SMEs, Steer Clear of Microservices!

For more than a decade, hardly a conference goes by without the topic of microservices. Industry magazines publish numerous articles on the subject, and external consulting firms sell workshops, actively advise on switching to a microservice architecture, and tout its benefits. For many small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), this sounds attractive—what helps the big players so much can’t hurt the smaller ones, right? This is a dangerous misconception.

Overengineering — the use of unnecessarily complex software — costs SMEs not just a lot of money and time, it also deprives them of their most significant competitive edge against large corporations.

Marcus Held

The Cost of Accidental Complexity in Development

In the beginning, IT teams often implement new features quickly, but over time, development tends to slow down. Accidental Complexity is a frequent culprit – this article explains its origins and how it can be mitigated.

It’s no secret that systems grow more complex over time, leading to longer development cycles. This is inevitable when dealing with inherently complex problems, known as Essential Complexity. However, in many cases, the implementation of a feature becomes more complex than necessary. Two months for a feature that seemed straightforward? That’s a classic case of Accidental Complexity. It’s frustrating, costly, and avoidable, as we’ll show with some practical examples.

Marcus Held

My War on Kubernetes

Hi,

I need to make a confession right off the bat: I’m at odds with Kubernetes.

It’s not Kubernetes’s fault, though. It’s my projects. Or rather, the teams I’m part of.

These are teams with a maximum of 30 software developers, plus a few business people and designers on top. But there aren’t that many developers.

These teams don’t need Kubernetes!

No. To put it more bluntly: These teams can’t handle Kubernetes!

Marcus Held

Another Microservice Desaster

Hi,

Microservice Architecture

This buzzword has become a trigger for me. I have written about it often.

Earlier this year, my article Microservices are a Big Ball of Mud trended on Hacker News

The 343 comments on my article clearly show how heated this topic can be 😉 Of course, the rational view on it is different from what I presented in that article. It ALWAYS depends on the context. AppContinuum is an excellent paper offering a reflective view on the subject.

Marcus Held

The Microwave With Feature Creep

Hi,

My microwave was broken.

So: I need a new one.

However, I have a little quirk when it comes to buying anything that’s not perishable. I want to avoid making a bad purchase. I’d rather spend more money once than have to buy a new one in two years.

Here, I have to be careful not to fall down a rabbit hole. I can spend hours reading reviews.

But what do I even want to compare?

Marcus Held