How do you implement a microservices architecture for custom enterprise software?

Microservices decompose a monolith into independently deployable services organized around business capabilities. Decomposition strategy: identify bounded contexts using Domain-Driven Design (DDD), each service owns its data store (database per service pattern), and services communicate via APIs (synchronous) or events (asynchronous). Implementation: define service boundaries that align with team structure (Conway's Law), implement API contracts using OpenAPI specifications, use event-driven communication (Kafka, RabbitMQ) for loose coupling, and deploy independently using containers (Docker) orchestrated by Kubernetes. Essential infrastructure: API gateway (Kong, AWS API Gateway) for external routing, service mesh (Istio, Linkerd) for internal communication with mTLS, distributed tracing (Jaeger, Zipkin) for debugging cross-service requests, and centralized logging (ELK stack, Grafana Loki). Data patterns: saga pattern for distributed transactions, CQRS (Command Query Responsibility Segregation) for read/write optimization, and event sourcing for complete audit trails. Common pitfalls: starting with too many services (begin with 3-5, split as needed), distributed monolith (services that can't deploy independently), shared databases between services, and insufficient observability. Migration strategy: strangler fig pattern for gradual monolith-to-microservices migration, extracting one capability at a time while maintaining the monolith as a fallback.