How to Manage Microservices Development Projects

Microservices architectures require coordinating multiple teams working on independent services with complex interdependencies. GitScrum's cross-project dependencies, API contract tracking, and multi-team visibility features help organizations manage the complexity inherent in distributed systems development.

Microservices Project Challenges

Project Organization

MICROSERVICES PROJECT STRUCTURE

Option 1: Project per Service
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                                 │
│  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐  ┌──────────┐ │
│  │ User Service│  │Order Service│  │ Payment  │ │
│  │  Project    │  │  Project    │  │ Service  │ │
│  │             │  │             │  │ Project  │ │
│  │ Team: Auth  │  │ Team: Orders│  │ Team: Pay│ │
│  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘  └──────────┘ │
│                                                 │
│  Cross-Project Epic: "Mobile Checkout Feature" │
│  └── Tasks distributed to each service project  │
│                                                 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Option 2: Project per Domain
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                                 │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐    │
│  │ E-Commerce Platform                     │    │
│  │                                         │    │
│  │ Swimlanes by Service:                   │    │
│  │ ├── User Service                        │    │
│  │ ├── Order Service                       │    │
│  │ ├── Payment Service                     │    │
│  │ └── Notification Service                │    │
│  │                                         │    │
│  │ Labels: [user-svc] [order-svc] [payment]│    │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────┘    │
│                                                 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Dependency Mapping

CROSS-SERVICE DEPENDENCY TRACKING

FEATURE: Add Express Checkout

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Epic: Express Checkout                         │
│                                                 │
│  Dependencies (sequence matters):               │
│                                                 │
│  Sprint N:                                      │
│  └── [API Design] Payment API contract          │
│      └── [API Design] Order API contract        │
│                                                 │
│  Sprint N+1:                                    │
│  ├── [User Service] Saved payment methods       │
│  └── [Payment Service] Tokenization endpoint    │
│      └── Depends on: API Design complete        │
│                                                 │
│  Sprint N+2:                                    │
│  ├── [Order Service] Express checkout flow      │
│  │   └── Depends on: Payment tokenization       │
│  └── [Frontend] Checkout UI                     │
│      └── Depends on: Order Service API          │
│                                                 │
│  Sprint N+3:                                    │
│  └── [Integration] End-to-end testing           │
│      └── Depends on: All services complete      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

API Contract Management

API CONTRACT WORKFLOW

1. DESIGN PHASE
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Task: Design Payment Tokenization API          │
│                                                 │
│  Deliverables:                                  │
│  ☐ OpenAPI spec in shared repo                  │
│  ☐ Review with consuming teams                  │
│  ☐ Contract tests defined                       │
│  ☐ Breaking change assessment                   │
│                                                 │
│  Reviewers: Order Service, Frontend teams       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

2. IMPLEMENTATION PHASE
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Producer Task: Implement Payment API           │
│  ├── Implement endpoints per spec               │
│  ├── Run contract tests                         │
│  └── Deploy to staging                          │
│                                                 │
│  Consumer Task: Integrate with Payment API      │
│  ├── Blocked until: API in staging              │
│  ├── Implement client                           │
│  └── Run integration tests                      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

3. BREAKING CHANGE PROTOCOL
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  If breaking change needed:                     │
│                                                 │
│  Step 1: Announce in #api-changes channel       │
│  Step 2: Create migration task for consumers    │
│  Step 3: Version the API (v1 → v2)              │
│  Step 4: Support both versions during migration │
│  Step 5: Deprecate old version with deadline    │
│  Step 6: Remove old version after deadline      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Deployment Coordination

MULTI-SERVICE DEPLOYMENT

DEPLOYMENT CHECKLIST FOR FEATURE X:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                                 │
│  Pre-Deployment:                                │
│  ☐ All services passing tests                   │
│  ☐ Contract tests green                         │
│  ☐ Database migrations ready                    │
│  ☐ Feature flags in place                       │
│  ☐ Rollback procedures documented               │
│                                                 │
│  Deployment Order (sequence required):          │
│  1. ☐ Database migrations (all services)        │
│  2. ☐ Payment Service v2.3.0                    │
│  3. ☐ Order Service v1.8.0                      │
│  4. ☐ User Service v3.1.0                       │
│  5. ☐ Frontend v4.2.0                           │
│  6. ☐ Enable feature flag: express-checkout     │
│                                                 │
│  Post-Deployment:                               │
│  ☐ Smoke tests passing                          │
│  ☐ Monitoring dashboards green                  │
│  ☐ Error rates normal                           │
│  ☐ Notify stakeholders                          │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Best Practices

1. Clear service ownership with documented responsibilities
2. API-first design before implementation
3. Contract testing for all service interactions
4. Dependency visibility in project management
5. Coordinated deployment with clear sequencing
6. Feature flags for cross-service features
7. Shared monitoring across services
8. Regular cross-team sync for dependent work

Anti-Patterns

✗ Services developed in isolation
✗ Breaking API changes without notice
✗ No contract testing
✗ Unclear service ownership
✗ Monolithic deployment of microservices
✗ No cross-team visibility

Related Solutions

• Managing Microservices Project Management
• Managing Cross-Team Dependencies
• Managing Technical Dependencies Effectively