As organizations and technology ecosystems develop, controlling architecture becomes increasingly difficult. Rather than becoming platform management experts, software teams choose to concentrate their time and resources on application development. The new alternative is serverless architecture. But what is serverless architecture? And is this the appropriate decision for you?

What is serverless architecture?

Serverless architecture illustrates how firms can design and execute apps without having to manage infrastructure. It allows you to remove architectural responsibilities from your workload, such as provisioning, scaling, and maintenance. Scaling can be automated, so you only pay for what you use.

Since the invention of this new technology, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has experienced significant growth. According to a recent O'Reilly poll, 40% of organizations have implemented serverless architecture. The primary motivations for adoption include lower costs, scalability, and developer efficiency.

What are the advantages of serverless architecture?

The primary benefit is that your developers may focus their efforts on product development. They no longer have to be responsible for managing and operating servers. The vendor handles components such as network configuration and server physical security, not your team.

Decomposing leads to increased observability.

Serverless allows you to decompose apps into increasingly smaller components. This improves observability throughout the application.

With smaller pieces, the knowledge required to make modifications or generate remedies is reduced.

Serverless is event based.

Serverless is based on events rather than streams. With event-based architecture, each application subsystem is self-contained. Events are triggered one after another. Each service is connected in a stream-based architecture. If there is a failure, it only affects one event and not the entire log.

Faster deployments, increased flexibility, and quicker innovation

Speed is typically a factor in deciding to employ a serverless architecture. Because there is no infrastructure to build, you can deploy apps quickly in hours. With faster deployments comes easier scalability.

With such an agile design, you may be highly flexible in your releases. Because it is a faster procedure, you can speed innovation.

This adaptability is especially useful in situations where pivoting is critical. As a result of the epidemic, similar events are unfolding all around the globe. Organizations must shift their focus to meet emerging needs.

Reducing architectural expenses

When an organization becomes serverless, it essentially outsources server and database maintenance. You are no longer accountable for the significant investments required for internal architecture administration. Ultimately, your use case will determine how much you can save.

Focusing more on UX

If your applications have end users, as they most likely do, they have high expectations for digital experiences. If architecture is no longer an issue, more attention can be spent on the user experience (UX). You cannot afford not to invest in the user interface, thus serverless technology can help you reallocate resources.

What are the limitations of utilizing a serverless architecture?

Serverless architecture is not perfect. It is still a growing architecture, thus some users are hesitant to accept it.

Long-term application inefficiencies

Long-running workloads may be more costly on serverless. Using a dedicated server is typically more efficient.

Third-party dependencies

You must rely on your supplier when using serverless architecture. You don't have complete control, and changes can happen unexpectedly. The platform's availability is contingent upon its terms.

Cold begins.

A "cold start" occurs when a platform has to launch internal resources. It may take some time for your serverless architecture to process the initial function request. You can avoid a "cold start" by keeping the function on. You accomplish this by sending requests to it periodically.

Is serverless architecture suitable for you?

Serverless architecture is merely one more way to deploy apps in the cloud. Serverless excels in instances where applications are event-driven and have components that operate in short, intermittent bursts, allowing you to pay only for the compute time you utilize rather than idle server space. 

This can result in significant cost reductions for functions that do not require the continuous operation of a typical server. For workloads with changeable traffic—such as those driven by promotional events, viral content, or seasonal usage spikes—serverless architecture may easily and immediately scale up to manage surges and then scale back down to minimize costs when demand drops.