The Java Enterprise API is a great set of technologies for building applications, but it has historically lacked some features that are needed if you want to move your application to the cloud. For instance, there is no specific API to handle configuration properties that can be injected into your services, nor is there a formal way to describe how clients can interact with REST endpoints. Also, it would definitely help to include some features so that we can monitor an application's health or load-balance requests; these are currently managed by vendors with custom technologies.
The Eclipse MicroProfile project is a collaboration initiative that's driven by top application vendors and aims to optimize the Enterprise API for Java applications, including all the features we have mentioned here.
A bird's-eye view of the Eclipse...