Businesses say they are getting four Oracle Java audits a year

A survey of IT asset managers (ITAM) and software asset managers (SAM) in organisations that use Java has revealed that the majority have experienced an Oracle Java audit in the past three years.

The survey of 500 qualified participants from six continents, conducted by Dimensional Research for the ITAM Forum and Azul, reported that 75% of respondents worked in organisations that were audited by Oracle for Java compliance. More than a quarter of the survey’s respondents spend over $500,000 a year on resolving licensing issues including audits, additional licenses and penalties for non-compliance.

More than a third of survey participants (37%) said that compliance, including the management of excessive licensing, is the top issue facing their organisation. In addition to the cost spent each year resolving licensing issues, a quarter of survey participants report that complex software configurations make tracking application usage more difficult.

According to Simon Ritter, author of OpenJDK migration for dummies, and deputy chief technology officer (CTO) of Azul, building a complete JDK usage inventory requires examining each machine in the IT estate that runs any Java Virtual Machine (JVM)–based applications.

The poll found that organisations perform licensing audits for software providers quite often. Over half (51%) said that they run an audit at least four times a year and 81% said they audit at least twice a year. A quarter perform audits continuously. Considering the challenges they have with maintaining accurate records of their inventories, ITAM Review recommends automating licensing audits to prevent software inventories from spiralling out of control.

In January 2023, Oracle brought in a pricing and licensing change, which introduced employee-based pricing that charges companies on their total number of employees (including part-time employees and contractors) rather than on Java usage. In response to Oracle’s price hike, survey participants deployed new systems to monitor Oracle Java usage and licensing costs.

Martin Thompson, founder of the ITAM Forum, said: “ITAM and SAM professionals are becoming increasingly vital as organisations recognise that poor license management can result in significant financial penalties and operational disruptions. They must have the resources and executive buy-in to ensure compliance and successful licence management.”

Among the ITAM and SAM specialists surveyed, 96% said that they are concerned about the cost of licensing Oracle Java. In fact, 29% said Oracle Java SE subscription, which introduces per employee licensing, has forced them to reevaluate Oracle Java usage and consider alternatives.

More than 68% of the ITAM and SAM experts polled said they could save up to 50% on Java licensing costs by migrating off Oracle Java. While licence cost savings is a major factor in migrating off Oracle Java, 57% of participants that have already completed their migrations from Oracle Java to an open-source provider did so because of security and reliability.

Scott Sellers, co-founder and CEO at Azul, said: “When it comes to the uncertainty of Oracle’s ever-shifting Java licensing terms, organisations shouldn’t have to burn ITAM resources, interrupt projects, or absorb surprise penalties just to run their applications. Moving to open-source alternatives lets them break free from the audit treadmill, regain budget and focus on delivering value.”