5 Reasons You Should Have Paid Commercial Support for Java

Paid Java commercial support only pays off when there’s an incident, which is almost always sudden, unexpected, and expensive. Still, it only takes one time for you to wish you had paid commercial support for Java. Running with unsupported Java in production is risky. Let’s examine some of the hidden costs of operating Java without support in a production setting. 

When you purchase support from a licensed JDK provider, you get three critical elements of safe and effective software: 

1. Security patches and updates to prevent your software from exposing your customers’ data. 

2. Legal documentation that essentially declares that you comply with the regulatory demands of the industry, 

3. Assurance that your software is safely in legal accordance with IP laws, without having to give your source code away. 

Paid commercial Java support is like car insurance and seat belts. And, like insurance and seat belts, paid Java commercial support only pays off when there’s an incident, which is almost always sudden, unexpected, and expensive. While tempting, running with unsupported Java in production is risky. 

Let’s examine some of the hidden costs of operating Java without support in a production setting: 

1. Support 

2. Licensing OpenJDK 

3. Migrating from one JDK version to another 

4. Maintaining Java 

5. Complying with regulations 

Support 

Because there are many Technology Compatibility Kit (TCK)-compliant OpenJDK providers, evaluating one against the others can be challenging. Some considerations between the different providers can include: 

• Which Java versions are supported: Only two Java providers support Java 6 and 7. 

• Which platforms are supported? If your organization still runs Java applications on the Solaris operating system, you should know whether the distribution provides builds and fixes for them. 

• How long will a version be supported? Different distributions may offer various maintenance and support lengths. 

• How quickly are updates available? Before investing in an OpenJDK distribution, you should know its track record for providing updates within hours of the embargo lifting and whether it has had long delays in the past. 

• Are stabilized updates available? To maintain the maximum level of JDK security, Critical Patch Updates (CPUs, stabilized security updates) and Patch Set Update (PSUs, full updates) are both essential. 

Even with TCK compliance, some Java users still feel uncomfortable with anything but Oracle Java support, which is expensive.

Licensing OpenJDK 

Java support can be the difference between a happy CTO and a miserable one. Keep these things in mind: 

• PSUs are not enough: Your Java provider must deliver security fixes as soon as possible once known security vulnerabilities are published. 

• Insist on SLAs for security updates: Stable builds must be deployed rapidly into your production environment. Check your OpenJDK provider’s track record for deploying stable builds rapidly into production environments. 

• Protect your entire Java estate: Your Java provider must support you anywhere, regardless of operating system or version, on-premises or in the cloud. 

• Protect your Java estate any time: You should be able to easily reach your support team, even on weekends and public holidays. 

Migration from one JD distribution to another 

When organizations consider migrating from one JDK to another, they always ask, “Will my application run, unchanged, if I take my code to a new JDK?” If your Java distribution is TCK-compliant, it should run anywhere without issue or additional cost. 

Organizations also are concerned about the time, cost, and difficulty of migrating to an OpenJDK distribution. But in Azul’s 2024 Oracle Usage, Pricing and Migration Survey and Report, 84% of participants that had already migrated said their migration went as expected or was easier than expected.

Maintaining Java 

Without commercial Java support, your organization runs serious risks: 

• No security guarantees or support 

• No commercial support for Java 6 and 7, but even Oracle no longer supports them 

• No CPUs 

• No out-of-cycle fixes for new vulnerabilities 

• Lack of expertise at your disposal 

Other costs you might not have considered include: 

• Engineering time: If a new common vulnerability or exposure (CVE) is announced and your organization doesn’t receive CPUs, your options are to do nothing and hope the CVE is not exploited, wait for the PSU and implement it, or dedicate engineering time to manually applying a fix. 

• Java upgrades: If you want to continue using Oracle Java commercial support, you must continually upgrade your Java version. 

Complying with regulations 

Many industries require partners, suppliers, and providers to actively provide documentation that they are complying with strict regulations. Keep in mind: 

• Security responsibilities: Demonstrate publicly that your company is preventing attackers from exploiting vulnerabilities in your code. 

• Intellectual property: Your Java provider must give access to specific builds of OpenJDK which have undergone formal certification to ensure that including, embedding and/or distributing them in your products does not contaminate your products’ IP or code with license requirements. 

Conclusion 

JDK versions 6 and 7, and early releases of 8, are free to use. Oracle still supports JDK 8 commercially, but no longer supports JDK 6 and 7, which makes them vulnerable to security risks. Common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) have been continuously found in Java 6, which reached end of life in December 2018, and Java 7, which reached end of life in July 2022. With commercial support, subscribers receive security patches that protect these older versions of Java, as well as Critical Patch Updates (CPUs) for current versions of Java that enable them to better meet compliance requirements.

Ensuring the security and stability of your Java applications is paramount for businesses that depend on Java. With commercial support from Azul, you can protect your investment, meet compliance requirements, and mitigate risks, all while benefiting from expert engineering services and comprehensive IP protection.

The post 5 Reasons You Should Have Paid Commercial Support for Java appeared first on Azul | Better Java Performance, Superior Java Support.

*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from Security Blog Posts - Azul authored by Azul. Read the original post at: https://www.azul.com/blog/5-reasons-you-should-have-paid-commercial-support-for-java/