SaaS (Software as a Service) application development has made it possible for businesses of all sizes to run their operations effectively with the least amount of hardware complexity. It is now a necessary component for the majority of businesses to manage their daily operations and keep an eye on employee activity. Furthermore, the SaaS model’s multi-tenancy has made it possible for small and new businesses alike to make use of the cloud’s advantages. Still, the creation of SaaS applications using a microservice-based strategy has gained a lot of momentum in the last few years, surpassing the popularity of monolithic approaches.
We will examine the main advantages of using microservice architecture in the creation of SaaS applications in this blog article. To implement a project with all the advantages, contact specialists, for example, https://www.codica.com/services/saas-development/. Allow us to acquaint ourselves with the notion of Microservice architecture before delving into the benefits and challenges.
Understanding SaaS and Microservices
Let’s take a quick look at the SaaS definition and the function of microservices in its development before moving on to best practices. Software as a service (SaaS) is the distribution of software programs over the Internet, which relieves customers of the hassle of installing and maintaining the program on their equipment. This approach has completely changed the software market by giving companies an economical and effective method to acquire and use software.
Conversely, microservices are an architectural approach in which programs are constructed as a group of discrete, standalone services that cooperate to accomplish intricate business functions. By dividing large, complex programs into smaller, more manageable components, this method makes development, deployment, and maintenance simpler.
Core Benefits of Microservices Architecture
Microservices architecture has several benefits, some of which are listed here.
Enhancements in Scalability
Every cloud microservice may be added, removed, updated, or scaled more easily since they all operate separately. These are tasks that developers may do without interfering with other microservices in the system. Each microservice may be scaled by businesses as required. More resources may be effectively allocated to a certain microservice, for example, if seasonal shopping periods result in higher demand for it. The microservice may be reduced in size if demand declines with the seasons so that resources or processing power can be put to better use.
Faster Time-to-Market with Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD)
Development tasks go sequentially under a standard waterfall development model, and developers are not allowed to make modifications “out of turn” without endangering the release cycle as a whole. An agile methodology, which may lead to rapid iterations and releases, is made possible with the aid of microservices.
Because they don’t have to wait for other teams to complete, worry about code conflicts, or jeopardize the stability of the overall program, developers may update standalone microservices more often. This makes it possible for individual teams to use CI/CD and release code more rapidly, bringing a product to market sooner and enabling the collection of real-world usage data for the next rapid iteration.
Independent of Program Language and Technology
Development teams may choose the most appropriate language for a given task by programming a microservice application in any language. Because microservices designs are language agnostic, developers may use their current skill sets to their fullest potential instead of having to pick up a new language to complete the task at hand. Developers may also benefit from the ability to access an application from any internet-connected device, regardless of platform, by using cloud-based microservices.
Possibility of Experimenting
Using microservices design makes it much simpler to decide whether to continue with experimenting. Since each service is separate from the others, adding new features is easy. It’s far simpler to reverse it without impacting the rest of the business if consumers don’t like it or the advantages to the company are unclear. With a microservices architecture, customers may experience a new feature in weeks as opposed to months or years if it is a request.
Challenges and Solutions in Microservices Integration
You can increase scalability and provide features more quickly by using microservices. In 2021, microservices are now being used, according to 85% of responses from major firms with 5,000 or more workers.
This implies that the use of microservices in an organization’s operations may be more advantageous and necessary for bigger ones. Nonetheless, there are a few issues to take into account. The following are some typical issues that need to be resolved.
Getting Consistency in Data
Data redundancy is a concern in microservice architecture since each service manages its data separately across its data storage. For instance, data saved for particular transactions in one service may be kept for analysis, reporting, or even archival purposes in other services. Furthermore, changes made to one connected service may have a cascade impact on other linked services that are attached to the same database. The goal of having distinct service functions is defeated by this.
Every microservice doesn’t need to have its physical database to get around this problem. But every service has to be the only owner of its data. Microservices would need NoSQL, graph, and in-memory databases, among others. As a consequence, a microservice design would not function as intended with a relational database.
Service Locator and Load Distribution
Because services in microservices are ephemeral, having effective load balancing and service discovery techniques is essential. In this case, conventional load balancers may not be enough.
To handle load balancing, network traffic management, and service-to-service communication, make use of service mesh technologies such as Istio or Linkerd. Improved visibility and control over microservice interactions are provided by these solutions.
Configuration
Working with microservices complicates settings, much like debugging and logging. because each service in the architecture is autonomous and requires its own configuration. If you have to run the application in many contexts without making any modifications to it, here is when things may become extremely tricky. Network locations, database credentials, environment variables, and other items may all have different configurations.
Enabling centralized configuration services, in which one service is linked to another to configure itself, is one approach to get out of this sticky situation. For the centralized service to read the configurations of every service, this service has to have a shared configuration repository.
Conclusion
Organizations may optimize the advantages by understanding how SaaS and microservices interact, giving priority to important concepts, and using necessary technologies. In the constantly evolving SaaS market, it is important to understand what problems may arise during the implementation of the project. Organizations may use knowledge and experience to put themselves at the forefront of SaaS development using microservices by collaborating with a software development firm like Codica.
