When smartphones went mainstream in the late stages of the previous decade, consumers saw the rise of the application. Unlike its cousin of the two decades prior, mobile and tablet applications offered ease of use and intuitive look and feel from a unified user experience. Whether end-users were socializing with friends on social networks, discovering new restaurants on food-based platforms, or authoring their next blog, the effort was simple and cost-effective.
Fast-forward a decade and similar results are being seen with IT and DevOps with the arrival of microservices, which are a more concrete and modern interpretation of service-oriented architectures (SOA) used to build distributed software systems. Unlike previous software systems in the enterprise which were far more complicated, microservices offer a simplified process to build applications designed for speed and scalability and presume that with simpler and smaller capabilities, applications are more powerful in use.
The recent launch of IBM WebSphere Portal 9 enables the further development of microservices for forward-thinking organizations and IT leaders. Because of its lower cost and higher agility, microservices have the ability to transform how technologies are innovated upon. We offer several salient examples:
- Containerization: As we have mentioned in the past, containerization is driven by interests in testing applications in an isolated environment for speed and agility. This ensures that applications and not the hardware they exist on can be at their most effective in accomplishing tasks. As a result, microservices and containerization are great together in ensuring application quality and agility.
- Application Programming Interfaces (APIs): Another area of benefit from microservices are application programming interfaces, which connect both on-premise and cloud-based applications to create additional form and function. Built in tandem with microservices, business users can leverage very application-centric user data and behavior to improve on existing applications while brainstorming new ones.
- Open Source: Finally, you can make the most out of your development through microservices with open source technologies. While proprietary solutions in the past may have created limitations in development, open source offers the capabilities, support, and flexibility to develop better applications. When combined with APIs, open source only becomes better.
What WebSphere 9 Can Do For You
IBM’s most recent release of WebSphere 9 provides support for microservices to accelerate application development and scalability. End users can install and deploy the platform in 1 minute to enjoy the following features:
- Rapid creation and deployment of cloud-native applications with WebSphere Application Server Liberty application creator
- Easy integration into any DevOps process
- End to end API management and support capabilities
- Support for Java EE7, supported by a large developer base and a light footprint
In follow-up blog posts, we’ll examine how WebSphere 9, paired up with microservices can be applied to a variety of use cases across key verticals.
Learn More
What do you think? How will microservices affect how you build your operations in the cloud?
Check out our co-webinar with IBM where we ask if the cloud is the driving force behind digital disruption.
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