Serverless architectures refer to cloud applications that depend substantially on 3rd party services (Backend as a Service, BaaS) or on custom code that is run in ephemeral deployment units (Function as a Service, FaaS). By moving much behavior to the front end, such architectures reduce the need for ‚always on‘ servers. Therefore, such systems can reduce operational cost and shift operational complexity to BaaS service providers at cost of vendor dependencies and (still) immaturity of supporting services and tools.

This presentation explains the term "Serverless" and how it is changing cloud application architectures. It identifies open issues, benefits and drawbacks, as well as (in-)appropriate use cases for Serverless. It closes with a curated list of Serverless services, standalone platforms and frameworks and provides a list for further reading.