Oracle has just rolled out a new pricing model for their Java SE subscriptions, moving away from the traditional Named User Plus and Processor metrics. Instead, the subscriptions will now be based on the “Employee for Java SE Universal Subscription” metric, which encompasses all full-time, part-time, and temporary employees of both the client company and any agents, contractors, outsourcers, and consultants that support their internal business operations. The number of licenses required is determined by the number of employees rather than just the number of employees who actually use the programs.

It’s worth noting that under this new pricing model, the number of licenses must, at a minimum, be equal to the number of employees on the order’s effective date. Additionally, the number of employees is still capped at 50,000 processors, and additional licenses will be required if usage exceeds that number.

Here are the list prices based on the number of employees:

• 3,000 employees: $432,000 per year
• 10,000 employees: $990,000 per year
• 20,000 employees: $1.62 million per year
• 30,000 employees: $2 million per year
• 40,000 employees: $2.5 million per year

It’s important to note that these metrics only apply to Full Use for internal use within companies and do not apply to ASFU, ESL, ISV, or Redistribution.

It’s unclear at this time what prompted Oracle to make this change, but some speculate that it may be related to recent discussions around enforcing licensing for deployments on Vmware. Regardless, it’s important to keep in mind the details of this new pricing model and factor in any potential additional costs.