JAVA SE 8 Licenses – FAQ #
September 27, 2018The following FAQ list has been compiled from our clients’ questions regarding Oracle’s recently added licensing requirements for the Java client (Admin UI) for 2019+:
1) It’s our understanding Oracle’s Java changes will not impact the employees who use the Self Service Interface, and we will not need to license those.
a. Correct. Only Admin users need to be licensed. Those running in the browser (AKA Self Service) are not running a Java client.
2) What changes when we add the licenses? Is there any thing else that needs to be done from our IT side? By buying the licenses will the daily functionality be the same as it has been?
a. Nothing functionally changes in the product. For Java updates: instead of your current method of attaining patches for Java 1.8 (i.e. from Oracle), clients will get the Java 1.8 patches from High Line. Your IT will then need to make those patches available to those allocated users to install on their PCs.
3) What is the functional difference, if any, of running “in the browser” vs “the Admin interface”?
a. Foreseeing changes in Java, High Line has been adding functionality to the Browser (self-service) interface, to ensure that functionality available in Admin is also available in Self Service. At this time, the main functional difference is the capability to have multiple forms open. While you can open multiple tabs currently, each browser can only focus on one type of subject i.e. one person would show in all person related tabs.
4) We have for example, around 300 ADMIN accounts (IE Time approvers, supervisors, directors, IT, HR, Payroll).
a. To save costs (and because the browser interface is more modern and has great new features), any casual users should be transitioned to use the browser. This is the direction of the industry going forward. There is no difference here between hosted clients or on-premise clients, the options are the same.
b. Based on client feedback, we are providing a further 10% discount (license fee) for clients requiring 100 or more licenses.
5) Since we’re now hosted how does it work?
a. There is no difference here between hosted clients or on-premise clients, the options are the same.
6) Does the 3-year term cost $40 per NU or is that structured annually? Is this the correct pricing structure using 300 licenses as an example?
300 x $40 per license x $8.40 per user = $14,520 per year?
a. It is a one-time license fee and then a maintenance fee for each of the 3 years.
b. To make it clearer see chart below including the 10% discount for 100 or more licenses:
| License Cost | $40 |
|---|---|
| Maintenance Cost | $8.40 |
| Discount for over 100 | 10% |
| Sample # Licenses | License Total | Year 1 Maintenance | Year 2 Maintenance | Year 3 Maintenance | Total Cost over 3-year term |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40 | $8.40 | $8.40 | $8.40 | $65.20 |
| 10 | $400 | $84.00 | $84.00 | $84.00 | $652.00 |
| 25 | $1,000 | $210.00 | $210.00 | $210.00 | $1,630.00 |
| 100 | $3,600 | $840.00 | $840.00 | $840.00 | $6,120.00 |
| 300 | $10,800 | $2,520.00 | $2,520.00 | $2,520.00 | $18,360.00 |
i. Minimum purchase is 10 licenses but then they can be any number after that, not in blocks.
ii. Maintenance will be billed annually. The first year’s maintenance is due up front with the License fee.
iii. Numbers required should be based on actual people using the software via the Java client, irrelevant of what might be listed in IMUS.
7) If we purchase X licenses for 2019 and run out of licenses and need more, can we purchase them at any time we need them or do you need an exact number?
a. The license cost covers the three years and then you also pay maintenance for each of those years. You will not be able to purchase more licenses although you could cancel support on some in year 2 or 3 if found you don’t need that many anymore. If you think you’ll have growth in users you’ll need to arrange for that up front. Note: High Line recommends transitioning users to the browser UI.
8) It says the license is for a 3-year term. Is this the only option or can we buy licenses for 1 year or extend for a certain period of time?
a. This is the only option provided by Oracle and covers the Premier support term. At the end of the 3 years clients will have the option to purchase licenses for the Extended support period but as noted, clients should be working towards moving all users to the browser interface.
9) How do we coordinate the purchase of these licenses?
a. A CCare case should be put in stating the number of licenses you would like to purchase. We’ve extended the date for this up to Oct 12th.
b. Note that it is a 3-year commitment and you will not be able to purchase more, we have to commit the total number to Oracle and pay upfront for this contract.
c. Once we’ve confirmed numbers to Oracle we expect to be able to start sending out work orders for the purchases in the latter part of October.
d. We will be looking to have the approved work orders or POs back by the end of November.
