Oracle’s offerings cover the full gamut of cloud technology, from ERP (SaaS), Database as a Service (IaaS) and Integration Services (PaaS). Oracle’s Cloud strategy seems to be based on the concept of when customers will move to the cloud, not if. While investment in the on-premises products will continue, most of the R & D spend will be on coud (
R & D was $4.464 bn for the nine months ended February 2019). If cloud is indeed the future, then the future is now.
But what does it mean for a company to move to the cloud? What are the options, and which makes the most sense for your organization? There is no one, simple answer to this question. The good news is if your company uses Office 365, or Google Docs, or Slack, you’ve already started your journey!! Those are examples of SaaS offerings people use every day.
Some key questions to ask about a move to cloud, no matter the flavor are:
- Is all the functionality I need in the cloud?
- When should I move to the cloud?
- How can I move to the cloud?
- Is the cloud secure?
- Can I access my data?
From a SaaS perspective, there are two main schools of thought on cloud migration. Inside -- Out, where a company does a full system migration from on-premises to cloud, migrates a small business unit, or migrates a single pillar of functionality to vet the solution. Conversely, the Outside -- In approach looks at selecting an edge solution, reporting, budgeting, etc,. a piece of functionality that, while important, is not mission critical and thus allows for safe trial of the solution while the company continues to operating.
For IaaS, many companies are moving their DEV and TEST to the cloud to test the waters (this strategy was one of Mark Hurd’s annual predictions way back in 2014). This is also a great way to avoid large capex spend on hardware while keeping your traditional on-premises solution. (See
Turbo Talks_ Challenges of Moving to the Cloud from COLLABORATE 18 for more information on options).
Whatever path you choose, there will be questions, challenges and, most importantly, opportunities. Cloud migrations, implementations, transitions need to be planned out and resourced just as any other project that is key to your organization. While questions are many, there is also no shortage of answers and experts that can be leveraged.
The Multi-National SIG, in conjunction with the OATUG, is presenting a
series of webinars during summer 2019 that presents options and answers from industry leaders, business users and recognized Oracle experts. Please plan to join us this summer to have your cloud questions addressed.
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