Spencer Nguyen - July 18, 2022
Woman in an industry relies on microservices

With the ever-changing demands of business and new technologies, countless companies are ditching monolithic applications in favor of microservices applications. Monolithic application architectures can’t keep up with the consumer requests that microservices applications can. Read on to learn more about the benefits, and to discover which industries rely on microservices in their daily operations. 

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Understanding Microservices and the Industries that Rely on Them

Microservices are a software development method used to design an application as a set of modular services. Each module serves a specific business purpose and communicates with the other modules. Many people often confuse microservices and APIs. In addition, confusion between APIs and microservices can also arise because microservices often use APIs to communicate with each other. 

While the two share similarities, APIs and microservices are two different things. 

  • APIs: A programming interface that serves as the framework for developers to interact with applications. 
  • Microservices: An application architecture that separates an application into several autonomous web services. 

Essentially, microservices are an architectural style that breaks apart monolithic systems. Many companies and industries are adopting microservices to develop, maintain, and deploy them independently. As a result, they can be easily scaled to process more requests, which is why many industries rely on microservices.

For companies that receive countless requests from various applications, the microservices approach to address these requests has become a complete game-changer. Read on to discover which industries are now relying on microservices for daily operations, or schedule a call with a DreamFactory specialist to discuss how microservices can be used to elevate your business capabilities.  

Related Reading: A Beginner’s Guide to Microservices

Industries That Rely On Microservices 

APIs offer companies many benefits. However, achieving successful API integration does not come without some challenges. 

Many companies that rely on the internet to function (apps, websites, all-digital experiences) are adopting microservices out of necessity. Some of the top industries that use microservices in daily operations include:

  • Ecommerce
  • Streaming Services 
  • Ride Shares 

Read on to discover use cases in these industries below. However, if you’re itching to learn more about making microservices a reality in your business operation, feel free to reach out to DreamFactory today to discuss your options. 

Ecommerce 

Ecommerce industries rely on microservices because they receive continuous delivery of requests from customers day in and day out. Microservices make responding to these requests much more efficient compared to monolith architectures of the past. 

One Ecommerce giant that has found great success with implementing microservices is eBay. According to eBay executives, utilizing the microservices architecture provides the following benefits: 

  • Consistent user experience across web and mobile native apps
  • Faster time-to-market for releasing business features across devices
  • Reduce duplicate engineering work across devices

Amazon is an even bigger Ecommerce operation that consistently uses microservices to meet the demands of its nearly 200 million monthly customers. Microservices allow Amazon and other eCommerce operations to easily track user behavior, purchases, marketing campaigns, and product reviews and improve their workflows. As a result, the valuable data can increase sales, allowing Ecommerce operations to continue to grow and evolve at an optimal rate. 

Related Reading: Top 10 Microservices Benefits

Streaming Services

Once again, streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, SoundCloud, and Spotify all receive countless daily requests from their users. Breaking their traditional monolith structure in favor of microservices has allowed for significant growth among the major companies in the streaming service industry. 

Netflix is one of the pioneer companies in the microservices movement. The streaming giant first began adopting microservices in 2009. Netflix started to adopt microservices after their old monolithic architecture resulted in numerous server outages. The decision to adopt a microservice architecture over a decade ago led to Netflix’s phenomenal growth. 

Spotify is another popular streaming service that thrives thanks to microservices. The company has over 365 million active users across the world. Microservices allow these users to hear their favorite music tracks with just the click of a button. 

Ride Shares 

Uber, which serves around 93 million active users each month around the world, is one of the most popular ride-share companies. The Uber app is constantly processing requests day in and day out. However, Uber, and the ride sharing industry is one of the biggest industries that relies on microservices.

The company’s app originally began with a monolithic architecture. This was fine when the app served the people of San Francisco. However, once Uber began to expand beyond this city, there were some serious growing pains for the company. Thanks to integrating microservices into their app, Uber was able to handle connecting drivers with riders, billing, and payment information seamlessly for customers around the globe. Essentially, Uber’s entire application and system were transformed for the better with the implementation of microservices.

Related Reading: 5 Best Practices for Successful Microservices Implementation

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How Dream Factory Can Help 

If you’re ready to discover how microservices can help elevate your company or startup, then DreamFactory is here to help. The DreamFactory platform and its dedicated team are always standing by, ready to help your organization with your data management and digital transformation needs. From automation to increased scalability to improved data ecosystems to DevOps, DreamFactory can handle it all. Register today to discover DreamFactory’s new features and to try out the platform for yourself. 

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