1Department of Computer Engineering & Applications, Mangalayatan University, Aligarh, India. Email: 120230102_sandeep@mangalayatan.edu.in
2Department of Computer Engineering & Applications, Mangalayatan University, Aligarh, India. Email: drvijaypaltilotiya@gmail.com
Background: The architectural decisions undertaken by the architects are the main factors that determine the scalability, maintainability and performance of a software system. A comparative analysis of the Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) and Microservices Architecture (MSA) with respect to six significant software quality characteristics, namely, scalability, testability, maintainability, release cycle effectiveness, availability, and response time, is provided in the paper.
Methods: The mixed-method approach is employed in this analysis integrates evidence from a systematic literature review of 25 peer-reviewed articles (2017–2025) and selected industry grey literatures (e.g., vendor white papers and engineering blogs), along with survey data from 30 industry experts working in different technical roles.
Results: The results indicate that MSA outperforms in comparison to SOA in terms of scalability, release cycle efficiency due to its modular structure, and availability and response time due to its decentralised implementation and alignment with DevOps practices. Testability and maintainability results were also context-dependent with MSA being more modular and requiring a greater amount of architectural discipline.
Conclusion: The findings are a viable guideline for organisations considering migration from SOA to MSA.
Keywords: Microservices, Service-Oriented architecture, Scalability, Maintainability, Software Quality Attributes, Comparative Analysis.
How to cite this article: Sharma S, Singh VP. Service-Oriented Architecture vs. Microservices: An Empirical Comparative Analysis of Software Quality Attributes. Int J Drug Deliv Technol. 2026;16(2): 608-619. DOI: 10.25258/ijddt.16.2.65
Source of support: Nil.
Conflict of interest: None