Microservices and Architecture: A Historical and Contemporary Report

This report examines microservices architecture, providing a historical overview of computing and information systems, starting from COBOL in the 1970s to the contemporary use of microservices. It explores the evolution of software architecture, the benefits of microservices in software development, and their importance in modern business. The report highlights the advantages of microservices such as maintainability, scalability, and efficiency, while also discussing the role of software architecture in reducing development costs and improving code structure. The study analyzes the different types of software architectures, including business, information, technology, and application architectures. It concludes by emphasizing the significance of microservices architecture for developing better software, enhancing business operations, and improving the user experience. The report serves as a briefing document for introducing or continuing the use of microservices for employers or consulting clients. Desklib provides access to past papers and solved assignments.

Running head: MICROSERVICES AND ARCHITECTURE
Microservices and Architecture
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note

1
MICROSERVICES AND ARCHITECTURE
Executive Summary
There are various responsibilities of a consultant. The consultant has to understand the
business on the organization. He or she is responsible to map the requirements of the client
and advice the client to implement software that can meet the needs of the firm. The
consultant helps to recommend the development of the software and the way the software has
to be implemented in the firm. The business requirements will be collected by the consultant
and analyzed to recommend software that will be best suited for the company.

2
MICROSERVICES AND ARCHITECTURE
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Discussion..................................................................................................................................3
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7
Reference....................................................................................................................................8

3
MICROSERVICES AND ARCHITECTURE
Introduction
Information systems are computer systems that are used to store the data of an
organization, retrieve it when needed and also update it. The information system is also used
to modify and process the information of various aspects of an organization. Information
systems are also used to communicate with each other regarding the various internal and
external needs of the organization. Information Systems have a long history in the various
sectors of every organization and also have been used for personal uses. But information
system is dependent of human being for its existence. It is designed and modified by human
beings for their own benefits. This study will provide an introduction on the software
architecture. It will help to understand how the software architecture has evolved to what it is
now. The study will also explore the framework of the software architecture and its
importance to the businesses. Microservices are the models that are used by the developers of
software to develop it. It helps the developer to maintain and test each part of the software
easily. It helps the software to be deployed to the user without the dependency on the
developer. The helps the different entities of the business properly ordered. The
microservices are designed in such a way that the software developed using it are easily
accessible through mobile phones and desktop browsers. The microservice also helps the
developers and the users of the software to detect the flaws in the software and also to detect
the changes that have to be made in specific parts. Microservices helps the developers to
concentrates on each and every modules of the software. The softwares that are built with the
help of the microservice are very efficient and well defined.
Discussion
In the year 1970, COBOL was a language that was used to code for the mainframe
computers. These computers were used for a few business processes like payroll generation,

4
MICROSERVICES AND ARCHITECTURE
bill generation and inventory management. In the year 1980, personal computers and LANs
came into the use for the organizations (Rubin, 2017). The companies then made the focus on
automating the tasks that were already performed by the computers. The various departments
designed their own computer systems. The users of the computer system became able to use
word processors and the spreadsheets for calculations as the systems became much more user
friendly. The departments did not have to rely on the IT department so much anymore. In the
year 1990, three technologies were used. These technologies were the Wide Area Networks,
database management and a system that was used to integrate all the different departments
and data of the organizations (Smith & Wong, 2016). In this year also the main focus was on
the automation of the tasks performed by the computers. The Wide area networks were used
throughout every organization and became a standard for performing the various tasks. The
management was now looking for a system that could integrate all the processes of the
organization. In the year 2000, there were many modifications in the network use and the
systems that were used for the integration of the various processes (Bawden & Robinson,
2018). In this year the main focus was on management to gain control over the whole system
and to the employees of the companies to learn about the different processes and also to
increase their knowledge. In this year the Wide area network got expanded with help of the
internet. This expansion was made throughout the companies that were present globally. The
business partners used wide area network for various tasks like supply chain and also for
distribution (Mai, 2016). The management also needed a system that could share the data of
the organization throughout the company. After the year 2000, the focus was kept on the
efficiency of the systems and also the speed with which the systems could process the
inventory and the distribution processes. There were various new tasks that the systems could
process like the transaction (Mirowski & Nik-Khah, 2017). The systems also helped to make
decisions also the new decisions of the management could be easily implemented. The

