Functions as a Service
Functions as a Service (FaaS) platforms let you deploy individual functions that execute in response to events — HTTP requests, queue messages, scheduled triggers, or storage events — without provisioning or managing the servers that run them. AWS Lambda, Google Cloud Functions, and Azure Functions are the three dominant FaaS platforms.
FaaS platforms we work with
AWS · Lambda
AWS Lambda
Event-driven serverless compute on AWS. Native integration with SQS, SNS, API Gateway, EventBridge, DynamoDB, and Step Functions.
View service →Google Cloud · Serverless
Google Cloud Functions
HTTP and event-driven functions on Google Cloud, with native triggers from Pub/Sub, Cloud Storage, Firestore, and Cloud Scheduler.
View service →Microsoft Azure · Serverless
Azure Functions
Serverless functions on Azure with Durable Functions for stateful orchestration, Service Bus triggers, and Cosmos DB bindings.
View service →One function, one responsibility
FaaS works best when each function does one thing. A Lambda that handles HTTP routing, business logic, database access, and notification delivery is harder to test, harder to debug, and harder to scale than three functions with clear boundaries. We decompose function responsibilities before we write the first line of code.
Platform choice matters less than integration
Lambda, Cloud Functions, and Azure Functions all execute code in response to events. The meaningful differences are in the event sources each platform integrates with natively. If your workload is tightly coupled to AWS services, Lambda is the natural choice. If you are already on Google Cloud, Cloud Functions avoids the friction of cross-cloud integrations.
Cold starts are a configuration problem
Cold start latency varies by runtime, function size, and VPC configuration. Node.js and Python functions cold start faster than Java or .NET functions. Large deployment packages and VPC attachment increase cold start time. We configure functions to minimize cold starts on latency-sensitive paths and use async invocation patterns where cold starts are acceptable.
Observability across invocations
A function that runs thousands of times per hour generates a lot of log entries. We structure logs from the start, set up distributed tracing, and configure alerting on error rates and duration rather than relying on manual log inspection to detect problems.
Common questions
Building a FaaS application?
Reach out and we will discuss the event model, platform choice, and integration requirements before any work begins.
Get in touchPurcellville, Virginia · US-based engineering