Industrial Case Study: Why a Microservices Migration Failed
Overview
What this challenge is about.
Conduct 8 1-hour interviews across CTO, 3 tech leads, 2 platform engineers, 1 SRE, and the product VP. Analyze 24 months of artifacts (ADRs, RFCs, incident reports, deployment data, service inventory). Author a 14-page case study following the Runeson/Höst guidelines for SE case studies: context, design, methodology, results (with quotations + artifact evidence), threats to validity, conclusions. Identify 5-7 root causes (likely candidates: missing platform investment, premature decomposition, no API contract testing, organizational structure misaligned with service boundaries, observability gaps). Propose a forward direction (consolidate to a modular monolith for some services, keep the 4 mature microservices) with risk + cost trade-offs. Deliver case study, interview synthesis, root-cause analysis, and forward-direction memo.
The Brief
What you'll do, and what you'll demonstrate.
Run a Runeson-style industrial case study on a failed microservices migration with defensible root causes and a fundable forward direction.
Earning criteria — what you'll demonstrate
- Run a Runeson-style industrial case study with mixed methods
- Triangulate findings from interviews + artifacts + metrics
- Identify root causes that survive panel review by participants
- Translate post-mortem learnings into a defensible forward direction
Program Fit
Where this fits in your program.
Sharpens the same skills your degree expects you to demonstrate.
Skills
Skills you'll demonstrate.
Each one shows up on your verified credential.
Careers
Roles this prepares you for.
Real titles. Real skill bridges. Pick the one closest to your trajectory.
Career mappings coming soon.