Implementing Microservices on AWS: A Value Driven Architecture

I have been lucky to have some good mentors in my life some of them popular names especially when it comes to value based architecture, I find countless similarities in modern cloud based Microservices architecture, particularly when deployed on Amazon Web Services (AWS). In this blog post I will explain the principles of Value Driven Architecture, the benefits of microservices, challenges of adopting microservices, and how AWS facilitates this approach.

Principles of Value Driven Architecture

Value Driven Architecture focuses on business goals to make architectural decisions. Every architectural decision is made based on organisation’s strategic objectives, and aligned with long-term transformation roadmap. All decisions are made to prioritise user experience, systems intuitiveness, and responsiveness as per customer demands. Core of the VDA philosophy is to adopt with real-world usage and performance metrics. Organisations must monitor metrices carefully to meet current demand and predict future business needs.

Balancing Flexibility and Provisioning

An over flexible architecture or over provisioned system hearts profitability and under provisioned systems may heart business reputation or growth. Finding the right balance comes with real-time system monitoring and its elasticity. It is none other than today’s Microservices Architecture.

Adopting Microservices Architecture

When deciding to adopt a microservices architecture, organisations first consider whether to use a managed or self-managed approach. ECS and Kubernetes are both capable of running microservices, but the choice depends on factors such as vendor lock-in, time-to-market, flexibility, and long-term goals.

Benefits and Challenges of Microservices

Microservices architecture offers scalability, agility, resilience, and innovation. However, it introduces challenge to deal with data redundancy and inconsistency. Each microservice manages its own data separately, which might result in data duplication between services. To address this, each microservice should have complete control over its data, and businesses should carefully design, review and adjust microservices boundaries to reduce development time and therefore time to market.

Enhancing Value with AWS

When combined with microservices architecture on Amazon Web Services (AWS), VDA can significantly enhance agility, scalability, and innovation. AWS has adopted many microservices design patterns to create, deploy and monitor microservices quickly – which significantly enhanced Return on Investment (ROI).

For example, AWS Lambda allows developers to run code without provisioning or managing servers. This serverless approach reduces operational complexity and costs, that allows teams to focus on delivering value. Organisations only pay for the compute time consumed, making it cost-effective for variable workloads.

Monitoring and Security

Monitoring and Analysing system matrices are key to success for microservices. AWS tools like Amazon Inspector are essential to improve system security and compliance. AWS provides tools like Amazon CloudWatch and AWS X-Ray for monitoring application performance and tracking requests across microservices. By analysing this data, teams can make informed decisions about architectural changes and optimisations, ensuring that their systems continue to deliver value.

Infrastructure and communication protocols

Effective infrastructure layers and clear communication protocols are essential for microservices to function properly. Organisations should set up resource sharing infrastructure and define communication protocols for security, serialisation, and error handling. Poor configurations can lead to increased latency, reduce availability defeating the purpose of VDA.

Cultural and Organisational Transformation

Transitioning to microservices necessitates a transformation in company culture and processes. DevOps requires developers to collaborate in cross-functional teams, accepting responsibility for both service provisioning and failure. Implementing and managing microservices requires specialised abilities. Organisational preparation in terms of development approaches, communication structures, and operational procedures is critical.

Leveraging AI and ML on AWS

Organisations are looking to extract intelligence from their data. Building AI models requires special expertise and takes long time. Organisations can use the AI and ML capabilities provided by AWS Lambda to boost productivity quickly. These capabilities include deep learning-based services for image and video analysis, natural language processing (NLP) services for text analysis, fully managed services for model construction and deployment, and platforms for creating conversational interfaces and OCR services.

Using microservices on Amazon Web Services (AWS) can help companies build flexible, scalable, and reliable software systems that support their business goals. By designing their architecture to deliver value, organisations can improve customer satisfaction, encourage innovation, and stay ahead of their competitors in the fast-changing digital world. As software development continues to evolve, it will be essential for companies to focus on providing value in their architectural choices.

Conclusion:

At Covalense Digital, leveraging AWS for microservices is crucial due to its extensive functionalities and versatility in managing microservices architecture. By incorporating micro-frontends, we enhance overall business goals. Utilising mechanisms like SQS, Lambda, and EKS clusters, we ensure a clear separation of concerns for various business values, fostering innovation, scalability, and system stability. This strategic approach not only aligns with our organisation’s business vision but also provides a competitive edge, delivering significant value to our customers.

 

Author

Arup Roy, Software Architect
Arup is a seasoned professional with around three decades of rich experience in designing enterprise platforms and cloud-native applications across diverse sectors, including telecom, banking, and EdTech. He possesses a deep understanding of middleware optimisation, AWS architecture, and full-stack system delivery. Currently, Arup is at the forefront of performance and observability initiatives, ensuring the reliability and efficiency of large-scale SaaS and provisioning systems.