Frontend as a Service: A Modern Approach to Organize Frontend Architecture in Mid-Sized Companies

This thesis explores a modern paradigm in web application development known as Frontend as a Service (FaaS), focusing on its application within mid-sized companies. It examines the transition from monolithic frontend architectures to modular and distributed systems, emphasizing scalability, maintainability, and adaptability. The research analyzes company growth lifecycles to determine when organizations should migrate from monolithic to distributed client architectures and how modular monoliths and micro-frontends (µ-frontends) can support this evolution. Through detailed exploration of implementation strategies—including iFrames, web components, and JavaScript-based µ-frontends—the study identifies key architectural requirements such as team independence, code organization, release autonomy, and framework agnosticity. It also introduces a four-layer abstraction model (FaaS, application, page, and widget layers) that structures scalable frontend systems. The thesis concludes that adopting a Frontend as a Service approach enables mid-sized companies to build flexible, resilient, and future-ready frontend architectures capable of adapting to changing market and technological demands.