Introducing IBM Enterprise Application Runtimes

The end of community support for Java 8 marks a significant shift in the enterprise application landscape, pushing organizations to modernize their dependent Java 8 applications or face increasing security and operational risks.

Applications running on older Java versions accumulate significant technical debt, resulting in increased maintenance requirements that divert valuable developer resources away from strategic and innovative projects. In a market where agility, scalability and security are essential for success, it is crucial for enterprises to prioritize reducing technical debt to stay competitive. By doing so, they can improve developer productivity and unlock the agility needed to innovate without being held back by outdated systems. Technical debt poses a substantial obstacle to adopting newer practices and achieving business goals, hindering an organization’s ability to innovate, adapt to changing market conditions and improve overall efficiency.

To address this, we are introducing IBM Enterprise Application Runtimes (EAR), a software solution designed the streamline Java application development and deployment while providing robust modernization tooling and runtime flexibility. Leveraging the new IBM Modernized Runtime Extension for Java and IBM Application Modernization Accelerator, IBM EAR is a comprehensive solution that solves for the complexities of developing, deploying and modernizing Java applications.

Modernization has proven to be difficult as organizations face conflicting challenges: high costs to move to later Java versions and runtimes, and migrations threatening operational stability and business continuity. Your development teams might want to run modern applications with newer Java workloads, but your administrators need to be focused on maintaining the stability and security of existing infrastructure. 

IBM Enterprise Application Runtimes (EAR) introduces IBM Modernized Runtime Extension for Java (MoRE) to the portfolio, allowing organizations to do more with their existing operational model by leveraging their existing investments in the IBM WebSphere Network Deployment (WAS ND) administrative console and enable Java 8 and Java 17 workloads to be managed under a single operational model. With IBM MoRE, IBM WAS ND clients can modernize more applications and pave the path to newer technologies without incurring the heavy operational costs associated with adopting to alternative operations.

Focus your attention on more innovation, more efficiency and more collaboration while accelerating new application development in support of current and future business and market requirements. 

Modernizing enterprise applications is no small feat—outdated code, complex dependencies and operational risks make the process daunting and expensive. Recognizing this, IBM has significantly reduced the complexity of modernization with AI and automation tools. IBM EAR introduces IBM Application Modernization Accelerator (AMA) to simplify and accelerate modernization to any supported destination. 

IBM AMA helps you discover and visualize existing relationships and dependencies, accelerate data collection to determine which modernization strategy to employ, and customize your plan with automatically generated intelligent guidance for your applications. Additionally, IBM AMA optimizes the analysis of Java runtime migration processes, minimizing the need to customize Java runtime configurations for new environments.

Take control of your modernization journey with IBM AMA and break free from limitations to equip your teams with the ability to build, deploy and innovate faster than ever.

As a subscription bundle, IBM EAR allows organizations to scale and customize their infrastructure based on the unique requirements of each project, application or use case. In addition to this license and subscription flexibility, IBM EAR recognizes the power of choice in selecting the most appropriate runtime for different workloads and developer needs.

Choose from an array of IBM runtimes and Red Hat runtimes to dynamically develop, deploy and modernize Java applications and support your current and future Java estate.

• IBM WebSphere Liberty: A lightweight open framework for building fast and efficient Java applications, from monoliths to microservices.
• Red Hat build of Quarkus: A Kubernetes Native Java stack tailored for OpenJDK, HotSpot and GraalVM, optimized for microservices.
• IBM WebSphere Application Server: A flexible, security-rich, highly reliable and scalable Java server runtime environment for enterprise applications.
• JBoss Enterprise Application Platform: Delivers enterprise-grade security, performance, and scalability to Java enterprise applications.

Whether it’s leveraging a runtime best suited for high-performance, microservices or efficiency, this flexibility allows organizations to adapt quickly to shifting market demands without overcommitting to unnecessary resources.

Organizations are being increasingly challenged by the impending end of support for Java 8. The transition necessitates addressing significant technical debt and pursuing modernization strategies that do not disrupt operational continuity or incur heavy costs.

With IBM Enterprise Application Runtimes, organizations can begin their modernization journey with necessary flexibility and modernization tooling—all without requiring an operational overhaul and threatening business continuity. With this comprehensive approach, organizations can effectively navigate the complexities of system modernization, mitigate risks and position themselves for continued growth and innovation.

Explore IBM Modernized Runtime Extension for Java