Introducing Oracle Database@Azure

“Microsoft and Oracle just completely redefined what it means to be multicloud. In an unprecedented and truly unexpected move, Exadata and all of the Oracle Database cloud services, including the Autonomous Databases, running on OCI, are now colocated in Azure data centers. Azure users experience directly the power and benefits of Autonomous Database without any concerns of latency and ingress/egress fees. This is a game changer and walled gardens are over.”

Marc Staimer
Senior Analyst, Wikibon

“Imagine trying to run iOS on any hardware except what was engineered by Apple. Clearly the results would be suboptimal at best and run in a form of degraded mode at worst. The same can be said when trying to run Oracle Database on anything except Exadata. Microsoft has realized that the best way to run Oracle Database is on its own native Exadata infrastructure, showing its customers the path away from generic AWS compute instances that lead to a suboptimal user experience. Oracle has taken the concept of multicloud to an entirely new level by physically installing Oracle databases and Exadata running on OCI inside of Microsoft Azure data centers. This news makes the likes of Snowflake software running in different clouds look rudimentary by comparison.”

Ron Westfall
Research Director, The Futurum Group

“Oracle Cloud Infrastructure is now running inside of Azure, including Exadata Database and Autonomous Database, among other services. This changes the game on so many levels. Existing Oracle database customers will immediately see the value in this extended partnership offering, while competitors offering database services on Azure will find themselves in search of a new differentiator. This new service is of particular importance for AI practitioners as it quite literally brings the data right next to the AI, accelerating their ability to implement generative AI models without having to compromise on data access, security, and performance. This extension of the two companies’ earlier partnership further reconstructs industry expectations, showcasing just what a next-gen cloud should look like.”

Bradley Shimmin
Chief Analyst, AI and Analytics, Omdia

“Oracle is making history by bringing the Autonomous Database and its corresponding Exadata platforms—as well as all of the HA features such as RAC and Active Data Guard—into Microsoft Azure data centers worldwide. This transcends the boundaries and limitations of merely running the same piece of software in other clouds—it’s about also running the core architecture that the software was co-engineered with. It’s a huge win for Azure customers as they can now get Oracle’s prime database services, running on OCI, physically inside of Azure and procure it seamlessly from the Azure Marketplace—all while having their database managed by Oracle.”

Holger Mueller
Vice President and Principal Analyst, Constellation Research

“By making Autonomous Database and Exadata platforms running on OCI available soon in physical Azure data centers, Oracle and Microsoft are creating transformative cloud capabilities that AWS can’t come close to matching. Organizations running Aurora and Redshift have been put on notice that their competitors now have a breakthrough “turbo-mode” for their OLTP and OLAP applications and that they had better start using Oracle Database@Azure if they want to stay in the race.”

Steve McDowell
Principal Analyst and Founding Partner, NAND Research

“In the past, cloud providers were like islands, separated by oceans and interconnected at best by bridges. With Oracle Database@Azure, two of these islands are forming the first continent in the cloud, creating a set of services that are so tightly coupled that organizations will be able to take innovation and efficiency to a whole new level.”

Stephen Catanzano
Senior Analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group

“With the announcement of Oracle Database@Azure, both companies continue to expand their long-term strategic partnership. Organizations can now directly use the best capabilities from both clouds without worrying about security, latency, or management issues. This approach, based on mutually beneficial collaboration between vendors, not competition, is what essentially can be called ‘Multicloud 2.0.’ With Oracle Database and Exadata platforms running on OCI inside Azure data centers, enterprise customers now have even more flexibility in migrating their data to the cloud at scale and developing modern AI-powered applications, all without the security and compliance challenges of previous-generation multicloud environments.”

Alexei Balaganski
Lead Analyst and CTO, KuppingerCole Analysts

“The fact that Microsoft Azure customers can now, with OCI systems running in Azure, collocate OCI-based Oracle Autonomous Database on Exadata with applications running on Azure, satisfies a major unmet need for the very substantial segment of Azure users who require the full function of Oracle Database in the cloud. Exadata is the most effective platform to run Oracle Database, and this provides Azure users with the best of all possible worlds. Clearly, Oracle and Azure have embraced a true multicloud strategy for the ultimate benefit of their mutual customers, and we believe that this is the direction that all cloud providers will need to follow in order to keep pace.”

Carl Olofson
Research Vice President, Data Management Software, IDC