Cloud Chaos and Microservices Mayhem

The cloud is supposed to make everything easier, and microservices are supposed to make everything faster and more robust. The reality is … somewhat different. Twenty years into our industry’s cloud journey, many of us are still hitting unpleasant surprises. The cloud needs new ways of managing costs, to avoid financial catastrophes and environmental waste. The cloud also needs new ways of managing releases and quality, or it ends up being almost exactly like the old way of building software. But when it’s done right, the cloud presents wonderful opportunities. Many organisations adopt microservices to try and ensure they’re ‘doing cloud right’, but microservices are an architectural solution to an operational, social, and organisational challenge. On their own, microservices do not ensure architectural decoupling, and they can introduce considerable technical risk. What’s the solution? Contract tests. They’re not the full solution (remember, this is an organisational challenge), but contract tests can be a great tool for reducing the risk of microservices deployments.

This talk will:

• Share cloud and microservices anti-patterns Holly has observed as a consultant
• Explain why the cloud needs new models of management
• Explore the opportunities and pitfalls of microservices
• Show how contract testing can help microservices be robust and independently deployable
• Live-code a Pact contract testing demo