4 Key Features to Look for in a Microservices Platform

Businesses today are eager to find new approaches to improve development and deliver efficiencies. One step in the right direction is to adopt a data-driven microservices architecture when designing software to run their business. Until recently, organizations have been forced to use a monolithic application architecture—a single, cumbersome structure where “simple” changes made in one part of an application could have unwanted ripple effects throughout the rest of the code base.

As software developers know, that’s a recipe for a debugging nightmare. While that repair is underway, operations or customer goodwill can be jeopardized. Worse, a change made within a monolithic architecture might be impossible or slow to fix without a big enough team to dig in, find the error, and fully understand how the massive code base works with new changes.

All this typically results in a larger release—and notably slower release cycles. With a monolithic architecture, one might hope for quarterly or biannual releases. This snail’s pace simply won’t cut it for companies that hope to keep up with more agile competitors. To stay ahead and avoid losing customers, organizations need to use cutting-edge strategies and tools to develop and deliver products faster.

Why Should You Use a Microservices Platform?

Platform engineering is a powerful strategy, especially today when systems involve many moving pieces. When engineers break software development into microservices, they utilize what’s known as “single-piece flow,” where they’re able to build and deploy one piece at a time. This allows a company to test that piece thoroughly and ultimately deploy it as a self-contained microservice that doesn’t risk creating problems in the larger code ecosystem. For this reason, it’s a much more efficient and effective approach to development.

Platforms that leverage microservices allow engineers to find—and solve—problems much faster compared to monolithic architectures, especially when coupled with automated testing, because they can be isolated from the larger system. Furthermore, data- or event-driven microservices architecture can easily provide autonomy to otherwise complex systems. These benefits create competitive advantages for high-tech companies of all sorts, particularly when they need to integrate heterogeneous systems.

What to Look for When Choosing a Microservices Platform

The responsiveness and flexibility of microservices architecture can make a company more efficient, but leaders are often not sure where to begin. Here are a few things to keep in mind when getting started with microservices and exploring a platform’s features:

1. Cloud vs. On-Premise Deployment

Organizations will vary on whether they want to deploy applications to the cloud or keep them in on-premises compute storage and networking systems. In some cases, they may wish to use a hybrid model in which some data is stored in the cloud, and some is held more securely on-premises. Decision makers will want to be sure that the microservices architecture meets whichever deployment option the company chooses. The process should fit the business needs, and the tools should adapt.

2. Built-In Security

Providing a secure adapter layer is a critical security component for any solid platform engineering framework. When there is a connection to a message bus, there is also a connection to a signed certificate that the platform provider or customer can provide, ensuring immediate security for every connection in the system. Furthermore, built-in DevSecOps pipelines and automated code scanning can be employed to take care of security vulnerabilities quickly and quietly.

3. Agility and Responsiveness

Without the right solutions, the complexity of an application can result in delays when updating, upgrading, or modifying components. With microservices, companies can complete updates in microseconds to fix bugs, tweak features, or even deploy small components. The right platform engineering framework gives an organization the tools to move quickly, solve problems reliably, and pivot flexibly and easily.

4. Monitoring and Testing Capabilities

Every microservices platform will have its own testing mechanisms. A well-rounded platform will employ a test framework and leverage a tool like Python for automated testing. With a solid test framework and a complete DevSecOps solution, automated testing can execute a series of comprehensive tests as soon as any new application or service is developed and deployed. With that testing comes valuable data that can be used during and after release to continue optimizing and delivering more value.

Get Started With Microservices Today!

The advantages of a microservices platform are clear, but choosing the right solution accelerator is critical to keep pace with your competition. FoundationOne, CTG’s proven platform engineering framework, is one way to get started off on the right foot.

With cutting-edge tech and expert staff, FoundationOne helps companies stay competitive, deploy apps more efficiently, and streamline technical systems. Leaders should not delay making this change; those who wait will be left behind by competitors that adopt platform engineering solutions now. To gain the full benefits, leaders should start employing a suitable microservices architecture as soon as possible and look forward to an optimized technological approach in the years ahead.

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