Earlier there was cloud computing but now Serverless computing is taking over the global tech landscape and for good reason. It is completely reshaping the development, deployment, and scalability of applications, enabling enterprises to be nimble and fast with their innovative ideas.
What Is Serverless Computing?
Let’s begin with a common myth that some might have: “why call it serverless, if there are servers?” Yes, there are servers that run your code. The difference is, you don’t have to serve them. In traditional server-based architectures, the developers spend a lot of time evaluating and creating the necessary infrastructure required to launch their applications. This usually means managing the servers, scaling them up and down, and other operations that can hinder or delay progress.
Can you imagine a scenario where you are not even required to have servers or even think about their management? That is exactly what serverless computing looks like. Without having to grapple with the backend infrastructural components, software developers are only left with the task of coding. All the harsh work such as the provisioning of servers, scaling them, maintenance and more is done by cloud providers. Best part is you pay only for the time taken to execute your code which is a great way to cut costs.
How Serverless Computing Is Affecting Application Development, Deployment & Scaling
Embracing serverless computing has an impact on the design, deployment, and scaling of application services. It fosters development by minimising operational efficiencies, facilitates deployment through automating processes, and improves scalability by tuning resource levels to match real-time needs. The deployment of applications turns out to be a simple task, as scaling resources in and out depends solely on number of loads that are required at a particular time, whether it’s few hundred users or few millions. Hence, serverless is rightly suited for various application development purposes such as microservices, web applications & backend, data analytics, and IoT applications.
This decentralized infrastructure is easy to manage and enhances efficiency, which makes serverless an increasingly preferred option for today’s cloud-native solutions.
Global Use Cases That Are Based On Serverless Computing
The increasing uptake of the serverless model by large organizations demonstrates its viability for hosting complex solutions which are production ready. Global giants such as Netflix, T-Mobile, iRobot, and the BBC have all adopted serverless. Now, let us explore how serverless technology is altering the field of application development and deployment by studying some practical examples.
Nordstrom: The Washington based department store, which was established more than one hundred years ago, has been able to evolve with the latest innovations and technological advancements as compared to the rivals. It is also interesting to understand that Nordstrom has also embraced the concept of serverless ever since the advent of this technology. They build Hello Retail – an open-source retail store architecture by leveraging proof-of-concept serverless. Their move to AWS was central to them easing their work, being flexible with current trends, and adding new functions. It has enabled them to tackle challenges in the retail segment and improve their general performance in the process.
Coca-Cola: Let’s look at the case of Coca-Cola Company which decided in 2014 to use AWS as a cloud platform, primarily to save money. The corporation further employed AWS Auto Scaling to optimize performance and cost with its applications allowing them to respond better to traffic surges than before. As a result, Coca-Cola was able to save 40% of its operational costs and 80% of its IT helpline efforts due to increased automation. They reduced costs by $12,500 changing the annual expenditure for vending machines from $13,000 to $4,500 per year many businesses were using before primary server hosting!
Netflix: For a wide range of microservices for its media and users’ data, Netflix utilizes serverless computing. Borrowing the concept from the temple media, Netflix deploys AWS Lambdas to efficiently process millions of viewer requests worldwide, thus producing an inconclusive and engaging streaming experience. The company processes data streams, scales automatically during peak-demand periods, and reduces costs during off-peak times, maintaining its global service seamlessly.
HeavyWater Solutions, Inc: There was a point in time when the monthly operating costs for running the AI application for this AI/ML solutions company reached the milestone of $30,000. It took the company less than four months after changing over to a serverless architecture to lower this cost by $26,000 bringing their monthly cost to a mere $4,000!
Conclusion
Looking at these real-world examples of success, we would imagine it is hard not to expound the shift towards serverless application environments by companies both large and small. The Serverless architecture market size which was reported to be over $7 billion by the year 2020 is expected to grow further at 20% CAGR from 2021 to 2027.
With speed, scalability, and efficiency considered the critical factors for advanced application development and deployment, serverless computing stands as the apt solution. Without the necessity to manage infrastructure, it enables developers to put time more efficiently focusing on innovation and produce more and better products. As businesses today would want to remain competitive, serverless computing helps them grow with speed.
If you’re ready to go serverless, and take the leap forward, talk to us today!