Microsoft and Oracle extend partnership to offer Oracle database services on Azure

Las Vegas, NV: In anticipation of the Oracle Cloud World event in Las Vegas, Microsoft and Oracle have expanded their partnership, ushering in a new era of collaboration. Their joint initiative involves delivering Oracle Database Services through Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) on the Microsoft Azure platform. This development means that Microsoft customers, who have existing commitments with the company, will now have the option to access Oracle Database Services via Microsoft Azure, as stated by Karan Batta, Vice President of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.

According to the companies, Oracle Database@Azure offers the combined benefits of Oracle Database on OCI—such as top-tier performance, scalability, and workload availability—and the robust security, versatility, and services inherent in Microsoft Azure, including cutting-edge AI services like Azure OpenAI. This strategic fusion empowers customers with greater flexibility in choosing where to run their workloads, creating a more seamless environment that simplifies cloud procurement and management across Oracle Database and Azure services. Oracle envisions customers enjoying expanded options for migrating their Oracle databases to the cloud, the ease, security, and reduced latency of a unified operating environment (data centre) within Azure, the ability to develop new cloud-native applications leveraging OCI and Azure technologies, including Azure's leading AI services, and more.

Batta elaborated in an interview with Business Today, saying, "We achieve this by extending OCI directly inside Azure data centres. This involves placing OCI hardware and software directly within Microsoft Azure Data Centres. This approach effectively addresses latency and performance challenges, allowing us to seamlessly integrate within Azure. For customers, this means the experience is indistinguishable from using any other Azure service."

With this expanded partnership, Microsoft now stands alongside Oracle as the only other Hyperscaler capable of offering Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Database Services, providing simplified cloud migration, multicloud deployment, and management capabilities.

Batta emphasised, "Microsoft Azure has become the second cloud provider, following us, to offer a natively integrated Oracle database experience for their customers. This is a significant milestone that we've achieved over the past several months." He further revealed that Oracle plans to continue expanding this initiative over the next 18 to 24 months, with forthcoming iterations including broader availability in additional regions and an expanded product portfolio.

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