10) How does that work to move all usage to the browser, do you still need one person with the Admin interface?
a. No, the Admin interface will not be required. A superuser (the equivalent of P2K) will need to be set up for use in the browser.
11) Can a license be transferred from one Named User to another?
a. Yes, if someone leaves the organization their license can be allocated to another person.
12) Your attachment talks about embedding this in the WebLogic server instead of stand-alone licenses. How do we do this? Alternately, how do we embed it in the Oracle database?
a. This was to point out that the base application running in WebLogic is covered by the WLS licensing. The DB sample was for any Java that may be used in the DB. Neither of these is relative for the Admin UI.
13) As noted on the attached document, option 1 is to move all usage to the browser (SS) interface instead of the Admin interface. Has this been tested to ensure everything is working, i.e. W2 processes?
a. Usage in the browser uses the same business logic as in Admin, the difference is the presentation. We have noted that certain forms presented/used in Admin do not present properly in the browser – i.e. field sizes and field/table positioning. We are working on refinements to functions to make them look best in the browser going forward, which could mean they will not look as great in Admin in the future. As noted, this is presentation only, not functionality.
14) Our Admin for High Line does a lot of detailed user calcs – she wasn’t sure if the browser only would meet her needs. Would you have any input or experience around this?
a. By User Calcs we’re assuming you mean usercalcs/Workflows that guide navigation, as opposed to usercalcs that are used in the payroll calculation (as an example). For workflow to work in the browser instead of Admin, there needs to be some adjustments to popup messages to the end-user: change these to go to “Employee” or “Current Identity” instead of “User” or “Current User”. High Line can assist with this as clients transition users to the browser.
15) We currently are using JAVA 1.7 for version EP 4.50. Do we have to purchase licenses for 1.7 too?
a. Java 7 ended public updates in Apr-2015 and support in Jul-2016. Clients should already be using 8 for 4.50 but retaining 7 for Discoverer if you still use that. Clients will need to purchase licenses for all Admin users but the only patches available will be for 1.8.
16) There was a reference to using the Browser only for Personality then no issue, but how do we know that the browsers have full functionality we need. Some confusion as to what is really supported in the browser version.
a. With NextGen, you can run all functions in the browser including processes such as UPCALC. Some screens still need work to make them look better in the browser which is an ongoing focus.
17) Are there any plans to go to OpenJDK for your application? If this is the case then maybe we could just use the current release of SE 8 and not worry about updating till the OpenJDK becomes an option.
a. The OpenJDK doesn’t contain the pieces we need for the client side such as the Swing libraries. It is more intended for full server-side applications that are not being run in WebLogic. It is also created and maintained by Oracle at this time but is more of a challenge to patch. We also expect that they will not be patching the Version 8 level of the OpenJDK going forward.
18) Why would I need to purchase licensing for support of an outdated version of Java when the responsibility to update it to newer versions is on High Line?
a. Unfortunately, Oracle is ending the era of “free” versions of Java that they have provided in the past.
b. High Line has met this responsibility. As we’ve been made aware of the industry standard moving away from Java Webstart technology, we have improved functionality in the browser UI (Self Service). All Personality forms and reports can be run from Self Service. As noted in other items, some forms don’t render as nicely in the browser as in Admin. High Line has not wanted to change the Admin form (in deference to clients still using that interface), therefore some forms (for example IMFDH – an administrator’s form) do not currently look as nice in the browser as in Admin. High Line is working to make the forms work perfectly in both worlds, but in the short term, clients can also extend any form/make any edits required for their self-service users. As noted, in the browser we do not have the facility for multiple forms to be open with different employees in each (this is not an option in browsers in general, though we are working on it). Browser does not require Java Webstart (the browser version of Personality). Clients can move to ‘browser only’ when ready.
c. After Java 1.8 there will no longer be the Java Webstart or Swing components that drive the Admin UI.
d. If you move all your usage to the browser now you don’t need to purchase licenses.
e. The industry (and world) direction is to move everything to browser type interfaces and in some future release we will move to one of the long-term Java releases, and as of that point in time, the Admin interface will no longer be available.
