Applications are the backbone of modern business. And when it comes to building enterprise applications, Java has made a name for itself as the Swiss Army knife of programming languages. Its “write once, run anywhere” philosophy drove widespread adoption and established the platform as the backbone of enterprise applications. In fact, 50% of today's enterprise apps are Java-based. This means that most businesses today rely on Java in some way.
But of the millions of applications running on Java today, more than half are using Java 11 in production, and nearly 33% are using Java 8. ten years ago. Therefore, a significant portion of companies run their business on apps built on older versions of this development ecosystem.
A wake-up call for IT leaders
This is concerning for IT leaders. After all, the nature of software is changeable and designed to improve as the underlying hardware advances. For example, Java 22 is the latest version with improvements in safety, usability, performance, and memory efficiency. However, to truly take advantage of modern Java, apps built for the ecosystem must be constantly maintained to maximize performance and minimize exposure to risks and security vulnerabilities.
Unfortunately, many teams still focus firmly on building and deploying new and innovative features for business stakeholders, rather than on the technical maintenance to keep the underlying apps up to date. I'm guessing.This is also reflected in the latest information from VMware Spring situation The report found that the main barriers to upgrading to a new version of Spring Boot (the most popular Java development framework) are an inability to prioritize (46%) and a lack of ability to prioritize the current environment. It became clear that there was a lack of motivation to do so. (51%). The drawback here is that the application may work fine. sufficient Businesses using older versions experience upgrade inertia, leaving them vulnerable to the pitfalls of outdated software and unable to take advantage of cost savings and performance improvements that help them succeed in competitive markets. Masu.
The speed of business is changing and getting faster. To keep pace with the pace of technological and business innovation, enterprises and IT leaders must consider Java migration as a strategic priority and take a systematic approach to modernize their Java app ecosystem. It is essential that you begin planning and executing a complete upgrade process.
Is that juice really worth squeezing?
The biggest dilemma for leaders when deciding whether to embark on this journey is how much time and money it will require. In reality, there is no better ROI for her than using the latest version of certain software. And it's not just a matter of staying up to date. Upgrades improve the security, performance, and agility of your business's software infrastructure and deliver significant cost savings across the lifecycle of all applications.
Security is probably the biggest area of vulnerability (especially for organizations in regulated industries where secure software is non-negotiable). Typically, when vulnerabilities are identified in software or programming languages, patches are issued to close the holes and reduce risk. However, for older software, providers eventually stop supporting certain versions. This includes continued security patches, small updates, and the end of general technical support. For example, Java 8 no longer receives long-term support from Oracle. As a result, the 33% of businesses still running that version are increasing their chances of exposing their applications to data breaches and other security issues, and increasing the likelihood that their businesses will be on the front page of the news for the wrong reasons. I am. Upgrading provides security features that help protect your users' data and ensure the integrity and reliability of your Java applications.
That said, perhaps a more compelling reason to move to a newer version is performance. As the capabilities of the entire hardware stack evolve, so do the software capabilities built on top of it. Performance improvements in Java version 17 and later enable software applications to handle larger workloads more efficiently, resulting in faster response times and a better user experience. Additionally, a reduced infrastructure footprint lowers hardware requirements and minimizes operational costs. The result is support for cost optimization and resource efficiency, making a huge difference to your organization's bottom line.
As an example, a company recently ran an application that required 1GB of memory per instance before upgrading to Java 17, but after the upgrade those instances now only require 400MB of memory. please imagine. The company realized savings of 60% from its original infrastructure spend. As the app runs more efficiently, those savings will continue to grow every day, week, and month. These are meaningful and, more importantly, long-term benefits achieved by upgrading just one primary application.
Not only are businesses saving money on cloud and infrastructure spending, but these apps are becoming more efficient and capable. As another example, Netflix recently migrated its app to Java 17 and has already achieved a 15% voluntary adoption rate, significant cost savings, and streamlined operations. Requiring less memory can result in faster startup times, which can result in better support during high-demand periods such as Black Friday and Open Enrollment. This is good news for leaders looking to increase their organization's competitive advantage while optimizing infrastructure spending.
This means that businesses that don't consider upgrading to newer versions of Java are missing out on significant performance benefits, cost savings from a smaller infrastructure footprint, and enhanced security features. And at the same time Company A is delaying migration and realizing these benefits, Competitor B may be prioritizing upgrades. The technological gap between these two organizations will widen rapidly. The juice is definitely worth the squeeze.
It's the peak season for immigration.
At some point, organizations will need to evolve the way they do business to keep up with the rate of change in their industry. Upgrading doesn't have to be complicated. In fact, setting a goal to migrate your app to the latest version of Java can be a motivator for developers. The reduced complexity, efficiency, and increased performance of apps that run on updated versions makes developers themselves more productive and helps them build new and innovative solutions. For example, frameworks like Spring and Spring Boot make Java programming fast, easy, and safe for everyone. Spring's focus on speed, simplicity, and productivity has made it the world's most popular Java framework (46% of all enterprise workloads use Spring Framework), helping teams move forward with high performance and productivity. It will greatly streamline the way you build cost-effective apps.
For companies wanting to start down this path, it's best to first identify the apps that are easiest to upgrade, such as those that can be upgraded using available OpenRewrite recipes, or those that have no breaking changes between versions. . Save the apps that are likely to be more difficult for last, but use them as learning opportunities. For example, a team may come across an app that has multiple third-party dependencies, and those dependencies may also have reached end-of-life status. Find and identify replacements for these dependencies and apply them at scale across other applications.
While there are certainly some apps that technically can't jump at this point, the vast majority can and should. This scrutiny and gradual migration process ultimately proved to be a crash course in the subtleties of continuous migration, allowing the team to align with regular releases of future Java versions to make them more seamless. You will be able to do this.
final thoughts
Some of the world's largest companies use Java for mission-critical applications. However, the nature of software is that it is dynamic and changes over time. Additionally, a recent survey revealed that developers expect their companies to increase their investment in Java-specific development tools and expand their hiring efforts for Java developers over the next year. , many are still powered by the Java edition released in 2014.
It is essential that businesses recognize the need to ensure that these mission-critical apps benefit from continually upgraded underlying software. After all, in today's dynamic business environment, moving to new versions of Java is a strategic choice to drive innovation, increase competitiveness, attract top development talent, and maximize cost-effectiveness. is essential.
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