The Perceived Impact and Sequence of Activities When Transitioning to Microservices

Microservices migrations are often present in organizations that want to modernize and integrate their software systems. There is little empirical evidence showing how migration projects take place. Investigating migration activities and the perceived impact of migrations from practitioners is important to understand how migration projects materialize. In this study, we ask 54 practitioners about their views on specific aspects of microservices migrations. Specifically, we derive the sequence of migration activities as well as the perceived impact of microservices on the development process. Database refactoring, back-end refactoring, and setting up DevOps tend to take place before front-end refactoring, setting up communication patterns, and splitting teams. In addition, aligning teams with profitable value propositions, improving the testing process, and having fewer dependencies between teams are among the prominent impact areas of microservices. Our results call for further empirical research in understanding transitions toward MSAs.