Migrating Oracle to Azure

Now this is a hot topic if I've ever seen one!

Given this is clearly something that resonates, I thought I'd share my own learnings from the engagements I've had with many customers.

I want to mention that I wrote this article in 2021 based on the experience I had as an Azure Open Source Database specialist, so it was written largely from that perspective.

Since then, Microsoft and Oracle have announced an exciting new service called Oracle Database@Azure. This service uniquely enables customers to run Oracle Exadata Autonomous DB and RAC natively on Azure! Thanks to our close partnership focused on providing the best of both worlds to our joint customers. Oracle Workloads on Microsoft Azure

Your applications will influence the paths available when you consider migrating Oracle to Azure. So let's start with your options based on the applications that your Oracle Databases are supporting.

1. Oracle applications e.g. EBS, JDE, Peoplesoft, Siebel etc. are (usually) only supported on Oracle DB. We have hundreds of customers who are running their entire Oracle "red stack" on Azure IaaS. And with the new Oracle Database @ Azure service, we are enabling our customer to run Oracle Exadata and RAC on Azure as a joint managed service from both vendors.
2. ISV applications. There are many ISV solutions that are supported on Oracle DB, but equally, many ISV apps are also supported on PostgreSQL. This is something you need to explore on an ISV-by-ISV basis. OpenText Documentum (enterprise content management), Finacle (core retail banking), TCS BaNCS (banking) and Comarch (telco OSS/BSS) are just a couple of examples of ISV apps that can run on PostgreSQL. The list of ISVs porting their applications to run on PostgreSQL is definitely growing.
3. In-house/custom built applications. Gartner predicts that by 2022 more than 70% of new in-house built applications will be built on open source databases like PostgreSQL. I speak to a lot of customers interested in migrating away from Oracle DB to PostgreSQL. This is often driven by a combination of license costs, embracing open source and the increased maturity of PostgreSQL as an enterprise-grade database. Not everyone knows that Microsoft Azure offers managed PostgreSQL on Azure, Azure is indeed an open cloud platform.

Now that you have a better sense of your options, let me provide some further guidance for each alternative.

Run your Oracle databases on Oracle Database @ Azure or Azure IaaS

Many of our customers want to continue to run their Oracle application, middleware and database stack, but bring it to Azure, to benefit from the scale and innovation of our platform.

The best option for many customers who want to run Oracle databases on Azure is Oracle Database@Azure, which provides a) integrated support from Oracle and Microsoft, b) 1:1 licensing/pricing parity with OCI and c) allows you to run Exadata, RAC and Autonomous DB on Azure. This service ensures the best performance and availability and lowest latency for your Oracle workloads in Azure. It also opens up the opportunity to leverage the wider Azure Data and AI services and seamlessly connect them to the valuable data residing in your Oracle databases.

Voya Financial and Conduent are just a couple of examples of Major Global Businesses Adopting Oracle Database@Azure Worldwide.

You can learn more about Oracle Database @ Azure and even earn a badge here. Announcing the Oracle Database@Azure Course

Oracle DB on Azure IaaS

We have hundreds of customers running their Oracle stack on Azure IaaS. You can run key Oracle solutions like Data Guard, RMAN and Golden Gate on Azure.

You can leverage on our 3rd party services like NetApp Files, Silk, Lightbits, Tessell to further improve performance, availability and manageability of your Oracle workloads on Azure IaaS.

We have great services partners that can help you both with the migration and ongoing management of your Oracle environment on Azure e.g. Accenture, HCL, TCS, SoftwareOne, Palisade, Data Intensity, DataAvail, Fusion5, Tessell etc.

Here are a few examples of customers running their Oracle stack on Azure IaaS.

• Midmark improves performance by up to 75 percent by migrating and running Oracle on Azure
• Fortune 250 transportation giant achieves significant cost savings on its Oracle databases on Azure, managed by Tessell
• Corey brothers migrates Oracle Weblogic and DB to Azure maximizing flexibility
• Global manufacturer runs Oracle EBS on Azure reducing cost

Here is some important guidance on running your Oracle workloads on Azure IaaS.

• Architectures to deploy Oracle apps on Azure
• How to Save on Oracle Core Licensing on Azure

In terms of the application and middleware layers of the stack, these are typically hosted on Azure VMs, Azure VMware Solution (AVS) or Azure App Services. Here's some useful information on hosting Oracle apps and middleware on Azure IaaS.

• Oracle Weblogic Server on Azure
• Oracle applications e.g. EBS, Peoplesoft, JD Edwards, Siebel etc. on Azure
• Java applications on Azure documentation

Migrating from Oracle DB to Azure PostgreSQL DBaaS

I speak to a lot of customers interested in migrating away from Oracle DB to PostgreSQL. Gartner predicts that by 2022 more than 70% of new in-house built applications will be built on open source databases like PostgreSQL.

This is often driven by a combination of license costs, embracing open source and the increased maturity of PostgreSQL as an enterprise-grade database.

We have worked with many customers from a wide range of industries migrate off Oracle DB to Azure PostgreSQL DBaaS across FSI, telco, retail, healthcare, manufacturing, transportation etc.

Here is one public case study example: Austrian Railway migrate from Oracle to Azure PostgreSQL DBaaS

Here is some key guidance on migrating your Oracle Databases to Azure PostgreSQL DBaaS.

• Oracle to Azure PostgreSQL DBaaS Migration Guide
• Migrating database storage objects from Oracle to PostgreSQL

There is also the option of migrating Oracle to SQL Server; or if you truly need 5-nines availability and active-active writes you can consider modernizing to Azure Cosmos DB.

Microsoft offers an Oracle database migration assessment tool for Azure SQL and PostgreSQL.

The free community Ora2PG tool is also very popular when migrating Oracle Databases to PostgreSQL. Here is some documentation on how to install and run Ora2PG.

• Ora2PG Documentation
• Install & configure Ora2PG?

We also have some great partners that can help you assess the migration complexity and help you with your migration journey.

There are several other great 3rd party tools and implementation partners to help you simplify the migration journey e.g. Newt Global, Quadrant Resource, Hexaware, Splendid Data, Lab3, MOQ Digital, Ispirer, Striim, HVR etc.

Hopefully this has helped open your eyes to the possibilities of migrating and/or running Oracle on Azure.

Feel free to reach out if you want to have a more detailed conversation.