The “Holy Grail” of Microservice Architecture: How To Save 5-Figures On A Stupid Decision

I’ve already lost count on how many times I heard this year that microservices were the real deal.

You can read about it on the Internet…

I’ve heard about it from my consulting clients asking about it…

I’ve discussed this with multiple developer teams…

And I must say, there’s a hungry beast lurking behind the corner.

I absolutely agree that the Microservice architecture has its benefits…

HOWEVER…

I would be very wary when anyone speaks only about its pros while completely disregarding its COSTS.

As a consultant who advises software business leaders – I know very well how easy it is – especially for developers – to only see the tactical details…

…and completely missing the BIG PICTURE!

And since selecting a software architecture is a STRATEGIC decision – influencing many other parts – it MUST NOT be done on a tactical level – just by looking at code or discussing it with developers who don’t see the big picture.

I strongly disagree with the folks kneeling down at the microservice altar – like the almighty god – seeing it as the best thing since sliced bread.

Why Aren’t Microservices The Holy Grail?

Well… it’s just one of MANY different options…

There are many other ways to architect a software, including hybrid ones.

Each one of them has its pros and cons and cannot be selected without taking into account many factors – like the intended scale of the software, current and projected speed of growth, resources now available and in the near future, size of the team, current company cashflow and its growth, cloud infrastructure options, business targets, mission, vision and core values, any many other…

As an advisor on software architecture, I ask A LOT of questions – many of them are BUSINESS related that have NOTHING to do with code or even cloud infrastructure.

It’s the same as asking a question: “Are bananas good?”

Well without the context, all you can say is: “Well, it depends.”

So every time I hear some guys advocating for the microservice architecture WITHOUT asking any further high-quality questions, I know immediately they’re either amateurs, or don’t know what they’re talking about, or just don’t care about the consequences, or have NO RESPONSIBILITY for the decisions.

Most of the time it is developers whom I hear advocating for a shift to microservices…

Interestingly, I often hear it from guys who have never managed a cloud infrastructure, and HAVE NO CLUE about the prices, who never HIRED ANYBODY and have NO CLUE about the real business costs of having a team of full-time developers on the payroll, who are NOT INVESTORS – and spending 50k on a transition from a monolith to microservices is ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA for them – regardless if this EVER produces any PROFIT for the company…

But you can be sure it will produce COSTS…

For many companies, a transition from a monolith to microservices is ABSOLUTELY A BAD IDEA.

The math just doesn’t work there. They will not generate an ROI on that and incur additional monthly COSTS without any further benefits.

How often do you read about this ^^^ ?

For some other companies, especially those who have at LEAST DOZENS of developers on team – this can be a good idea – but again, it depends on other factors as well…

For companies having just 3 developers and a one big coupled monolith system – in most cases – it’s an absolutely STUPID idea – and the costs to achieve the transition ARE MASSIVE – the benefits – insignificant.

If you’re deciding on whether to make a transition to a different architecture or what architecture to select for a completely new system – and want to help with your decision making – apply for a free initial consult call and we’ll take it from there.