How to Restructure Your Organization for Microservice Applications

Restructuring an organization to support microservice-based applications requires more than just filling new roles; it demands a cultural shift from a traditional hierarchical structure to a pod-based model. In this model, cross-functional teams, or pods, are responsible for specific services within the application, fostering ownership and eliminating the "not-my-problem" mentality prevalent in traditional setups. Each pod is tasked with overseeing every aspect of their service, from design to operation, and is supported by horizontal service teams that provide auxiliary tools and resources. This approach emphasizes well-documented APIs and solid SLAs to ensure clear expectations and efficient problem resolution, especially when issues arise between services. The pod model is part of the STOSA framework, which advocates for Single Team Oriented Service Architecture, ensuring that service teams own all aspects of their services.