According to a market research firm Gartner, Oracle's new Java SE Universal subscription licensing model may lead to increased costs for its both new and existing customers. Such previous models as the “Named User Plus” and “Processor” are not available. This means that user and server licensings get changed to the Employee for Java SE Universal Subscription. Its cost is formed on the basis of customer`s number of workers.
Oracle defines a “Named User Plus” as any individual authorized by an enterprise to use the programs that are set up on a specific server or a few servers. It does not matter whether individuals use them actively or not at any given time. The company also counts non-human users as “Named User Plus”. Any processor running Oracle programs is considered to be a "Processor," which can be utilized by internal users of a company.
Gartner's report suggests that the switch to the employee metric can lead to higher costs for enterprises, as the new Java SE Universal subscription requires licensing all employees in an organization, regardless of whether they use Oracle's products. Temporary employees, contractors, and agents are also counted in the employee metric. The subscription under the new model costs $15 per employee monthly, compared to “Named User Plus” model`s $2.50/desktop/month and $25/ processor/ month in the “Processor” license.
Gartner expects Oracle to pursue licensing compliance forcefully, as the company has done in the past with its E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft, and Fusion Cloud applications. The research firm also notes that 52% of Oracle's software compliance and audit-related interactions in 2022 were focused on Java.
In consequence, it remains unclear what enterprises using the legacy subscription of Java can expect in terms of renewal fees and time. The Gartner report suggests that the cost of the Java SE Universal Subscription may be higher than the outdated subscriptions due to the impact of the employee metric.
