Avoiding steep price hikes in Oracle Java licensing has become an issue for CIOs, according to a software asset management expert. Organizations looki

Oracle's Java price hikes push CIOs to brew new licensing strategies

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2024-12-02 17:30:05

Avoiding steep price hikes in Oracle Java licensing has become an issue for CIOs, according to a software asset management expert.

Organizations looking to avoid Oracle Java licensing hikes introduced nearly two years ago may save nearly 50 percent of their expected costs by moving to alternatives, said Martin Thompson, founder of ITAM Review, which provides resources to people responsible for IT asset management.

Speaking to The Register following the ITAM Review Wisdom Unplugged event in London this week, Thompson said Oracle's changes to its approach to licensing Java were among the topics of debate.

Oracle introduced a paid subscription for Java in September 2018, and in January 2023 decided to switch its pricing model to per employee rather than per user, creating a steep price hike for customers. In July 2023, Gartner recorded users experiencing price increases of between two and five times when they switched to the new licensing model.

Thompson said unlike most licensing issues, the Java dilemma – whether to stick with Oracle and manage the costs or move to an open source alternative – must go right to the top of the IT organization. "This ultimately needs to be a CIO decision at the end of the day. It's a significant shift," he said.