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European Conference on Software Architecture

ECSA 2017: Software Architecture pp 155–170Cite as

Decision Models for Microservices: Design Areas, Stakeholders, Use Cases, and Requirements

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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNPSE,volume 10475))

Abstract

Introducing a microservice architecture is a complex task, requiring many design decisions regarding system architecture, organizational structure, and system infrastructure. Decision models have been successfully used in other domains for design space exploration, decision making and decision documentation. In this paper, we investigate the use of decision models for microservice architecture. As a first step, we identified areas of microservice design and created decision models for some of the identified areas. We then used the created models as part of a technical action research (TAR) process with partner companies to identify important stakeholders and use cases for decision models in this context, as well as to identify requirements on decision model elements and presentation. Results indicate that practitioners perceive decision models for microservices to be useful. Challenges include the large number of interlinked knowledge areas, the need for context-specific adaptations, and the need for processes to manage the decision space over time.

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Acknowledgement

The research reported in this paper has been supported by the Austrian Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology, the Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy, and the Province of Upper Austria in the frame of the COMET center SCCH.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria

    Stefan Haselböck & Rainer Weinreich

  2. Software Competence Center Hagenberg GmbH, Hagenberg im Mühlkreis, Austria

    Georg Buchgeher

Authors
  1. Stefan Haselböck
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  2. Rainer Weinreich
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  3. Georg Buchgeher
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stefan Haselböck .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    Antónia Lopes

  2. University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom

    Rogério de Lemos

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Haselböck, S., Weinreich, R., Buchgeher, G. (2017). Decision Models for Microservices: Design Areas, Stakeholders, Use Cases, and Requirements. In: Lopes, A., de Lemos, R. (eds) Software Architecture. ECSA 2017. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 10475. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65831-5_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65831-5_11

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-65830-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-65831-5

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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