What are microservices?

The term microservices most often describes the approach to technology architecture when building a system or systems. Instead of building one giant system — a so-called monolith — we build a network of smaller applications that talk to each other and meet the same requirements and business goals. An example of a microservice in the e-commerce ecosystem could be a PIM (Product Information Management) system — an application managing product data.

Microservices are a response to the ever-faster pace of change in the technology race. Building smaller systems makes them easier to evolve — we can pick a single piece of the service and improve its performance without investing in the whole system's infrastructure. Beyond more flexibility in development this also lets us increase the pace of work, e.g. through dedicated development teams that can work independently.

Even if your e-commerce currently runs as a monolith, migration to microservices can be a flexible process: you can spread it over time and move the service piece by piece, focusing on specific priorities. This also reduces the risk of mistakes and destabilizing your business. Even if some setbacks appear during the migration, fixing them won't affect the stability of the entire store.