5 Key Challenges of Scaling Custom Software and How Microservices Overcome Them

Imagine waking up to a flood of notifications about new orders.

A dream come true for your small business, right?

But managing all those orders when your systems aren’t built to scale can turn that dream into a nightmare.

When your application isn’t designed for scalability,  dealing with a sudden tide of data and requests can overwhelm your system. No customer will wait for a slow-loading interface when they’re waiting to check out.

So, here’s what you need to know about scaling, the challenges you may face, and how microservices can save the game.

What is Scaling in Custom Software Development?

Dreaming of becoming the next Meta is fascinating! But it’s not a one-day task. As your business starts growing, your software encounters massive user data. It may be web visitors, new sign-ups, or any data users cannot see.

The focus of scaling in software development is fine-tuning databases and servers to keep performance in check. 

The goal is a smooth and uninterrupted user experience, allowing your application to grow effortlessly without hitting any limits. 

5 Challenges of Scaling Modern Software

Thinking that scaling modern applications is smooth sailing is just like daydreaming! You cannot imagine growing your app without uninvited challenges.

Challenge 1: Performance Bottlenecks

You can’t ignore performance bottlenecks when scaling modern applications. It is a part of the growth journey!

Imagine what happens when a new cafe with just a handful of baristas suddenly becomes the talk of the town. A house crowd of customers starts visiting, creating chaos at every once-quiet table. 

Not only does handling the crowd become a challenge, but so does serving them on time. Similarly, a surge in user traffic can dramatically slow down the response time. It causes latency and a frustratingly delayed user experience.

Overloaded servers become single points of failure. These failures can put operations at a standstill, and users leave your website dissatisfied.

Challenge 2: Resource Management

Even a team like Brazil was defeated 7-1 by Germany. Known for their flair and fast-paced game, they failed in front of a team with calm players of short passes.

Why? 

The glitch was in resource allocation, just like modern-day custom software development.

Under-provisioning is like Brazil’s defense in that match, completely overwhelmed, leading to disaster. Over-provisioning, on the other hand, is like over-committing players and leaving gaps, wasting energy and resources. 

The key is to strike a balance. 

Allocating server space and computational power is like managing a team’s stamina. That’s how you can make the best “game plan” for your application.

Challenge 3: Data Management and Scaling

When traffic rises, it brings a massive influx of data. Handling large volumes of data is a tough nut for traditional databases to crack. As your user base inflates, keeping data consistent and reliable is like walking a tightrope. 

You’re tackling issues like data fragmentation and synchronization, which can easily throw a wrench in the works. You may come across data fragmentation or synchronization issues throughout the system.

This event literally brings the growth of your custom software development to a screeching halt with mismatched and lost data.  Ultimately, when your database cracks under pressure, it doesn’t just affect your application but shakes the very foundation of user trust and business growth.

Challenge 4: Codebase Maintainability

Scaling without adding features? That’s not considered scaling!

As your custom software development is bedecked with new features, the codebase turns into the Amazon rainforest from your house garden. 

No more sweet smell of flowers! It’s about traversing in a jungle of dense code. Without proper structure, the codebase becomes all Greek to the developers. It makes deciphering old code, finding errors, and troubleshooting difficult, making innovating new features stagnant.

Also, potential inconsistencies in code quality could threaten future updates. Onboarding new developers also becomes frustrating. Ultimately, a bloated, tangled codebase not only slows down custom software development but also drags down innovation and business agility.

Challenge 5: Ensuring High Availability and Fault Tolerance

Keeping your app up and running while scaling? High availability and fault tolerance are your app’s superhero cape and shield. They ensure that your system stays up and running even if something goes wrong. But scaling your app while maintaining these qualities is a bit like biting the bullet. 

If you don’t build fault tolerance, your app could crash when a component fails. And if you skip adding failover systems, your app might flop completely at the first sign of trouble. It’s like not having a backup plan.

Poor disaster recovery plans can turn small issues into major outages, while inadequate monitoring might let problems spiral out of control. The stakes are high! If you miss the mark, you risk downtime, lost user trust, and a chaotic mess.

How Microservices Architecture Boosts Scalability in Custom Software Development

Alright, so the problems are clear!

Now we know what we must tackle. But with what?

