According to a study, the serverless architecture market size is expected to be worth over USD 36.84 billion globally by 2028. As more enterprises get to experience the benefits of simplicity guaranteed by serverless applications, the demand will certainly spike in the coming years.
By relieving enterprise technology teams from the process of setting up backend infrastructure, provisioning resources, configuring services, etc., serverless application development initiatives are quickly becoming the de facto mode of digital operations at businesses of all sizes. However, enterprise technology leaders must note that the serverless approach does come with its own share of challenges. However, these can be easily mitigated by following a few best practices from the start.
Let us explore the five serverless best practices that every enterprise must adopt today:
Secure the Ecosystem
One of the characteristics of serverless systems is the sprawl of functions that connect to the application for different purposes. These functions may be from different vendors. Besides, each may be hosted on different clouds and could be triggered by different events in the application’s routine operations. This, however, leads to a scenario where potential criminals have a large attack surface.
Moreover, sensitive authentication privileges may be stored at multiple points for interactions with different functions. Even a single access privilege vulnerability can result in the escalating spread of attacks after the initial breach. To eliminate this problem, enterprises must secure their entire ecosystem where serverless is being implemented. This includes setting a Zero Trust approach for access privileges, using encryption for authenticating credentials, and properly mapping networked functions to easily isolate a compromised entity.
Practice Autoscaling for Functions
Right from the time developers design functions, they need to equip them with auto scaling capabilities. This ensures that every individual component that realizes a function will scale on demand, thereby eliminating delays or performance bottlenecks. If there is no autoscaling, then there could be scenarios transpiring where dependent functions may be waiting for each other to be provisioned with additional growth resources, thereby delaying the entire experience of the application.
Delays in functions for deployment can push up costs, and this needs to be eliminated. However, it is also recommended to keep a tab on the maximum number of instances that each function can evoke to contain costs within any prescribed budget that your tech team may have.
Select the Right Cloud Provider
One of the most important aspects of enabling a seamless digital experience with serverless functions is the ability of your application to be supported by serverless functions on the cloud where they run. In other words, the underlying cloud platform needs to provision resources, adapt to configurations, and have a strong repository of standard and advanced serverless functions that applications can leverage straightaway.
In several cases, the best approach would be to have multiple cloud providers cover your serverless application. The key trait of independence that serverless application components have will be an added advantage.
Keep Functions Stateless
The best way to get the most out of your serverless functions is to design them as stateless entities. This allows functions to exist without any data footprint on their own, which makes it easier for developers to test and deploy functions faster into the market.
In the event of a function needing a persistent supply of data, the application can be configured to pull out the data from a separate database on a need basis. Making functions as simple as possible ensures that your serverless journey is seamless and hassle-free.
Adopt Fully Managed Services
When you buy a washing machine, do you often worry about how the drum works internally to remove stains from your clothes without damaging the fabric? Certainly not. All that you care about are the washed clothes, and you trust the machine to handle all internal operations on its own. The same logic needs to be applied to the serverless application development philosophy.
When selecting a cloud provider, ensure that it offers a wide selection of managed services that can help in improving the performance and reliability of your application once it is deployed. As a business, you need not worry about how these services work, as there will be clear SLAs and guaranteeing frameworks that accelerate digital adoption via serverless architecture.
The Bottom Line
Opting for a serverless architecture for your core enterprise applications is essential to modern digital experiences. But while doing so, it is equally important to know how to implement serverless in the best possible way to achieve maximum ROI. Knowing how well a serverless architecture fits into a digital channel is of utmost importance. This is where an experienced partner like Wissen can help create the perfect roadmap to achieving the serverless ambitions of your digital teams. Get in touch with us to know more.
