Microsoft, Oracle Link Cloud Services to Challenge AWS and Woo Business Users

Microsoft and Oracle have connected their cloud computing services in an effort to take on Amazon Web Services, the sector’s recognized leader, and boost their own sales to big businesses.

The partnership between the two tech giantsOpens a new window is just beginning and involves a high-speed data center link and security at two US locations. Customers can use a single sign-on to access Microsoft Azure and Oracle Cloud and gain tech support from either service.

“We have always been focused on helping our customers thrive on their digital transformation journeys,” says Scott GuthrieOpens a new window , an executive vice president with Microsoft. “With Oracle’s enterprise expertise, this alliance is a natural choice for us as we help our joint customers accelerate the migration of enterprise applications and databases to the public cloud.”

The venture comes as many businesses and government agencies are switching their computing tasks from on-premise data centers to the cloud, with AWS snapping up customers and chipping away at Oracle’s lead in the database segmentOpens a new window . It follows other moves by Microsoft to strengthen its cloud offeringOpens a new window s, partnering with enterprise software providers SAP and Adobe as well as with Sony, a competitor in the gaming market.

Aimed at AWS

Ed Anderson, an analyst with research firm Gartner, told Reuters Opens a new window that the alliance was evidently a jab at AWS, particularly for Oracle. “It’s no secret,” he says, “that Oracle views AWS as a major competitor in the database market.”

It is unclear whether customers will pay transfer fees for moving big chunks of data between the services, Anderson says, but overall the deal is likely to help the two challengers pitch to big businesses already using their services. “It’s a great way for both companies to be able to hitch their cloud offerings together,” he says.

Enterprises will be able seamlessly to connect Azure services, such as analytics and artificial intelligence, with Oracle’s cloud services such as its Autonomous Database. Company executives say that allowing their customers to operate partly in Azure and partly in Oracle Cloud will deliver an optimized “best-of-both-clouds” experience.

The partnership involves supported deployments of custom applications and Oracle applications — including JD Edwards EnterpriseOne, E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft, Oracle Retail and Hyperion — to run on Azure with Oracle databases — RAC, Exadata and Autonomous Database — deployed in the Oracle Cloud.

Oracle applications will also be certified to run on Azure.

Don Johnson, an executive vice president at Oracle, says Oracle Cloud offers a complete suite of integrated applications for sales, human resources, supply chain and other functions as well as the Oracle Autonomous Database.

“Oracle and Microsoft have served enterprise customer needs for decades,” Johnson says. “With this partnership, our joint customers can migrate their entire set of existing applications to the cloud without having to redesign anything, preserving the large investments they have already made.”

The digital connection between the two services will initially be available only to Oracle’s Ashburn (North America) data center and Azure US East center, the companies say, expanding to other regions sometime in the future.

Open Ecosystem

The partnership has drawn good reviews because it recognizes a trend towards an open technological ecosystem and helps customers pick and choose services.

“At Halliburton, we have a long history of running both Oracle and Microsoft technologies for our most critical applications,” says Ken Braud, the company’s chief technology officer, adding that the alliance gives the oilfield services company the flexibility to operate its systems on both services and focus on running its businesses.

Given the movement to cloud services, Oracle had to provide an easier migration path for its enterprise customers, according to industry expertsOpens a new window .

Research by the Enterprise Strategy Group concluded that the rate of businesses adopting a cloud-first strategy has increased by 10% in a year and that more are planning major hybrid cloud initiatives.

“Everyone is looking at the cloud-consumption model as a means to extend their IT and business footprint,” says Mark Bowker, an analyst with ESG. But Oracle does not have as big a global footprint as Microsoft, and Microsoft doesn’t have the expertise that Oracle has gathered from its extensive portfolio of enterprise resource management, customer relationship management and human resources applications.

Potential Vulnerabilities

Some experts have warned of the potential security vulnerabilities of moving workloads between clouds, which also can increase the complexity of configurations.

Additionally, saving money might not be a key takeaway from the Microsoft-Oracle deal, because some companies may not necessarily be able to move data from one cloud to the cheaper option.

“The Microsoft-Oracle alliance is great for publicity,” says Todd Matters, a co-founder of the hybrid cloud tools provider RackWare. “But it’s important for enterprises to avoid getting locked in to any particular cloud or service, even when using multiple providers.”

Chief information officers should be cautious until more details of the partnership are fleshed out. So far, just a network connection has been announced. And if Microsoft or Oracle decides to quit the partnership, the connection would quickly unwind — stranding anyone who has invested in engineering an architecture around it.