The cloud computing market in Southeast Asia is going through a robust growth. According to IDC, this Cloud computing market is expected to reach US$40.32 billion by 2025. The growing number of small and medium-sized enterprises seek to improve their digital capability to drive market expansion.
This growth is further supported by the region’s commitment to digital transformation, with countries like Singapore and Malaysia leading cloud adoption. In this blog, we will explore how businesses are building scalable apps with Cloud Run and Cloud Functions in Singapore and SEA, the benefits, and understand the shift from monolithic apps to serverless computing in Southeast Asia.
Transform your apps with serverless computing
As businesses undergo dynamic digital changes, the need for a reliable and scalable cloud application has become paramount. Earlier, traditional monolithic architectures were the cornerstone of enterprise IT, but now these technologies are struggling to keep pace with innovation. This has led businesses to adopt innovative solutions like serverless computing to stay ahead of the curve. This change is particularly evident in SEA, where companies are increasingly utilizing serverless technologies to modernize their applications and maintain their competitiveness.
Understanding Serverless Computing with Cloud Run & Cloud Functions
Serverless Computing is an approach to deliver backend services on an as-used basis. Users who leverage a serverless provider can write and deploy code without needing to handle the underlying infrastructure. A company that receives backend services from serverless vendors pays according to their computational needs and does not have to reserve and pay for a fixed amount of bandwidth or number of servers.
The Google Cloud-managed platform, Cloud Run, allows developers to operate containerized applications through an infrastructure-free solution. The platform automatically scales applications during traffic increases to achieve peak performance while minimizing costs during low traffic times.
Cloud Functions serves as an event-triggered serverless processing service which enables developers to run their code through specified events while relieving them from server administration responsibilities. Cloud Functions serves as an excellent solution for developers creating minimal, single-use code functions that trigger in response to cloud-driven events.
The primary difference between the two lies in their use cases: Cloud Functions operates as a system to trigger individual functions when events happen, but Cloud Run focuses on deploying containerized applications with microservices components.
Image 1: An Overview of advantages of serverless computing
Advantages of Serverless Computing for Scalable Applications
The advantages of serverless computing are manifold, especially when it comes to building scalable cloud applications.
- Elastic Scaling: Automatic scaling stands as the most compelling benefit that Elastic Scaling delivers. Your applications will preserve their responsiveness during peak traffic because Cloud Run and Cloud Functions adapt resources following demand fluctuations. The automatic ability to scale eliminates the requirement for human capacity planning, which also decreases the possibility of performance problems.
- Cost Optimization: Through its pay-per-use pricing system, serverless computing allows organizations to achieve major cost reductions. Only the actual resources used will trigger payment, while unused infrastructure no longer creates overhead costs.
- Faster Deployment: Serverless platforms streamline the development and deployment process, enabling faster time-to-market. With managed services, developers can focus on writing code rather than managing infrastructure. Implementing CI/CD pipelines with these tools helps to improve these speeds.
- Reduced Operational complexities: Serverless platforms reduce operational complexities, enabling organizations with faster time-to-market. The use of managed services enables developers to concentrate on code development without infrastructure management responsibilities. Implementing CI/CD pipelines with these tools helps to improve these speeds.
- Security & Compliance: Data stored on Google Cloud requires adherence to multiple security standards and compliance certifications that guarantee proper data protection. In Singapore, businesses must follow the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) as well as other regulations
Benefits of CloudRun and Cloud Functions in serverless computing
- High Availability: Both Cloud Run and Cloud Functions are used for high availability, automatically utilising failovers and ensuring that applications are running seamlessly without human intervention. This ensures that the services are reliable, even during failures of hardware or traffic spikes.
- Scalability Without Vendor Lock-in: Serverless computing with Cloud Run and Cloud Functions is built on global benchmarks, enabling portability between various cloud environments. This reduces the risk of vendor lock-in period while adapting their IT structure to different cloud environments without performing extensive changes.
Case study
Architecture Modernization for a Global Agribusiness Leader: A global agribusiness faced issues with legacy IT Infrastructure, which led to scalability and performance hurdles. Niveus modernized their architecture using Google Cloud’s serverless solutions, leveraging Cloud Run to enhance flexibility, reliability and manage microservices with auto-scaling capabilities. This modernization ensured seamless workload optimization. Cloud Function facilitated processing and enabled optimized backend operations.
This resulted in 5.26 seconds faster API response time, significantly improving the system performance. 1000+ GB of data, including 111 tables and 108 audit tables, was migrated, ensuring a smooth transition. Additionally, 12 million records were seamlessly migrated with 100% data integrity, supporting uninterrupted business operations. Using a microservices-based approach, the company cut down its infrastructure costs and achieved better operational performance. The modernization approach enabled the business to perform peak operations without disruption while providing scalability in the long run.
Smart Chatbot Implementation for Enhanced Customer Engagement: A leading Business Process Management (BPM) company chose to develop an AI-powered chatbot. Niveus deployed a multilingual smart chatbot using Google Cloud Dialogflow that automatically handles customer questions. This solution reduced response durations, delivered superior customer satisfaction, and made operations more efficient. The system integrated the chatbot to operate with existing infrastructure, which enabled real-time responses based on data.
As a result, customer support costs decreased by 40% and customer interaction improved significantly due to these changes. Additionally, the simulated backend environment primarily consisted of Cloud Functions accessing Cloud SQL, enabling real-time data retrieval and processing for accurate responses.
Migrating from Monolithic to Serverless in Singapore
Many businesses in Singapore and SEA are grappling with the limitations of monolithic applications. These legacy systems are often complex, difficult to scale, and slow to update. The shift to serverless computing offers a pathway to modernization, enabling businesses to break down monolithic applications into smaller, more manageable microservices.
Niveus Solutions plays a crucial role in this transformation. Our team of experienced cloud engineers helps businesses modernize their applications using serverless architecture, including Cloud Run and Cloud Functions. We provide end-to-end support, from assessment and planning to migration and optimization.
Conclusion
Singapore and SEA will rely on serverless solutions to develop their scalable cloud applications in the future. Companies in the digital era find Cloud Run and Cloud Functions to be a compelling solution, which helps them build applications that are both cost-efficient and agile, and scalable. The adoption of serverless computing allows businesses to open doors toward innovative operational efficiency. Niveus Solutions is committed to assisting businesses throughout their cloud transformation process. Our combination of Google Cloud expertise and expertise in SEA markets positions us as your best choice for serverless computing implementations.
