SaaS is gradually becoming the bedrock of several technological advancements for companies and e-commerce businesses. It is a delivery model for software applications that allows users to access and use the software over the internet without having to install or manage any underlying infrastructure.

These software models are often made up of small, independent components built for a higher degree of scalability, flexibility, and reliability using a framework of decentralized governance called Microservices Architecture.

In this article, we will discuss extensively, the concept of microservice architecture and its immense contributions to the evolution of SaaS.

TL;DR

• Microservice architecture is an evolution of SOA (Service-Oriented Application).

• It is a framework that presents an application as one consisting of several loosely-coupled services.

• The services in the architecture are independent of each other and work separately except if ordered to perform a specific task together.

• Microservices communicate over a well-designed interface with small surface area.

• Characteristics of microservice architecture include; decentralization, scalability, resilience and many more.

• Microservice architecture allows companies to perform flexible, independent and secure operations.

• Its complexity and network latency can make it the wrong choice for other companies.

Introduction

Microservice architecture surfaced as a result of the evolution of its parent infrastructure, Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). Although the idea of SOA looks similar to Microservice’s, SOA focuses more on building large tightly-coupled systems for organizations which limits its integration operations and simplicity. These limitations posed by SOA sped up the development of Microservice architecture for software development.

Microservice architecture is an architectural approach that presents a single application as a framework composed of a collection of several loosely-coupled independent services made to perform specific functions in the application.

Simply put, Microservice architecture is the integration of small independent deployable components built for specific purposes in an application that communicate with each other over APIs, message brokers and streaming.

With microservice architecture, the best technologies can be used to work on each function of the application independently. Updates and deployment become easy tasks as there will be no effect on the general application when performing those tasks.

Characteristics of Microservice Architecture

As a unique model in the tech industry, there are several characteristics that make Microservice architecture the ultimate solution to specific problems in the industry.

Decentralization

Microservices are built to be independent of each other. This means that each service has a specific function attached to it. Every Microservice can be deployed, maintained and developed individually without affecting any other service in the application.

Loosely-coupled

The design of Microservice architecture allows the services to communicate with each other over a small surface area. As loosely-coupled services, they can change and evolve independently.

Resilience

In the tech industry, downtimes are inevitable and are bound to occur at some point. Microservice architectures are built to be resilient, meaning the failure of a service does not affect the availability of other services in the application. A loophole affecting one of the services negatively, will have nothing to do with other services in the application.

Modular

Microservices are built to be modular meaning they are built or organized in self-contained units or sections. This means they can be broken into smaller services that can be reused in another service without affecting the whole system.

Specific business functionalities

Each service in the Microservice architecture is organized around performing specific business tasks. For example, the service designed for managing payments is totally different from the one designed for managing databases and information.

Microservice in SaaS: How does it work?

Microservice architecture is well-suited to the demands of a SaaS environment as it enhances and maintains a resilient environment for integration with external services like third-party services and email providers. In addition, Microservice architecture guarantees an improved user experience that does not need to stop in case of a development or fault.

Microservices work by dividing a large and complex software system into smaller, independent components of which each microservice is responsible for a specific business capability. Communication among microservices relies on a well-designed interface having a small surface area to limit failures and defects. With a combination of Remote Procedure Calls (RPC), event streaming, and message brokers, microservices interact with each other easily and perform specific tasks as requested.

Communication mediums like gRPC provide a faster response but have a huge effect on other services when a service undergoes downtime. When a request is made, the appropriate microservice is invoked to handle the request. This may involve calling one or more other microservices to complete the task.

Advantages of Microservice Architecture over Monolithic Architecture.

Monolithic Architecture is a framework in software development that makes applications to be built as a single tightly-coupled platform for users to use. The advantages of Microservice architecture over this mode include:

1. Premium flexibility which encourages development and management by different technologies and tools.

2. Independence and isolation from other services. Microservices working independently prevents an all-round damage to the entire system when a single service gets faulty.

3. Better organizational alignment for teams to develop and manage the services.

4. Improved maintenance and faster responses due to its scalability.

5. Improved security.

However, as much as the advantages of Microservice architecture could be, there are disadvantages of using this model. Some include:

1. Increased complexity: Breaking down services into small components independent of each other increases the number of tools and services to be managed adequately and separately.

2. Network latency: In a microservice architecture, services communicate with each other over a network, which can introduce latency and slow down the overall system.

3. Increased operational overhead: Managing multiple, independent services can be more complex and time-consuming than managing a single, monolithic application. This can lead to increased operational overhead and a higher total cost of ownership.

4. Debugging and troubleshooting: Debugging and troubleshooting in a microservice architecture can be more complex than in a monolithic architecture, as failures in one service can impact other services.

Conclusion

The evolution of technology and the development of new measures to make user experience better in the SaaS space has created lots of options for SaaS companies to choose from. Microservice is a small part of these great developments and is still undergoing several upgrades. However, it is important to note that choosing the best technology for a company should be dependent on what works right for your company.