For something to really be using a microservice architecture? Yes.
Of course, real world systems don't have to use pure architectural styles, though its worth understanding why a named architectural style combines certain features before deciding to use some but not others.
> One of the problems I'm dealing with now (and have been in the past) is the tyranny of multiple data stores. At any reasonable scale, this quickly leads to a lack of consistency, no matter how much you'd like to try.
Honestly, I think if you have real inconsistency (rather than differences in data of similar form but different semantic meaning) with microservices with separate data stores, it means that you have designed your services improperly, such that they have overlapping responsibility.
For something to really be using a microservice architecture? Yes.
Of course, real world systems don't have to use pure architectural styles, though its worth understanding why a named architectural style combines certain features before deciding to use some but not others.
> One of the problems I'm dealing with now (and have been in the past) is the tyranny of multiple data stores. At any reasonable scale, this quickly leads to a lack of consistency, no matter how much you'd like to try.
Honestly, I think if you have real inconsistency (rather than differences in data of similar form but different semantic meaning) with microservices with separate data stores, it means that you have designed your services improperly, such that they have overlapping responsibility.