The transition from monolithic architecture to microservices often overlooks the importance of an edge or API gateway in managing user traffic and system evolution. Careful management of this component is essential during migration, as it enables experimentation and minimizes disruption to end-users. Strategies for evolving systems include strangling the monolith and encapsulating it within a container (monolith-in-a-box). Deploying an API gateway within Kubernetes offers greater flexibility in implementing these migration patterns, streamlining traffic management across the new platform.