In a significant leap forward, the inaugural Oracle Database@Azure service has achieved General Availability in the Microsoft Azure East US region. Marking the beginning of a strategic collaboration, Oracle will oversee the operation and management of the Oracle Exadata Database Service, the first in a series of Oracle database services planned for execution on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) within Azure datacenters. This transformative service, Oracle Exadata Database Service, stands out for its ability to radically simplify the migration of mission-critical workloads to the cloud.
This novel Oracle Database@Azure service not only brings forth the unparalleled performance, scale, and workload availability synonymous with the Oracle Database, featuring Real Application Clusters and robust built-in security, but also integrates seamlessly with the best-in-class Azure services. Among these is the Azure OpenAI Service, enriching the offering with generative AI applications, creating a compelling synthesis of Oracle’s database expertise and Azure’s cutting-edge capabilities.
Carl Olofson, Research Vice President for Data Management Software at IDC, lauded the collaboration, stating, “Exadata is the most effective platform to run the Oracle Database, and this service provides Microsoft Azure users with the best of all possible worlds. Clearly, Oracle and Azure have embraced a multicloud strategy for the ultimate benefit of their mutual customers.”
Driven by overwhelming global demand, Oracle commits to extending the availability of Oracle Database@Azure to additional regions in 2024. These include prominent locations such as Germany Central, Australia East, France Central, Canada Central, Brazil South, Japan East, UK South, Central US, and South Central US. Each deployment is designed to span two Azure availability zones, empowering customers to configure high availability across zones.
This venture offers customers a multitude of advantages, including flexible options for migrating Oracle databases to the cloud, the highest echelon of database performance, scale, and availability, and feature and pricing parity with OCI public list prices. The streamlined migration process facilitates the modernization of IT environments, leveraging Azure’s infrastructure, tooling, and services. Oracle ensures compatibility with proven migration tools like Oracle Zero Downtime Migration, while also maintaining consistency with on-premises deployments of Oracle Database and Oracle Exadata, minimizing the need for rearchitecture.
With a unified approach, Oracle and Microsoft deliver customer support, simplified purchasing through the Azure Marketplace, and the ability to leverage existing licenses and commitment programs from both Oracle and Microsoft. This collaboration ensures an architecture that is thoroughly tested and supported by two of the most trusted names in the cloud, providing customers with assurance and confidence as they embark on their cloud journey.
Karan Batta, Senior Vice President at Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, emphasized the joint effort in simplifying data center exits and expediting the migration of on-premises Oracle estates to the cloud. Batta stated, “Together with Microsoft, we’re eliminating some of the biggest challenges our customers face using best-of-breed technologies and adopting multicloud architectures.”
Echoing this sentiment, Erin Chapple, Corporate Vice President of Azure Core Product and Design at Microsoft, expressed the widespread interest in Oracle Database@Azure since its announcement. Chapple highlighted the service’s capacity to streamline the migration of Oracle workloads to Azure, enabling customers across industries to harness the combined strengths of Oracle and Microsoft cloud services for enhanced business innovation.