The Value of Enterprise Microservices With Low-Code

At a glance, the term “enterprise microservices” contains conflicting references to a large scale with the word “enterprise” and a diminutive reference with the word “micro.” It makes you perceive “enterprise microservices” as an oxymoron, the same as “act naturally,” “jumbo shrimp,” or “original copy.”

But oxymorons aside, as organizations move to a BizDevOps way of working and use low-code platforms to develop business applications; enterprise microservices have become a cornerstone for building a truly open, extensible, and reusable solution. The significance of microservices is further evident in the fact that 62% of companies are either using or planning to use microservices.

But what exactly are enterprise microservices? And how does low-code fit in? Read on to learn more about how low-code microservices platforms are transforming software development.

With a low-code microservices platform, you can develop digital solutions rapidly and effectively. Low-code is a software development framework that helps you quickly and collaboratively develop digital solutions at every step of the application development lifecycle.

Low code typically leverages reusable components — “building blocks” — to iterate and customize with cross-platform apps. These reusable components are a key aspect that makes low-code projects beneficial to build with a microservices-based framework. Unlike monolithic architectures, microservices engage small, individually deployable services — “containers” — rather than
a single-tiered, centralized and rigid “unit” to design software for the enterprise.

Low-code and enterprise microservices are often developed in small Agile DevOps teams. Mendix utilizes microservices with Agile DevOps collaborative workflows in mind, which you can learn about in our Enterprise Architecture Principles guide.

Services, APIs, web services, and microservices are all like a rose by any other name — they more-or-less mean the same thing.

A service is a function that allows you to programmatically control a system or retrieve information. For example, a hypothetical “addRecord” API can be used by a program to add a record to a central database. This API is crucial to integrate disparate systems while keeping the records centralized. This example is only one of the many use cases where APIs can solve a major business requirement.

In most instances, references to “services” refer to a web API sent over HTTP(S) protocol. HTTP(S) is the most popular choice for API protocol as it doesn’t require your IT admins to open other ports. Additionally, whenever you hear of REST, SOAP, Swagger, and even JSON/YAML/XML (technically data formats, not APIs), those are all calls sent over HTTP(S).

The prefix “micro” within the word microservices is an implied architectural best practice for the design phase to “keep it (your API) simple, stupid.” While traditionally microservices are only applied to architecture, it is also starting to become interchangeable with service, API, etc. in everyday speech.

The word “micro” acts as an important reminder to combat people’s tendency to over-complicate systems. If you ever had to untangle any platform, system, or application that had more than a few years of development, you’ll always find strange architectures, add-on modules, and patches that hold everything together.

Each microservice becomes a function or API governing a consumable module. Complex integration scenarios are still easy to implement by integrating against numerous microservices/APIs. For instance, the Google Maps app will help you find addresses, directions, street views, and more, but when it comes to a Google Maps API, all the functionalities are broken down into individual APIs.

While the individual micro nature of service keeps its components small and manageable, the enterprise system that includes all the microservices doesn’t have the same safety net of embedded simplicity.

Like an urban sprawl or ant colonies, all the microservices within an organization form its system of systems. Each software module or company department produces its cluster of microservices tied together by application dependencies, integrations, and API management systems. Following Conway’s law, the architectural structure of the system usually starts representing the structure of the organization.

Some of these system clusters or APIs are only navigable by their creators. Some of them are more developer-friendly in providing system blueprints in the form of API documentation, API definitions, and software development kits (SDKs).

Now with your newfound (or reinforced) appreciation for the ever-growing messy web of enterprise microservices, you can imagine how in every organization, all the interdependencies start taking on a life of their own. These interdependencies make it difficult for companies to experiment and innovate with new applications or even launch a new feature or product update. While this is not a neat reality, it cannot be ignored or ripped out; but it can be remedied by using low-code to add a layer of abstraction on top of the enterprise microservices web, essentially hiding the messy inner workings to provide the end-users with a clean interface.

The new, visionary applications you built on a low-code platform would have to coexist with the old systems the company is already using to run the business. Through enterprise microservices, Mendix can easily give your new apps insight derived from external existing data and logic. These low-code applications can then digitize the aggregation of data, enforce data validity and respect business logic and ecosystems that are already in place. The new solution can be presented to a user in a mobile app, web form, voice assist, or any other medium, and will alleviate the technical requirement that gate-keeps the business users from ERP, CRM, and other enterprise systems.

All this can be done with enterprise microservices rapidly and intuitively, in contrast with the rigidity of monolithic architectures. Ultimately, a low-code microservices platform engages both the superb functionality of microservices software architecture with the benefits of low-code.
When breaking down enterprise microservices, I hope to have provided insight into the nuances that go into the two seemingly simple words. The integration and interoperability. The confined scale of a microservice that guards against over-engineered systems. The eventual and inevitable growth of enterprise systems. Most importantly, how this existing ecosystem can still be used to shape future applications to fuel business growth.

If you’re interested in more information, do read the “The Value of Enterprise Microservices with Low-Code” blog from Mendix.

Posts by Maria DiCesare