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Salesforce.com’s Heroku platform as a service (PaaS) unit has announced Heroku Enterprise for Java, a new service for IT organizations to build and run Java applications in the cloud.
With Heroku Enterprise for Java, enterprises can create and deploy enterprise Java applications in minutes instead of months, as well as move their apps to a continuous delivery model, all without traditional software or infrastructure in line with the Salesforce.com tradition. After all, Heroku Enterprise for Java is part of the Salesforce Platform, a leading enterprise cloud platform for next-generation social and mobile apps.
Although Java is the most widely adopted language in the enterprise, with millions of Java developers building and maintaining Java applications worldwide, creating enterprise Java applications has been a challenge, given the early complexities of Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE).
Traditionally, creating enterprise Java applications has required piecing together both a range of development and runtime infrastructure tools-such as source-code control systems, continuous integration servers, testing and staging environments, load balancers, application server clusters, databases and in-memory caching systems. This process can extend application building and deployment by months. With Heroku Enterprise for Java, enterprise developers can get a full Java solution in a single package, provisioned with a single click, Heroku officials said.
“Enterprise developers have been looking for a better way to easily create innovative applications without the hassle of building out a back-end infrastructure,” Oren Teich, chief operating officer at Heroku, said in a statement. “With Heroku Enterprise for Java, developers get all the benefits of developing in Java along with the ease of using an open, cloud platform in a single click.”
As part of the Heroku Enterprise for Java launch, Heroku also announced integration with products from Atlassian, a provider of collaboration software for product development teams. The new Heroku plug-in for Atlassian’s Bamboo continuous integration service enables developers to automate application delivery across all lifecycle stages: source code control, testing, staging and production deployment. More than 21,000 companies of all sizes already use Atlassian’s issue tracking, collaboration, and software development products to work faster and smarter, together.
Heroku Enterprise for Java includes a full Java stack, Heroku runtime, tools and more. In addition to support for core Java Development Kit (JDK) and Java Virtual Machine (JVM), including new support for JDK 7 and latest JDK 8 builds, Heroku Enterprise for Java provides a full stack of preconfigured systems needed to build scalable, high-performance, highly available applications. This also includes Memcache for session management and horizontal scaling, and Postgres for relational data management.
Meanwhile, in addition to providing runtime and management of the full stack of components, the Heroku Runtime service includes separate environments for development and staging. Leveraging the capabilities of Heroku’s PaaS, these environments can be provisioned instantaneously, providing a way for IT organizations to easily adopt rapid development methodologies. And as with other applications running on Heroku, these applications can be scaled to serve large volumes with a simple control change, the company said.
Also, when combined with Atlassian’s continuous integration service, Bamboo, Heroku Enterprise for Java automates the application delivery process. From code check-in to test builds, staging deploys and production promotion, developers get a smooth out-of-the-box experience with no server setup needed, Heroku said. All components are automatically provisioned and configured.
Heroku Enterprise for Java also provides native support for Eclipse. With the Eclipse plug-in, developers can create and deploy Java applications directly within their integrated development environment (IDE). In addition, Heroku now supports direct deployment of Java WAR files, providing a simple way to migrate existing Java applications to the cloud. In addition, the service includes enterprise support, providing access to technical resources with guaranteed service-level agreements (SLAs). Optional 24/7 support services are also available.
“The Salesforce platform is broadening to encompass many essential services such as file storage and identity management that a complete platform has to provide to be a hub of developer and ISV interest,” said Al Hilwa, an analyst with IDC. “The most exciting hardcore thing they are doing for developers is probably the Force.com Canvas, which provides a framework for integrating applications written in other programming language into Force.com. In essence, the company is showing significant progress in integrating the Heroku acquisition with the established Force.com platform, which has been historically used to extend the Salesforce applications. Now you can write Ruby or Java apps that use Force.com metadata and context.”
Heroku Enterprise for Java pricing starts at $1,000 per month per application.