A faster, more efficient, and streamlined approach to Oracle migration with Deloitte and Google Cloud

Over the past eight years, Deloitte and Google Cloud have been helping clients to leverage the power of cloud computing to drive innovation, scale solutions to complex problems, and achieve successful business outcomes. During that time, joint enterprise clients have expressed interest in a unified framework that allows them to continue to benefit from Oracle’s database and enterprise application offerings while taking advantage of the advanced capabilities of Google Cloud.

With the latest announcement from Google Cloud and Oracle, the migration of Oracle workloads will be easier than ever, representing a major advancement in cloud interoperability. This integration will enable businesses to take advantage of Oracle’s advanced database features such as high availability, robust security, and comprehensive data management capabilities while benefiting from Google Cloud’s global network, advanced analytics, and machine learning capabilities.

In particular, this Oracle Database @ Google Cloud offering allows organizations to run Oracle Databases on the Oracle Exadata Cloud Service or on Oracle’s Autonomous Database right in Google Cloud. This development will allow clients to manage their most complex, latency-sensitive, and largest databases in their Google Cloud environments. Clients get flexible deployment options with unified purchasing, billing, and support, simplifying cloud migration and adoption, and giving organizations access to industry-leading data analytics, and AI solutions.

The announcement also includes new provisions to make it simpler for clients to shift their databases to the Oracle Autonomous Database and modernize their application layers to take full advantage of the Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), allowing for the potential of increased automation and giving developers more time to spend on innovation without worrying about licensing constraints.

Moreover, development teams will be able to move their large data warehouses from an on-premise Exadata to the Exadata Cloud Service in Google Cloud, bringing data together more efficiently with other data sources and allowing for the use of tools like BigQuery to more broadly enable the employment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with Vertex AI or Gemini foundation models.

And that’s where Deloitte comes in. Having already assisted thousands of clients in migrating both applications and data to the cloud by utilizing cutting-edge migration tools and practices, combined with a team of highly skilled and experienced professionals, we have developed a custom approach to addressing the specific migration challenges of Oracle workloads, incorporating the key tenets of cloud engineering to deliver an effective transition for our clients.

Based on this wealth of experience, we recommend organizations consider the following critical pieces when implementing the Oracle Database @ Google Cloud:

Planning

When planning for the implementation and migration of databases to either the Exadata Cloud Service or Autonomous Database in Google Cloud, the first step is to understand the source environment and develop a roadmap or plan. Deloitte’s team does this by developing a strategy using a set of tools that outlines the technology’s critical dependencies, the path forward, and the migration schedule.

A key to planning is to end with an executable strategy that details what will move and when, along with documentation that details the dependencies and requirements of the workloads that will be moving.

Design

The next factor is laying out a design for the cloud architecture that supports the documented requirements of the workloads and the plan to move those workloads. The Deloitte team takes on this task by defining a Cloud Foundation. Deloitte’s Cloud Foundation is a comprehensive framework that establishes the necessary infrastructure, tools, and leading practices for deploying and managing cloud environments effectively, efficiently, and securely on Google Cloud.  

Migration Execution

When executing a migration, applications need to be understood and documented in accordance with the recommendations in the planning phase. From there, it becomes an exercise in execution and testing. Complexity comes into play when major changes to the architecture are planned, such as different database versions, operating system changes, or even an overall application technology change.

A key to any good migration execution is working through the defined plan, testing, and being able to adapt to changing scenarios—and we leverage our industry-leading set of proprietary migration and modernization tools to do just that.

By working in concert, Deloitte, Google Cloud, and Oracle now have the opportunity to help organizations confidently navigate the complexities of cloud migration while unlocking new efficiencies and innovation opportunities to drive business forward for the next generation.