Listen to this articleBelow is our recent interview with Steve Millidge, The Founder of Payara:
Q: Could you provide our readers with a brief introduction to your company?
A: Payara is a born global software company, with employees in 13 countries working 100% remotely.
We create products to support applications built in the programming language Java, and specifically, using standardized Java APIs for enterprise, Java EE (now Jakarta EE).
When support for the application server GlassFish was dropped by Oracle, many large enterprises using it – including our first client, BMW – were at a loss for a reliable, supported replacement. This was an opportunity for us to innovate and to provide an open software solution, our Payara Server. This has grown into a suite of application servers to be used with Jakarta EE – Payara Enterprise, Payara Community and Payara Micro.
And we have recently reached the next stage of our scale-up journey, launching a new product to be used with Jakarta EE its microservices optimised counterpart, MicroProfile: Payara Cloud, a “serverless” solution, automating the infrastructural tasks related to deploying a Java application on the cloud.
Q: Any highlights on your recent announcement?
A: Payara Cloud, by deploying applications directly to public cloud, will eliminate the need for Kubernetes and application server theory. It’s an example of automation that saves time and money.
A highlight for us has been already securing endorsement from top influencers in the Jakarta EE industry. Ivar Grimstad, Java Champion, Jakarta EE Developer advocate at the Eclipse Foundation, and so much of a Java legend he has a tattoo of Duke the Java mascot, provided a testimonial, saying: “It’s so simple to use. Payara Cloud solves the configuration problem of running applications in the cloud. There aren’t many products like Payara Cloud operating today. It’s easier, it’s simpler, it’s a good business decision because it takes the stress away from your organization for the management of the infrastructure.”
David R. Heffelfinger, Java Champion, Apache NetBeans PMC Member, Technical Author, Jakarta EE Consultant and Instructor, said: “I deployed a simple WAR file using MicroProfile APIs and Payara Cloud. It worked like a charm.”
Adam Bien, Java Champion, podcaster, blogger, JavaONE Rockstar Consultant and AWS Hero trainer, also endorsed Payara Cloud: “What I really like about this approach is, for example, we have Helidon and Quarkus, they try to shift the deployment to the build time. Payara Cloud is completely different. It uses what application servers do the best: the separation of the infrastructure from the business logic.”
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Q: Can you give us more insights into your offering?
A: Payara Cloud works by utilizing the key Jakarta EE concept of a deployable application, isolated from infrastructure. It runs on Microsoft Azure, building a runtime on Azure Kubernetes Service. The software takes the user’s WAR file, packages it into a Docker image with Payara Micro – Payara’s microservices runtime – and completes all YAML, builds container images, creates a pod, deploys it on Kubernetes, updates the API server to manage ingress on Microsoft Azure and creates an SSL certificate for the application. It successfully manages all the infrastructural tasks related to the cloud. The developer selects their WAR, clicks deploy, and watches the apps run in the cloud.
Q: What can we expect from your company in next 6 months? What are your plans?
A: Our profitability means we do not need to depend on investors, instead focusing on an organic growth plan through sales of Payara Platform Enterprise and Payara Cloud subscriptions. Over the next six months, we’ll be building on our position as a scale-up business, regularly communicating to the team our clear ambition to grow sustainably and ambitiously – in people, skills, adoption our products and revenue.
International trade has been part of our strategy since the beginning . The nature of open source means that users are free to download our Community Edition software, build applications and then deploy them into production. We aim – through documentation, guides and blogs – to ensure that people all over the world can easily adopt the Payara Platform. This means that our software has been used globally and we have had to be focused on our ability to serve customers all over the world.
We will reach even more developers with Payara Cloud. It will help more teams improve their cloud deployment process, with Payara Cloud making it quicker and easier, improving efficiency and shortening development cycles. With Payara Cloud, Jakarta EE developer teams will be able to plug in to an automated process to deal with operational necessities, allowing developers to concentrate on the coding that matters. You can sign up for Payara Cloud here. We will be promoting it at upcoming conferences, including virtual conference JakartaOne.
This is combined with being an active part of the open source industry in which we operate, and recruiting for new roles in Java development and sales in our ambitious growth plan. Investigate open job opportunities here.
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Q: What is the best thing about your company that people might not know about?
A: We won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise specifically for International Trade in 2021. The most prestigious UK business awards, the Queen’s Awards, single out and celebrate innovative businesses in the UK, with the International Trade award specifically aiming to celebrate those delivering impressive results on a global scale. This honors the fact that 95% of our services are exported to customers in 32 countries!