5
MICROSERVICES AND ARCHITECTURE
communication process was made much more efficient. The managers could easily send and
receive information from other employees and also the directors. The email system was a fast
way for mangers to inform the employees. The employees could now store the documents
and use them for further work. The information system also helped organization to reduce the
costs and get a competitive advantage. The companies now could now provide better services
to the customers (Smith & D'Arpa, 2017). The systems also were able to store the data of the
sales. This data gave an understanding of what products got sold the most during a particular
time period. This will help the companies to produce those products more that will get sold
more during that time. The information system helped the companies to decide on the various
aspects of the organization. The systems also helped to make different models based on the
decisions that have been implemented and also based on the results that have been achieved
by the implementation of those decisions. The information system can also be used to predict
the returns that can be achieved under different situation. This type of system is helpful when
more than one decision or solution can be used to gain returns (Weibel, 2017). The best
alternative or decision can be found. The system can be helpful to record various data and
information like documents, the communication details and time, the data that is used for
operations, etc. In today’s date information system are the base on which companies rely on
to run their businesses. There are several types of information systems that exist in the market
at the moment that are based on the needs of the companies (Uyar, Gungormus & Kuzey,
2017). These are the system that help to process the various transactions of the organization,
the system that helps make the task of the management easier, the system that helps to make
new decisions and also helps to implement them, the system that makes the employees and
their management get the reports and graphs of the sales and the costs incurred.
Software Architecture is a model based on which software is developed. The
software architecture includes all the key functions of the software and also how these key

6
MICROSERVICES AND ARCHITECTURE
functions are related to each other (Choi et al., 2018). The software architecture is a map of
the actual software. This map is used by the developed to design the software, including the
required functionalities of the software and also helps to develop the software. Software
Architecture helps to reduce the cost as once software has been developed or a particular
function has been implemented in the software it might be very expensive to make changes to
it. The architecture that is based on a particular enterprise is known as the enterprise
architecture (Baca, Helmreich & Gill, 2019). The architecture framework helps the enterprise
to get a guideline of the system, get an understanding of how to create the software also gives
a description of the software that is used by the company. There are several layers in the
enterprise architecture based on the enterprise. This helps the organization to make proper
decisions regarding the way the software is to be designed (Heinrich et al., 2017). It will also
help to make decisions regarding the long term needs of the enterprise or when there are new
functions required to be included in the software. The enterprise architecture is complex as it
comprises of several individual systems. The different elements of an enterprise are placed
under the description, methods and organization. Under the description the main analysis is
made on the different viewpoints of the organization. For each view there exists a
relationship between the various entities of the organization. The methods for the
development of the architecture include the steps that are followed by the developer (Rogers
& Valente, 2017). The whole process and the architecture are divided into smaller steps that
are to be followed. The architecture of the organization is divided into teams and they are
also governed by different personnel. These teams are divided on the basis of the skills of the
person, his or her experience in the process and what training is needed. There are five layers
of the enterprise architecture. These are the performance of the model, the business that is
involved in the architecture, the service that is provided by the various components, data that
provided by and to the model and finally the technology that is required for the development

