Why Is Serverless Computing Ideal for Startups and SMEs?

In recent years, there has been a surge in startups choosing vendor-managed application backends. What is the secret behind this boom? Well, this trend is primarily driven by two key factors: cost efficiency and scalability. Serverless architectures enable startups and SMEs to avoid upfront infrastructure investments. They have to pay only for their resources, which allows them to manage costs effectively, especially during the early stages. Furthermore, serverless solutions offer on-demand scalability, allowing startups to increase backend power as their user base expands swiftly.

However, while cloud-based infrastructure has become a popular choice for startups, it’s not exclusive just to them. Even large companies like Amazon Polly leverage distributed architectures for project support through services like AWS. In this blog, we will dive deeper into the benefits of serverless, specifically for startups. But before that, let us first understand the concept of serverless architecture in detail.

What is Serverless Architecture?

Serverless architecture is a game-changer for developers, startups, and SMEs. It offers a cloud-based approach to building and running applications without the burden of managing servers. Imagine being able to focus entirely on writing clean, efficient code and deploying your projects. Furthermore, the underlying infrastructure? The cloud also takes care of that, automatically provisioning resources to run your code.

Let us an example. AWS Lambda is a popular serverless platform from Amazon Web Services. It allows the developers to upload the code simply, and the platform takes care of the rest.

How is Serverless Computing beneficial for your business?

Numerous companies worldwide are ditching traditional cloud setups and embracing serverless computing for various advantages, including:

• Cost-effectiveness:

  One of the significant benefits of serverless computing is its cost-effectiveness. Initially, when integrating cloud services, users had to pay for over-provisioned resources such as storage and CPU time, which frequently go unused. However, serverless computing adopts a pay-for-value model. Thus, users are only charged for the CPU time and storage space their code uses, allowing them to save resources.

• Faster turnaround:

  Serverless computing allows quicker transition from concept to market. Teams can focus entirely on coding, testing, and iteration without the overhead of managing operations and servers. There’s no need to update underlying infrastructure like operating systems or software patches, allowing the team to concentrate on building high-quality features without worrying about infrastructure and resources.

• Quicker scalability and elasticity:

  Serverless computing eliminates the need to manage autoscaling policies or systems. The cloud provider automatically scales capabilities and resources to meet customer demand, from zero to peak load and scales down when demand is low. This elasticity supports a pay-as-you-go billing model, ensuring cost efficiency.

• Productivity:

  Developers can focus on building applications without handling complex tasks such as multithreading or HTTP requests. Function as a Service (FaaS) motivates developers to prioritize application development over configuration tasks, enhancing productivity.

Diverse Applications of Serverless Computing

Serverless architectures serve various use cases, some of which are highlighted below:

1. Serverless computing for APIs

One of the most prevalent uses of serverless computing is for REST APIs. Developers can create serverless APIs using functions (such as AWS Lambda) to handle HTTP requests and interact with data stores (like DynamoDB) for retrieving and storing user data.

2. Serverless computing for storage

In traditional application development, managing a store is often complex. Serverless data stores, such as Firebase, simplify this process by allowing developers to create and manage databases without worrying about backups and other database operations. The cloud provider manages the datastore hosting and charges based on usage.

3. Serverless computing for asynchronous systems

Systems with inconsistent user request patterns can significantly benefit from serverless computing. For example, webhooks, which are triggered sporadically, can be handled by serverless functions that execute tasks and respond to users without requiring a constantly running server. Additionally, serverless architectures are well-suited for handling asymmetrical tasks like alerts and chatbot customer support messages.

Conclusion

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups strive to deliver innovative products and features at reduced operational expenses rapidly. Thus, the rise of serverless computing is quite significant. This model suits companies looking to lighten the load on their development teams. It further enables them to focus on creating innovative, scalable solutions with agility.

If you also want to reduce business costs and swiftly bring your applications from concept to market, you can connect with ISpectra.  As a trusted serverless computing consultant, we aim to deliver technology to make your digital journey seamless and efficient.