Serverless computing on the way or how will the clouds change in 2020?

A new stage of development is associated with serverless computing, which does not require connecting / disconnecting servers or providing access to them. Of course, these calculations are still performed by servers, but developers and other IT professionals do not have to think much about their limitations and capabilities. Serverless computing is a logical continuation of the cloud. This is the model with payment for actual use in its purest form.

Many organizations require further homework on serverless computing, which does not yet bring tangible benefits. A survey of 1,500 managers by O’Reilly showed that four out of ten enterprises use serverless technologies, but their positive effect is not immediately apparent. If the work has been conducted for less than a year, 52% of respondents assess it as “predominantly successful”, if more than three years - 79%.

The advantages of 60% are the reduction in operating costs and automatic scaling. Other key benefits include the lack of server maintenance and reduced software development costs.

Benefits of Serverless Computing

• decrease in operating expenses - 60%;
• automatic scaling in accordance with demand - 58%;
• lack of server maintenance - 55%;
• reduced software development costs - 32%;
• increase in developer productivity, increasing the value of the company - 30%.

According to 44% of respondents, the main problem remains staff training. “It is: since serverless computing is relatively young, it is difficult to find official training and prepare the appropriate documentation, and use cases are more difficult to select, although their number is growing,” the authors of the study indicate.

Another problem that approximately 30% of respondents mentioned was the link to a specific manufacturer. Code written for a particular platform is not easy to port elsewhere. Since serverless computing is a young technology, the market is waiting for the portability problem to be solved.

Integration remains one of the most important problems - 30% of respondents indicated it. “Testing serverless architectures is more complex and time-consuming, more scenarios need to be tested. Various types of dependencies are reflected in integration (delay, launch, modeling), ”the study notes.