Guest: John Ceccarelli (LinkedIn)
Company: Azul 
Show: Java Reloaded
Topic: Cloud Native

The race to optimize Java in the cloud is far from settled. Enterprises are grappling with rising costs, while vendors and open-source projects experiment with new approaches to JVM performance. But according to John Ceccarelli, VP of Product Management at Azul, the real competition is often inertia.

“The Biggest Competitor Is Do Nothing”

Asked about rivals, Ceccarelli didn’t start with another vendor. “The biggest competitor is do nothing,” he said. Enterprises often stick with existing inefficiencies rather than pursue performance optimization. While that may feel safe in the short term, the long-term cost in wasted compute and poor elasticity is steep.

GraalVM and Project Leyden

The JVM ecosystem has seen major shifts. GraalVM, once a prominent alternative runtime, has seen reduced investment, with features folded back into OpenJDK. Meanwhile, Project Leyden is experimenting with approaches inspired by Azul’s ReadyNow technology. “The engineers were very upfront about basing much of their approach on what Azul has had in production for eight years,” Ceccarelli noted.

Complementary, Not Competitive

Ceccarelli also emphasized that many tools in this space are complementary rather than competitive. Kubernetes auto-scaling engines, often powered by AI/ML, help optimize cluster-level resource allocation. Optimizer Hub fits at the application runtime layer, ensuring that the workloads running inside Kubernetes are equally efficient.

Ecosystem Momentum

Far from being static, the Java ecosystem continues to evolve. OpenJDK innovations, third-party tools, and enterprise-focused products like Optimizer Hub are converging to address long-standing pain points in Java’s performance profile. For Azul, the focus remains on bringing production-ready solutions to enterprises today, not just experimental features for tomorrow.

A Shifting but Exciting Market

With more enterprises under pressure to optimize cloud spend, JVM performance is no longer a niche concern. The landscape may be competitive, but Ceccarelli views it as an opportunity for collaboration and innovation across the community.