New strategic multi-cloud collaboration sparks increased agility

Understanding the strategic partnership between Oracle and AWS

For years, Oracle database customers were limited in their options for running their biggest and most complex database workloads. They could either run them on-premises or on Oracle Cloud, but those two options didn’t always work for every customer and every need. Thanks to a recent strategic partnership between Oracle and Amazon Web Services (AWS), customers now have expanded opportunities to run their databases in their cloud of choice.

In early December at re:invent, Oracle and AWS announced the initial release of Oracle Database@AWS with a private preview in the Virginia region. They further announced that general availability is expected in the second quarter of calendar year 2025, with a second region coming online at that time to provide disaster recovery options.

So why did Oracle and AWS decide to do this? Amazon already has a Relational Database Service (RDS) and Oracle already has a cloud. It could seem counterintuitive. In reality, it is a win for both organizations, and more importantly, for their joint customers.

Potential business and tech benefits

Though customers may be pleased to have features like Exadata and Real Application Clusters (RAC) available on AWS, Oracle Database@AWS offers even more benefits. First, customers can use their existing AWS commitments to purchase this offering. Many times organizations make ambitious commitments to cloud providers, but often struggle to meet them for any number of reasons outside of their control. This can give those organizations a new way to consume their cloud credits and take advantage of the cloud. Second, because this offering uses Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) behind the scenes in the AWS data centers, customers can take advantage of Oracle Support Rewards to get a discount on their annual Oracle license support bill. For instance, if a customer purchases $1 million of Oracle Database@AWS on an annual basis, they will receive a discount on their license support bill of $250,000 to $330,000. That’s like getting a 25%-33% discount.

Many organizations are planning to transition to cloud-native database solutions because they previously had limited options for moving their complex databases to cloud. Oracle Database@AWS gives them a chance to pause and consider a different path. But, why should they change course now?

An enormous amount of work goes into changing the underlying data layer of any application. The sheer amount of discovery, planning, modification, and testing can be tremendous and quite expensive. In the end, they may arrive at a cloud-native solution, but at what cost? In comparison, consider a lift-and-shift approach for that data. It could free up precious funding to do more important things with that data, such as implementing predictive analytics solutions for better insights, feeding stronger AI/ML models, or simply enhancing access for business users. Suddenly the IT organization becomes a hero to the business. Data is the life blood of nearly every organization today. Unlocking that value more quickly and for less money equals greater business benefit.

Networking and other considerations

Oracle Database@AWS is an exciting option, but as with all things cloud, there are considerations to take into account. As usual, networking is a big topic. It is incredibly important to thoroughly understand the network requirements of Oracle Database@AWS and how it fits into an organization’s unique cloud configuration. For instance, a certain number of IP addresses need to be reserved for various configurations of the service, and there are particular address ranges that are reserved and cannot be used. Also, the connectivity is setup using network peering, which poses questions about routing and address NATing.

On top of these network considerations, it is also important to understand that while this option is available through the AWS marketplace, organizations must have a Cloud Services Agreement (CSA) with Oracle, and they must execute an order with Oracle for the capacity needed. This is important because it can take time to negotiate the contracts, so organizations need to plan ahead.

Success takes two views

In the end, planning and design are critical to the success of an Oracle Database@AWS implementation. That’s where Deloitte comes in. With more than 100,000 people in its global AWS and Oracle technology practices, Deloitte is one of the few service providers that has the breadth and depth to support such a critical advancement.

Implementing Oracle Database@AWS takes skills and knowledge from both the AWS and Oracle perspectives. One without the other is like an airplane without engines, it just won’t work. Through strong alliance relationships with both Oracle and AWS, Deloitte can provide clients with direct access to the product engineers who built Oracle Database@AWS—and even more, serve as a champion who can bring everybody to the table to achieve the desired outcomes.