Azul Systems, Inc. (Azul), the award-winning leader in Java runtime solutions, today announced the general availability of Zulu Enterprise, a commercialized, fully-supported build of OpenJDK with a robust matrix of tiered support options and supported operating environments, enabling broad deployment across the enterprise.

As the industry's first company dedicated to supporting an enterprise-quality, commercialized version of OpenJDK across various operating systems, hypervisors and Cloud platforms, Azul will help accelerate the continued adoption of open source Java technology by enterprises. By taking full advantage of the growing OpenJDK ecosystem, Java developers, system administrators and end users are now able to enjoy the full benefits of open source Java with the comfort of world-class support provided by the only company 100% dedicated to Java and the Java Virtual Machine (JVM).

Zulu Enterprise is ideal for companies who have key applications running on various versions of Java, including older versions such as Java 6, and have a need for cost-effective, high-quality ongoing support. Major versions of Java are supported for ten years from initial General Availability (for example in the case of Java 6, Zulu Enterprise support contracts will be available through 2024). The availability of long-term support enables Java-based businesses to migrate entirely on their schedule.

"Java is ubiquitous throughout the enterprise and is expected to remain dominant for years to come. Our corporate clients are looking for enterprise-class, cost-effective Java support options," said Gartner Research Vice President Mark Driver. "Support offerings based on open source Java platforms such as OpenJDK can enable enterprises to achieve this goal and also ensure long-term access and availability of various versions as needed."

Key features and benefits of Zulu Enterprise include:

• Based on Zulu, Azul's freely available build of OpenJDK, a 100% open source implementation of the Java Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE)

• Compliant and compatible with Java SE versions 6 and 7 (version 8 forthcoming), verified using the OpenJDK Community Technology Compatibility Kit (TCK), with further rigorous testing performed by Azul's global Quality Assurance team

• Ten year support lifetime for major releases, ensuring long-term availability and access

• Access to bug and security fixes out of the standard release cycle

• Unique support options including Application Guard and dedicated Technical Account Managers (details below)

• Operating systems supported include various Red Hat, SUSE, Ubuntu, and CentOS Linux distributions and Microsoft Windows Server. Cloud support includes Amazon AWS,  Microsoft Windows Azure, and Rackspace

• 24x7x365 commercial support provided by a globally-distributed team with 10+ years of experience supporting mission-critical Java deployments across a variety of industries including financial services, insurance, web & Ecommerce, SaaS, telecommunications, manufacturing, government, and others

• Various tiered (Gold, Platinum, and Elite) cost-effective, subscription-based support options

Application Guard and dedicated Technical Account Manager

Application Guard is a unique optional feature for Zulu Enterprise customers which enables users to specify exact operating system and JVM version and configuration information that is then incorporated into Azul's rigorous Quality Assurance processes. The Zulu JDK/JVM is thereby tested against the exact OS and JVM combination in use by an enterprise. Application Guard can significantly reduce application failures due to operating environment factors and incompatibilities, and can dramatically reduce the time and costs spent debugging such problems.

Dedicated Technical Account Managers (TAMs) are also available for Zulu Enterprise customers. This unique support option assigns a dedicated technical support engineer to a customer, ensuring continuity of knowledge of the use of Zulu within an enterprise, hands-on management of cases, and expedites problem resolution.

"With Zulu Enterprise, for the first time there is a commercialized version of OpenJDK with multi-platform support," said Scott Sellers, President and CEO of Azul Systems. "The Java Community now has a compelling new choice in a fully-supported, enterprise-class Java SE solution based on the open source OpenJDK. Zulu Enterprise enables enterprises to run their Java applications their way, in their chosen environment and on their time-table of version evolution; cost effectively, reliably and dependably."

Zulu Enterprise is available immediately. For more information on Zulu Enterprise or to download, go to http://www.azulsystems.com/products/zulu.