The growth of serverless computing and Functions as a Service (FaaS)

Serverless computing and Functions as a Service (FaaS) are becoming increasingly popular as organizations seek to improve their application development and deployment processes.

Author: Cecilia Johnson
05/26/17
This innovative approach to cloud computing removes the need for developers to manage servers, infrastructure, or operating systems, allowing them to focus entirely on developing code.
However, as with any new technology, there are challenges that must be overcome. One of the biggest challenges facing organizations that adopt serverless computing and FaaS is ensuring the security of their applications and data.

There have been several high-profile security incidents related to serverless computing in recent years. For example, in 2018, a researcher discovered a vulnerability in AWS Lambda that could allow attackers to gain access to sensitive data. Additionally, in 2020, a researcher found a vulnerability in Azure Functions that could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code.
To address these security concerns, organizations must ensure that they are using best practices for developing and deploying applications in a serverless environment. This includes properly configuring security settings and access controls, as well as using encryption and other security measures to protect sensitive data.

Another challenge facing organizations that adopt serverless computing and FaaS is ensuring that their applications are scalable and performant. While these technologies can offer significant benefits in terms of scalability and cost-effectiveness, they can also introduce new performance and scalability challenges that must be addressed.

To overcome these challenges, organizations must carefully design and test their serverless applications to ensure that they are scalable and performant. This may involve using tools like load testing and monitoring to identify and address performance issues, as well as leveraging techniques like function composition and caching to improve application performance.
Despite these challenges, the growth of serverless computing and FaaS shows no signs of slowing down. As more organizations adopt these technologies, they will continue to evolve and improve, driving even greater innovation in the cloud computing space.