When people hear “Serverless,” they often think of “Function.” But Serverless is really a mindset. Our experience has shown that discipline is key. As we like to say: slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. Serverless may not be inherently faster, but it enables rapid delivery.
Serverless: a mindset shift
In the past, teams often operated under the assumption that they could deploy quickly and deliver fast. Our experience has shown that true speed stems from discipline. “Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast” is a guiding principle here. Serverless may not inherently be faster, but when built within a well-architected framework, it facilitates rapid delivery.
Before going live, we prioritise observability, resilience, reliability, and performance. This approach demands maturity and engineering rigour. Our teams focus first on observability, establishing dashboards to monitor metrics and iterating from there. It can take several weeks to get everything operational, but once established, teams can achieve rapid delivery.
After this initial groundwork, teams have the structure necessary to increment rapidly, experiment, and obtain immediate feedback. This is where the true potential of serverless becomes evident.
One advantage of serverless is that cloud providers have distilled many common patterns into managed services, such as Amazon API Gateway and Lambda. With pre-built services, teams benefit from a limited, interoperable set of options, allowing them to build without overcomplicating the design. Our approach to serverless and rapid delivery is much like connecting Lego blocks—ensuring you have both rigour and speed with a disciplined, well-architected method.
The Value Flywheel
We use the analogy of a “Value Flywheel” to explain the serverless approach to modern applications. Initially, the flywheel turns slowly, but as momentum builds, it spins faster. This mindset shift enables teams to focus on delivering small increments of value to users, gradually building momentum without sacrificing quality.
We had the opportunity to discuss software development with Dan North. He said:
Software development needs to be rapid impact
Adopt a mindset of breaking up business needs into small chunks of value. so you can get them into the hands of real users. Building this momentum involves delivering value to end users and gathering feedback quickly. This approach emphasises real user value rather than vanity metrics.
The Importance of a Product Mindset
For serverless to succeed, teams need to adopt a product-first mindset. With easy access to managed services and serverless building blocks, teams should prioritise user validation by testing with real users and obtaining feedback. This mindset helps squads better align with users and ensures they are meeting genuine needs.
Engineering Discipline and Observability
Talented modern application squads have discipline in their engineering approach. Otherwise, they rush into production, and before they know it, they run into problems.
Serverless is software at the end of the day. Get into a working relationship with the business and with your KPIs in place, so you have ‘observability’ to assess your impact.
Introducing Serverless to Experienced Engineers
When experienced engineers first engage with serverless, they might hesitate, feeling a loss of control. However, once they immerse themselves in the framework, they often feel more empowered. Serverless offers instant access to observability and pre-built pathways, helping engineers embrace a new level of control and insight.
A common concern with rapid development is the fear of creating future technical debt. However, serverless’s design often mitigates this risk. By leveraging managed services and best practices, the serverless-first approach promotes speed without accumulating unnecessary complexity
The SCORP Process: Supporting Continuous Learning
Our SCORP process supports teams in serverless-first environments, facilitating continuous communication and learning. This approach is vital in fast-changing environments, ensuring teams remain up to date while building reliable systems.
Continuous learning is essential in a dynamic landscape. Even if a team member spends days studying documentation on a single change, that investment in knowledge pays dividends by equipping teams to meet evolving needs.
Removing Code Liability
Each year at AWS re:Invent we assess which code we can eliminate from our application as new managed services become available. This practice helps reduce code liability by removing custom code when better solutions emerge, keeping systems lean and focused.
Long-Term Value and Rapid Delivery
The Value Flywheel encourages teams to remain purpose-driven and efficient. In serverless, “code is a liability,” and our focus shifts to solving business problems rather than writing redundant code. By utilising managed services, teams can achieve reliability and failover without extensive coding.
Serverless: Enabling Rapid Delivery
Serverless isn’t inherently faster, but with the right framework and mindset, it enables rapid delivery. For organisations embracing serverless, consistency and operational excellence are essential pillars for successful scaling.
The Role of Modern Application Developers in Serverless
Does serverless require fewer developers? Not necessarily, but it allows developers to deliver greater impact. When teams demonstrate value, the business often requests more, potentially leading to growth in both team size and overall impact.
Serverless requires engineers to possess a product development mindset and collaboration skills. Senior engineers should focus on maintaining high standards, ensuring well-architected reviews, and supporting the team’s priorities. This well-architected, serverless-first approach enables teams to deliver more quickly while enjoying greater autonomy.
Final Thoughts: Serverless Empowers Developers
Serverless necessitates a different skill set, such as collaboration and a product-first approach. With a well-architected, serverless-first structure, teams gain the freedom and rigour to deliver rapidly while continuously learning and adapting. This shift in mindset has revitalised architectural design, injecting new creativity and capacity for innovation into development teams.
Serverless Craic from The Serverless Edge
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