Companies like Amazon, Google and Microsoft work on the premise of microservices. Their teams operate on frequent release cycles, where small teams release individual pieces of functionality independent of everything else. What slows down a release cycle is when everybody must come together with all their pieces in a big integration cycle that takes months of testing, manual interventions and “go lives”. Old style energy company systems, typically known as monoliths, have this problem when getting something to market is time consuming and difficult.
Implementing scale-enabling technology is not without its challenges. Imposing new technology and work processes on multiple teams can lead to bottle necks and inadvertent dependencies. To navigate these challenges, organisations must think of their software system as an ongoing, living, breathing system that works alongside its business, adapts to its needs, is in sync and takes advantage of new technology. A microservices style enables companies to cope with changing business needs and changing technology enablers.