Software Architecture at Mantrax
At Mantrax, our approach to solution architecture design starts with the mid to long term goals of our clients. Typically, this means building robust, modular, and scalable systems. To achieve this, we focus heavily on Architecture, Security, Scalability, Performance and Supportability. Technology is evolving at a faster pace than ever before. The next big thing is always around the corner every now and then. While we keep ourselves abreast of current technology and market trends, our approach to solution design and software architecture is based on our client’s needs and their use cases.
Belief #1: Technology, Domain Knowledge and Experience play equally important roles to influence a successful and robust solution.
Our solution architects will bring their top-tier, well-rounded technical skills and experience to engage with the power users and SMEs of your application to understand your requirements. This is a crucial step to understand your primary objectives and constraints. With this understanding, we will propose a solution which will scale well and give you the best ROI possible.
Belief #2: Solutions must be composed of loosely coupled components with a high level of cohesion (kinda like Lego).
Since our inception, we have ingrained this fundamental software engineering design principle in everything we do. While low-code / no-code platforms like WordPress, Shopify, etc. do a fantastic job for some use cases and get you going quickly, they have their blocking limitations too. The overly simplified development canvases are often riddled with a largely unrestricted ecosystem of plug-ins, which you don’t have much control over (in most cases).
Our most popular application architecture, the N-tier architecture, gives you an unrestricted choice of technologies, allowing you to swap out front-end and/or backend technologies with something else, combine technologies (example: microservices written in both Node JS and Python) and even hire a different vendor for working on various pieces of your application.
Integrating these components is done seamlessly by our integration and platform engineering team.
Belief #3: There is no silver bullet to solution architecture.
Yes, there are reference architectures published by big software companies and there are guidelines, but oftentimes, it’s hard to define a pattern that will work for everyone. At Mantrax, we are:
- Not married to a particular technology stack
- Cloud agnostic
- Believers in using Open Source systems wherever possible
- Shaping solutions to cater to emerging technologies like Generative AI and Blockchain
- Collaborative Approach: Partnering with your internal technology teams
Our Philosophy
We totally dig what George Patton famously said … “A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week”. While you don’t want to hack something together and then redo it all over again (choking the ROI), you don’t want to spend months in meetings and discussions to come up with that unicorn of a solution which will take an eternity to build and so complex ($$$) that you could risk losing stakeholder interest midway through.
Our Approach to Software Architecture Consulting
Get started as quickly as possible with as small a team as possible
Reuse tried and tested architecture patterns. Never reinvent the wheel.
Apply learnings from previous projects (and mistakes made)
Avoid over-engineering solutions
Evolve the solution as we make progress
Communicate the solution to all identified user groups (!!)
The last step is particularly important. Oftentimes, the solution is explained to the top few or the brightest few, leaving everyone else in the dark. This is risky and can lead to disappointments in later stages when course correction is costly.
Common Software Architecture Patterns
Over time various architecture patterns have been developed to address specific needs and challenges in software development. When appropriate, using these common and proven software architecture patterns can have significant benefits. Here are the key benefits of using proven, tested and widely used architecture patterns:
Clients request services from a central server, where the server performs actions and returns the data to the clients.
Divides the system into distinct layers, such as presentation, business logic, and data layers, each handling specific tasks.
Divides the system into distinct components, each responsible for a specific task or functionality.
Composed of self-contained, reusable modules that interact with each other.
Components interact through asynchronous events, responding to changes or updates in the system.
Composed of small, independent services that communicate over a network.
Aligns the software model with business concepts to ensure a clear understanding of the domain.
Separates core business logic from external components like databases and user interfaces.
Distributes processing and data across multiple nodes to achieve high performance and reliability.
A decentralized network where each node acts as both a client and a server.
Access the complete whitepaper on Solution Architecture Patterns
Connect with a Senior Solution Architect
Whether you’re looking to optimize your existing infrastructure, design a scalable solution, or explore innovative technologies, our seasoned Software Architects are here to help.