The recent acquisition of Payara by Azul marks a significant moment for the Jakarta EE community. This move brings new investment and resources into the ecosystem, and we at OmniFish view this development with optimism for the future of Jakarta EE. We welcome the opportunity for fair and collaborative competition.
However, this acquisition also raises important questions for current Payara customers and community users. As you evaluate your options, we believe it’s a good time to consider Eclipse GlassFish, supported by OmniFish, as a powerful and reliable alternative.
What this acquisition means for the Jakarta EE community
Azul’s entry into the Jakarta EE space is a positive sign. As a larger company with significant resources and a long history in the Java ecosystem, Azul has the potential to meaningfully contribute to the Jakarta EE standards and community. We hope to see Azul become even more involved in driving the platform forward and we’re looking forward to collaborate with them in the Jakarta EE Working Group.
However, there are also considerations worth thinking about as Azul integrates Payara into its organization:
Organizational Integration: As a larger corporation, Azul will naturally bring its own processes, priorities, and strategies to Payara. It’s worth considering how this integration might shape Payara’s direction and whether it will continue to evolve in ways that match your needs.
Platform Lock-in: Will the integration with Azul’s JDK and broader platform offerings create stronger dependencies on Azul’s ecosystem?
Pricing Evolution: As Azul consolidates its offerings, how might support pricing and licensing terms evolve?
Innovation Pace: Larger organizations often operate differently than focused, specialized teams. It’s worth monitoring how Payara’s innovation cycle and community responsiveness develop under Azul’s ownership.
Eclipse GlassFish: Open, Innovative, and Fully Supported
For those seeking a stable, open, and innovative alternative to Payara, with clear independence and transparency, we believe Eclipse GlassFish is an excellent choice. If you want to learn more about how GlassFish compares to Payara, read our detailed comparison.
GlassFish is not just an open-source project or a reference for learning Jakarta EE as it used to be. That completely changed in 2022, when GlassFish 7 was released under OmniFish’s leadership. Nowadays, Eclipse GlassFish is a robust, enterprise-grade production platform with active commercial support. At OmniFish, we are deeply involved in the Jakarta EE community and are committed to the fast evolution of GlassFish, with a focus on production stability, innovation, and performance. And, above all, we have a clear vision that we consistently follow to evolve GlassFish into one of the best and most useful runtimes for enterprise applications.
Here’s why we believe GlassFish, supported by OmniFish, is a great choice for your Jakarta EE applications:
- No Vendor Lock-in: We believe in open standards and open source. With GlassFish, you are free to choose the JVM that best suits your needs. We don’t lock you into a specific vendor’s ecosystem.
- Active Innovation: We are constantly improving GlassFish, with frequent updates that bring new features, performance enhancements, and security fixes, including support for the latest Java and Jakarta EE. You can learn more about our latest release in our GlassFish 7.1 blog post.
- Top-Level Support at Lower Prices: We offer world-class support for GlassFish at a fraction of the cost of other vendors. You can find out more about our support services here.
- Expertise and Commitment: The OmniFish team consists of experienced engineers and Java Champions passionate about Jakarta EE and GlassFish. We are deeply involved in the community, committed to the platform’s long term success. We have active representatives in all Jakarta EE committees, frequently contribute to multiple specifications, and help coordinate Jakarta EE Platform releases.
Community-Focused: We maintain strong ties to the community, listen to feedback, and share our plans and knowledge. Our roadmap is driven by user needs rather than broader corporate priorities. All our open-source contributions are transparent and high quality, forming the foundation for the enterprise solutions we deliver to our customers.
Get expert support for GlassFish or Payara
Whether you’re running GlassFish, Payara Community, or any other Jakarta EE runtime, our team of experts is ready to back you. OmniFish offers 24/7 support, performance optimization, migration assistance, and more.
We’re here to help
We believe that a healthy Jakarta EE ecosystem is one with many choices and healthy competition. We are excited to collaborate with Azul and the rest of the community to continue to make Jakarta EE the best platform for building enterprise Java applications.
If you are a current Payara customer or a Payara Community user, we invite you to explore what GlassFish and OmniFish have to offer. We even provide support directly for Payara Community, or in a transition phase to allow to gradually migrate from Payara Enterprise to Payara Community and then to GlassFish. If you need help with your current setup, whether you’re a Payara customer or not, don’t hesitate to reach out.
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