Microservices architecture is the answer.

Scalability in custom software development feels airy with microservices because it breaks down into smaller, independent services. Each service can scale on its own without hampering the other, unlike monolithic architecture.

Here are the benefits of microservices in scaling modern software or applications:

Independent Services for Horizontal Scaling

Think of a monolithic application like a huge, clunky LEGO set. It’s impressive, but if one piece breaks, you’re stuck with the whole thing until you can fix it. 

Microservices, on the other hand, are like individual LEGO blocks that you can move, replace, or scale independently. With microservices, each piece of your application is its own service, which means you can deploy, scale, and update them separately. 

Need to handle a surge in traffic for just one feature? No problem!

Scale up that service without touching the rest. It’s the ultimate in flexibility and control, letting you handle increased demand with ease through horizontal scaling. Horizontal scaling is essentially adding more servers to share the load rather than beefing up a single server.

And here’s the kicker: with load balancing in place, you can spread out the workload across multiple servers, so your app doesn’t feel like it’s about to collapse under pressure. The result? Faster, more efficient performance, even when traffic skyrockets.

Resource Optimization through Isolation

Here’s where things get interesting!

Microservices not only scale your app, but they also make resource allocation feel like a precision strike. Since each service in a microservices architecture is isolated, you can fine-tune the resources allocated to each one without worrying about others. 

It’s like having multiple engines in a car! You don’t have to rev them all up at once, just the ones that need more power.

For instance, if one service is handling most of the traffic while another is just cruising along, you can scale only the heavy lifter. This prevents resource hogging and underutilization, making your system much more efficient. 

Selective scaling also means you avoid wasting resources on services that don’t need extra juice. With automated scaling solutions, you can adjust resources in real-time to keep costs down and efficiency up. No more paying for server space you don’t need!

Distributed Systems by Design

Microservices are built for distributed networks, and that’s one of their superpowers when it comes to scaling. Instead of lumping everything into one place, your services are spread across different systems. 

This design lets you distribute workloads more effectively, especially during those unexpected traffic spikes. Here’s where APIs come into play. 

Microservices communicate through APIs, which act like translators, making sure all the pieces of your application talk to each other smoothly. Now, you can allocate resources for your custom software development more efficiently based on real-time demand. 

When your app gets hit with heavy traffic, message partitioning comes in handy. It allows you to distribute the workload evenly so that no single part of the system gets overloaded. Want to take it up a notch? By leveraging NoSQL databases, sharding, and data replication, you can manage your data across different servers. 

This ensures faster access and better performance during peak times. It’s like having a team of chefs instead of one cook in the kitchen. Everyone has their own task, so the food comes out faster and hotter!

Continuous Deployment for Faster Scaling

What good is scalability if you can’t roll out new features quickly? 

This is where microservices and DevOps become the ultimate dream team. With microservices, you can continuously deploy updates and new features without breaking a sweat or the system.

Thanks to cloud-based deployment, you can automatically scale resources on the fly. And because each microservice is independent, you can introduce new ones without any downtime. 

That’s right!

No more “scheduled maintenance” messages that drive users crazy. You get to roll out updates like a pro while your app stays online, stable, and ready to scale when needed.

Fault Isolation for Improved Stability

We’ve all been there. One tiny bug in a monolithic app, and boom, the whole thing comes crashing down. 

Microservices are the antidote to this nightmare. Because each service is isolated, if one fails, it doesn’t take the entire system down with it. 

This approach is a game-changer. With microservices, each component works independently, so issues in one area don’t spread and cause widespread outages. This means better availability and stability for your app. 

Plus, with built-in fault tolerance and redundancy, safety nets are ready to kick in if something goes wrong. So, even when things get bumpy, your app keeps running smoothly.

Why Unified Infotech?

Because instead of monolithic systems that slow down growth, we use the superpower of Microservices.

Our software development solution breaks your software into agile, independent services that scale effortlessly without hampering each other. It is a modular approach that prevents system-wide failures or costly downtime and gives the go-ahead to innovate and expand. 

Our team fabricates one-of-a-kind microservices solutions that surge deployment, augment performance, and simplify management. Thus, growth doesn’t feel limiting! Check out and explore our custom software solutions with microservices architecture.