7
MICROSERVICES AND ARCHITECTURE
of the model. There are several benefits of using software architecture before development of
the software for a company (Kasemsap, 2018). A solid understanding of what steps are to be
followed to develop the software is achieved. The development of good software architecture
makes the process of developing the software much more feasible. The performance of the
process of developing the software is also improved. The development process becomes
faster if there is good software architecture (Kasemsap, 2018). It also reduces the cost as
same code does not have to be repeated. Software architecture helps to get an understanding
of the software that is to be developed and the various functions the software will perform.
The software architecture also reduces the cost of development of the software as it reduces
the need for correction. The structure of the code for all processes is well identified and easy
to maintain. It is also easy to fix the bugs if there is good software architecture. The new
feature that is to be included in the software can be easily included (Aydiner et al., 2019).
There are four main types of software architectures. These are the business, information,
technology and the application architectures. The business architecture helps to determine the
best strategies for the business processes (Suri & Ekbia, 2016). The application architecture
serves as a map that helps the individuals to interact and maintain a relationship in the various
business processes. The information architecture helps to identify and manage the
possessions of an organization. The Information technology architecture includes the
software as well as the hardware that are required to develop software.
Conclusion
The study concludes that software architecture is very important to develop better
software. It actually divides the whole process into small steps and smaller processes that are
easier to follow and the whole project can be divided and different responsibilities can be
given to different person. In the past there were information systems that were very much
limited to certain tasks. But now every business is dependent on the information system for

8
MICROSERVICES AND ARCHITECTURE
all its functions and departments. The payroll, inventory, asset, return, management
decisions, etc. all are regulated and done with the help of the information systems. The study
explore the past, present and future of the information systems. There are various benefits of
using microservice architecture for the development of the software. The users of the
software that is made with the help of the architecture are apprehensive about the
performance of the software and how much easy and fast it is to work with the software. The
marketing of the software is done with the various features that are provided by the software.
The customers of the software are to reduce the price of the software. All these can be
achieved with the help of a properly designed architecture before designing the actual
software.

9
MICROSERVICES AND ARCHITECTURE
Reference
Aydiner, A. S., Tatoglu, E., Bayraktar, E., & Zaim, S. (2019). Information system capabilities
and firm performance: Opening the black box through decision-making performance
and business-process performance. International Journal of Information
Management, 47, 168-182.
Baca, M., Helmreich, A., & Gill, M. (2019). Digital art history.
Bawden, D., & Robinson, L. (2018). " Never again the in the history of humanity":
information education for onlife.
Choi, E., Fujiwara, K., Yoshida, N., & Hayashi, S. (2018). A survey of refactoring detection
techniques based on change history analysis. arXiv preprint arXiv:1808.02320.
Heinrich, R., Merkle, P., Henss, J., & Paech, B. (2017). Integrating business process
simulation and information system simulation for performance prediction. Software &
Systems Modeling, 16(1), 257-277.
Kasemsap, K. (2018). The role of information system within enterprise architecture and their
impact on business performance. In Global Business Expansion: Concepts,
Methodologies, Tools, and Applications (pp. 1078-1102). IGI Global.
Mai, J. E. (2016). Looking for information: A survey of research on information seeking,
needs, and behavior. Emerald Group Publishing.
Minkov, E., Kahanov, K., & Kuflik, T. (2017). Graph‐based recommendation integrating
rating history and domain knowledge: Application to on‐site guidance of museum
visitors. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 68(8),
1911-1924.

10
MICROSERVICES AND ARCHITECTURE
Mirowski, P., & Nik-Khah, E. (2017). The knowledge we have lost in information: the
history of information in modern economics. Oxford University Press.
Rogers, E. M., & Valente, T. W. (2017). A history of information theory in communication
research. In Between communication and information (pp. 35-56). Routledge.
Rubin, R. E. (2017). Foundations of library and information science. American Library
Association.
Smith, L. C., & Wong, M. A. (Eds.). (2016). Reference and Information Services: An
Introduction: An Introduction. ABC-CLIO.
Smith, M., & D'Arpa, C. (2017). What's history got to do with it?: seventy years of historical
dissertation research at the School of Information Sciences of the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. library trends, 65(4), 563-588.
Suri, V. R., & Ekbia, H. R. (2016). Spatial mediations in historical understanding: GIS and
epistemic practices of history. Journal of the Association for Information Science and
Technology, 67(9), 2296-2306.
Uyar, A., Gungormus, A. H., & Kuzey, C. (2017). Impact of the accounting information
system on corporate governance: Evidence from Turkish non-listed
companies. Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal, 11(1), 9-27.
Weibel, S. L. (2017). Dublin Core metadata initiative (DCMI): a personal history.
In Encyclopedia of library and information sciences (pp. 1390-1398). CRC Press.