, especially as it will be possible, thanks to APIs, to work with several development languages in order to adapt to the specific needs of each functionality. At the same time, you will secure every service deployment.

Microservices will necessarily reduce the overall size of the application, while enabling sequenced production based on services. Even if the teams will have to work together more in advance and synchronize their actions, this particular deployment capacity will bring undeniable added value. Finally, unlike the monolithic model, microservices retain their autonomy. Therefore, if one of them fails, the application remains functional.

Also read in our "IT project governance" file:

• Lowcode platform: the future of application development?
• The use of UIPATH as an RPA solution
• Project comitology: the governance bodies of an IT project and their roles
• Steering and governance of a Finance IS project: which profiles should be involved?
• Steering and governance of an IT project: which profiles should be involved?
• Project governance: what role for the steering committee?
• The actors of a project team: organization, role and skills
• The IS manager at the heart of the development and evolution of systems
• HRIS Manager: what role in the evolution of HR Information Systems?
• IS project manager: what role and responsibility in an IS project?
• Functional consultant: a role close to the business processes
• Technical consultant: a profession at the heart of technological development
• Solution architect: a profession that manages development and deployment
• DevOps Consultant: role, missions and development skills
• Data Protection Officer (DPO): what roles and missions?
• CISO: a key job within the business for system security
• The service delivery manager at the heart of team management
• Scrum master, a key profession for Scrum project management
• Data scientist: a strategic profession at the service of management
• MOA / MOE: how are the roles divided on a project of implementation of an information system?