Adopting microservices and DevOps in the cyber‐physical systems domain: A rapid review and case study. (18th November 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fritzsch, Jonas; Bogner, Justus; Haug, Markus; Franco da Silva, Ana Cristina; Rubner, Carolin; Saft, Matthias; Sauer, Horst; Wagner, Stefan
• Is Part Of: Software, practice & experience. Volume 53:Number 3(2023)
• Page Start: 790
• Page End: 810
• Publication Date: 2022-11-18
• Subjects: case study -- cyber‐physical systems -- DevOps -- interviews -- microservices -- rapid review; Computer software -- Periodicals; Computer programming -- Periodicals; Computer programs -- Periodicals; 005.3
• DOI: 10.1002/spe.3169
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0038-0644

Abstract

Abstract: The domain of cyber‐physical systems (CPS) has recently seen strong growth, for example, due to the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) in industrial domains, commonly referred to as "Industry 4.0." However, CPS challenges like the strong hardware focus can impact modern software development practices, especially in the context of modernizing legacy systems. While microservices and DevOps have been widely studied for enterprise applications, there is insufficient coverage for the CPS domain. Our goal is therefore to analyze the peculiarities of such systems regarding challenges and practices for using and migrating towards microservices and DevOps. We conducted a rapid review based on 146 scientific papers, and subsequently validated our findings in an interview‐based case study with nine CPS professionals in different business units at Siemens AG. The combined results picture the specifics of microservices and DevOps in the CPS domain. While several differences were revealed that may require adapted methods, many challenges and practices are shared with typical enterprise applications. Our study supports CPS researchers and practitioners with a summary of challenges, practices to address them, and research opportunities.