For years, many organizations treated Java as a given – an essential runtime quietly powering business-critical applications in the background. A paid subscription? Rather not. Engineering support? Not so much.
Today, however, Java decisions carry real financial, operational, and compliance consequences which cannot be avoided by ignoring them. If your business is still relying on Oracle Java but you’ve never paid Oracle, you’ve accumulated a large financial liability.
Free Java Isn’t Free: The Hidden Risks Organizations Can’t Ignore
Here’s the reality: what looks “free” on paper can become expensive fast.
Many enterprises historically downloaded and deployed Oracle Java back in the day when it was widely perceived as free for production use. But Oracle’s licensing model has changed significantly. Under the Java SE Universal Subscription as of January 2023, pricing is now tied to total employee count, not actual Java usage as it was until this major change.
Now, if Oracle identifies unlicensed Java use inside your environment, the financial implications can be substantial. Organizations may face licensing demands based on their entire workforce, including employees, contractors, and part-time staff, whether or not they actually use Java. In some cases, audit discussions may also involve historical usage and backdated fees.
This is no longer a theoretical concern. According to the most recent ITAM/SAM Survey Report, 73% of surveyed organizations have been subjected to an Oracle Java audit in the past three years. For many companies, Java has gone from an invisible utility to a board-level budget risk.
What Are Your Options?
You have four options to choose from:
- Do nothing: Stay on unlicensed Oracle Java and hope Oracle continues to ignore you. Very risky.
- Pay Oracle: Find the millions of dollars required to pay for a multi-year Oracle Java Universal Subscription (typically 3 or 5 years), and possible back usage fees. That represents 2x to 10x more costs than Oracle’s previous Java license model.
- Use unsupported OpenJDK: Use a “free” version of OpenJDK (commercially unsupported). Saves money but leaves your enterprise exposed to security, stability, and compliance issues that can hurt your business – at a time when AI-driven exploitation of vulnerabilities is occurring within minutes of a new vulnerability being disclosed.
- Subscribe to commercially supported OpenJDK: Pay a much lower license cost (savings up to 70% vs Oracle) for a secure, stable commercial OpenJDK solution such as Azul Core which includes quarterly and out-of-cycle security-only updates, as well as engineering support throughout migration and production (which you do not get from “free”). Same Java, 100% interchangeable, no code changes or re-architecture needed, but with massive license savings such as that realized by Ausgrid (80%).
Why “Do Nothing” Is the Most Expensive Option
Some organizations choose to delay action, hoping they stay off Oracle’s radar or that the issue resolves itself. But inaction creates risk on multiple fronts:
- Budget shock: Unexpected licensing costs can derail IT planning and consume budget allocated elsewhere.
- Resource drain: If Oracle requests an audit, preparation often requires senior engineers, IT admins, and software asset managers to spend weeks identifying installs, versions, and deployment histories.
- Reduced negotiating power: Once a formal audit begins, you have fewer options and less leverage.
- Governance exposure: For regulated industries, unsupported or unlicensed software can lead to compliance failure and the associated legal, financial, and public relations consequences.
- Long-term lock-in: Negotiating with Oracle can lead to long term lock-in to Oracle’s Java support and technology roadmap, putting enterprises in a position of reduced agency for their Java estate.
In short: waiting rarely improves your position.
A Smarter Path Forward: Commercially Supported OpenJDK
Organizations looking to reduce their Oracle Java financial and business risk are increasingly adopting commercially supported OpenJDK distributions such as Azul Core. Because OpenJDK is the open-source standard behind modern Java, migration is typically straightforward when guided by experienced experts. This model offers several advantages:
- Predictable costs
- Enterprise support and SLAs
- No application rewrites or re-architecture required
- Assistance to migrate from Oracle Java
- Timely security updates – essential as AI-driven vulnerability exploits get faster and more effective
- Reduced audit and compliance risk
- Long-term support for older Java versions
The important thing is to take control of your Java strategy. Only the unwise will trust to Oracle’s good graces or risk a security breach/ regulatory compliance failure that irrefutably illustrates the value of timely security updates. Take action sooner rather than later and choose your best option.
Check out our new report, Oracle Java Uncovered: What Free Java Users Need to Know Now, which explains your 4 Java options in detail.
