Feature Story

By Leslie T. O'Neill

April 7, 2008 - There's a new choice for companies that depend on Java technology to do business. Today Sun is announcing Java SE for Business, a new subscription that combines the free and open Java SE Platform with up to 15 years of Sun's world-class support per product family. Sun is also implementing a redistribution agreement so ISVs, service providers, and other integrators can offer Java SE for Business to their customers.

"Sun designed Java SE for Business based on feedback from customers and ISVs who wanted a longer support period for Java SE releases," says Bill Curci, Sun's Java SE product line manager. "The subscription is ideal for enterprises that want to extend the lifecycle of Java SE applications--both homegrown and purchased--to preserve IT investments and lower TCO."

Java SE for Business is available via a company-wide license, priced per employee per year. Sun offers three levels of support: Standard, Premium, and Premium Plus. For pricing and more details, visit the Java SE for Business site.

One analyst hails Java SE for Business as offering longer, more predictable support for the Java SE platform. "Indeterminate end-of-life schedules throw enterprises, especially ISVs, for a loop. [Java SE for Business] gives them a much bigger window," says Brad Shimmin, Principal Analyst, Application Infrastructure at Current Analysis, a research firm in Sterling, Virginia.

As Java SE for Business launches, Sun remains committed to keeping the Java platform open. As they have been for more than a year, Java SE releases will be developed under the General Public License version 2 as part of the OpenJDK open source community.

Making the Best Choice for Your Business

By introducing Java SE for Business, Sun gives customers more choices than ever. Customers can continue to freely download and use traditional Java SE, which Sun will support at no cost for three years per release family. Or they can purchase Java SE for Business, which delivers the same enterprise-class support Sun offers for its other products.

The new offering includes faster access to fixes direct from Sun through Java SE for Business Revisions. Traditionally, Sun made Java fixes available via updates, approximately two or three times per year. With Java SE for Business Revisions, customers can get critical fixes between updates, in as little as a few weeks, rather than waiting months until the next general update.

Sun can also add a specific fix to an older update or release—regardless of platform—to solve a problem on a customer's mission-critical system. This solves crucial problems quickly, and does so without inflicting wholesale changes on otherwise well-performing systems. "A JDK with an update that fixes what's actually wrong [at the customer's site] is pretty compelling," says analyst Shimmin.

Java SE for Business is fully integrated with Sun Connection, Sun's multi-platform IT infrastructure management service that enables integration and automated management of thousands of heterogeneous systems. With the Sun Connection link, customers can more easily track the Java versions they are running, and stay up-to-date with patches, security fixes, time zone changes, and other critical changes.

Coming Soon

Sun is already at work on the next round of enhancements to Java SE for Business, including installation options that will streamline rollouts across thousands of systems. New tools designed to simplify and expand Java software management are in the works as well.

Sun is also planning to integrate Java SE for Business with the Sun xVM Ops Center, a lifecycle management tool for globally distributed x64 and SPARC systems.

Get Started

"With Java SE for Business, Sun is responding to an overwhelming demand for a new, more robust Java platform for business users," says Curci. "Sun is meeting this need while maintaining our commitment to a free and open Java platform."

To learn more about the new Java SE for Business offering, start here, or contact a Sun representative.