What Are Microservices?
The term »microservices« refers to an architecture that involves multiple independent services communicating with each other via application programming interfaces (APIs). This means that each service can be scaled individually, tested, developed further and exchanged.
If you have an online shop, for example, you can integrate separate microservices for the payment process, product search and the addition of items to the virtual shopping cart. This allows you to optimise the individual features more flexibly and effectively and respond quickly to market changes.
Benefits of a Microservices Architecture
Flexibility and Scalability
Microservices make it possible to scale individual services, allowing you to flexibly adapt them to changes in requirements. High-traffic services such as payment processing can be handled independently of less frequently used components.
Shorter Time to Market
Development teams can work on different components in parallel because they function independently of each other. This results in shorter development and deployment cycles and accelerates the implementation of new features and concepts.
High Level of Reliability
In a microservices architecture, an error in one service does not necessarily cause the entire application to fail. This increases overall stability and minimises downtime, as faulty services can be isolated and fixed quickly.
MACH Architecture: M Is for Microservices
Microservices are part of the MACH architecture – as are the principles of API-first, Cloud-native and Headless. This architecture combines the benefits of all of them and provides a future-proof, highly flexible system landscape.
Comparison: Microservices vs Monolithic Architecture
A microservices architecture consists of many small, independent services, each of which meets a specific business requirement. By contrast, a monolithic architecture describes an approach that integrates all components of an application into one large, cohesive block of code.
The all-in-one systems are essentially designed to bring together the required partial solutions from the respective providers – »best of suite«. Various features are included within one platform with the aim of supporting a wide range of business functions. This architecture is easier to implement and test, as all parts of the application are closely linked.
Both approaches have their strengths and weaknesses. The choice depends on your specific requirements, needs and goals.
Which Companies Should Consider Microservices?
A microservices architecture is suitable for you if you:
- use multiple systems (e.g. PIM, MDM, CRM, content management and shop software) and want to connect them.
- offer a variety of products or services and thus have a complex application.
- expect rapid user growth and need a scalable solution that can continue to perform at a high level as requirements increase.
- need to respond quickly to market changes, for example as a start-up or a technology company, and want to facilitate parallel teamwork.
- aim to ensure a high level of availability, making reliability particularly important to you.
Which Companies Should Consider the Monolithic Approach?
A monolithic architecture is suitable for you if you:
- plan to fully use the functionalities of a suite such as Salesforce, SAP or Adobe.
- do not need the individual functionalities of your system to be strictly separated.
- are in the early development stage with your company and your priority is fast and easy market entry as well as effective cost control.
- do not have sufficient resources and development expertise.
- rely on integrated monitoring and error tracking.
- do not require extensive scalability with regard to your system landscape.
Structure of a System Landscape with Microservices – Schematic Example
This graphic shows an example of how a microservices architecture might be composed. It can be divided into the Present, Process and Persist layers – also known as the presentation, business and data layers.
The data is visualised in the Present layer. Information such as product data and images are displayed on the selected user interface.
The business logic and data processing are executed in the Process layer. This is where the microservices are located – connected to the Present layer via APIs.
The Persist layer is used to store and manage the data processed by microservices. This involves ERP, CRM and PIM systems, for example.
In an online shop, the use of microservices can look like this:
- A user visits a product page and finds the available sizes and colours as well as a photo of the desired item.
- A microservice obtains this information from the connected systems – the Persist layer. This includes prices from the ERP system and product data from the PIM system, for example.
- The product page also contains an »Add to Cart« button. When the user clicks on this button, a microservice at the Process layer executes the action and adds the desired item to the virtual shopping cart.
Microservices and Cloud Services
A cloud-based infrastructure is the ideal way to harness the full potential of a microservices architecture. It provides the necessary flexibility and your employees can access all the different services from anywhere and at any time. If you want to expand your system landscape, cloud solutions deliver the required resources.
Microservices: Potential Challenges
A microservices architecture can be more complex than a monolithic system landscape. This results in various challenges:
- The administration of the individual services requires effective management. When different developers implement a variety of services, a uniform language, logging standards and clear responsibilities are needed.
- Integration tests are more extensive because the interactions between the services need to be thoroughly checked. However, these detailed tests lead to enhanced security and better maintainability of the overall system.
- The provision of updates can also be more complex. Your team needs to make sure that all services remain compatible and work together smoothly.
- When building a microservices architecture, it is usually necessary to invest additional time and money. In contrast to a monolithic system, the services are not directly available – they need to be developed individually. In the long term, however, you save resources, for example by working on the services in parallel.
By mastering the complexities of microservices, you can unlock a wide range of new opportunities. Benefit from our team's expertise in this regard. Through training provided by dotSource, you can make sure that your employees gain the technical skills required for success.
Insights into Our Successful Microservices Projects
Our Services in the Field of Microservices
Before the Implementation
- Analysing your requirements and goals, followed by system selection consulting
- Developing your desired system architecture
- Checking the parallelisability and decoupling of the existing architecture
- Breaking down the infrastructure costs
During the Implementation
- Set-up of the IT infrastructure and hosting
- Implementation of your corporate design
- Consulting on DevOps, Customer Engagement Framework and agile project approaches
- Advice on all arising questions regarding, for example, security and documentation
- Joint testing and ensuring good performance
- Reliability, availability and error tolerance of microservices (uptime)
- Monitoring (logging, metrics and tracing)
After the Implementation
- Hypercare and stabilisation of the system
- Support and advice on further developments and potential extensions
- Maintenance and updates as well as adjustment of scaling parameters
- Assistance with any questions that may arise
- Professional and competent training of your employees by our team of microservices experts
Place Your System Architecture in the Right Hands: Why Is dotSource the Ideal Partner?
As a digital agency, dotSource has extensive experience gained from projects with companies operating across a wide range of industries and possesses a wealth of expertise in terms of B2B and B2C. We are always by your side – from consulting and implementation to post-project support.
Thanks to our full-service approach, our expert teams can support you beyond microservices (if required), for example in the fields of PIM, digital marketing, user experience design and process automation with AI.
This ensures that you build an optimised overall infrastructure and take all channels and systems into account.
Learn more about other topics on our website or arrange a free consulting session right away. Together we will find out how you can further improve your processes and system landscape, thereby increasing your productivity and sales in the long term.
Other E-Commerce Services at a Glance
FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions About Microservices
How do microservices work?
The microservices approach is an agile way of creating a modular system architecture. The individual services are small and independent and communicate with each other via APIs. They each fulfil a specific function. Every service can be scaled separately, tested, developed further, exchanged and deployed. Due to their independence from each other, microservices also minimise downtime. If an error occurs in one service, it does not automatically shut down the other services.
What is the difference between a microservices architecture and the monolithic approach?
The main difference lies in the structure and flexibility of the systems. A microservices architecture divides an application into many small, independent services. A monolithic architecture, by contrast, integrates all components of an application into one large, cohesive system. Microservices offer more flexibility, scalability and faster updates, while monoliths are easier to implement but less adaptable.
What is the MACH architecture?
The MACH architecture is based on the connection of Microservices via APIs in a Cloud-based environment – without a predefined front end (Headless). You can put together your software components in line with the best-of-breed approach so that they perfectly meet the requirements of your online shop, your company and your target audience.
Your contact for further questions
