A microservice ecosystem

In essence, the microservice movement recognizes this shift from viewing the environment of software as a spaceship to that of an open ecosystem. In some ways, it is an inversion of the focus.

And this is where it is a mistake to think that adopting microservices is simply the task of breaking a large application into smaller micro applications. It would be synonymous with the idea of taking the international space station and simply disconnecting each module from one another. That would simply render each module unusable and destroy the overall function of the space station.

Thus, although modularization is an important part of the microservices vision, it requires that an effective ecosystem exists to provide a context for each unit to thrive in. It also means that each software unit must also contain a number of essential elements required for life. Each microservice must be able to function somewhat independently in this ecosystem.

https://medium.com/@michalsteyn/microservices-as-an-ecosystem-434d3038aaf6