In this special episode of Cloud Wars, I talk with Andi Gutmans, vice president and general manager, databases, Google Cloud. We cover the recent strategic partnership between Google Cloud and Oracle, its implications for customers, and the specific benefits this collaboration brings in terms of choice, flexibility, and leveraging advanced cloud services.
Highlights
Partnership Key Customer Benefits (00:56)
Oracle and Google Cloud recently announced a strategic partnership to bring Oracle Database and Oracle applications to Google Cloud. The new partnership is focused on providing customers choices in this multi-cloud environment. It includes Oracle Database at Google Cloud, which means OCI database services running within Google data centers. Additionally, Google Cloud launched the cross-cloud interconnect with Oracle, waiving data transfer charges.
The interest from customers and partners since the announcement has been overwhelming because it fills a gap for those who want to use Oracle databases and applications while leveraging Google Cloud’s differentiated services.
Cloud Transition Simplified (03:53)
Many customers want to transition to the cloud faster but are still maintaining on-premises data centers because they need their Oracle Exadata systems or other setups. This partnership simplifies their estate, saves costs, and provides the agility of the cloud, which is a huge benefit.
Secondly, bringing those workloads close to Google Cloud allows them to use some of its differentiated services with Oracle databases, like its AI capabilities with Gemini models, BigQuery for analytics, and other offerings. This allows customers to mix and match the best of both worlds, innovate faster, lower costs, and gain more choice and flexibility. The velocity of execution is one of Google Cloud’s major advantages.
Commitment to Openness (07:05)
Openness is a core value for Google Cloud; openness extends to infrastructure, GPUs, open-source software, and databases, with support for SQL Server and Oracle. The company has a consistent focus on giving customers choices because of their heterogeneous environments. Google Cloud aims to be the place customers go for their mission-critical workloads. That’s not just about the database but it also includes the application platform, AI, and all the different pieces.
Security and Governance (09:55)
Asked how the partnership can maintain the respective companies’ security levels for enterprise customers, Gutmans says Google Cloud will continue to adhere to the highest levels of security, compliance, and governance, while Oracle will do the same. Plus, their cross-cloud interconnect means customer data doesn’t go through the public Internet but instead travels across privately connected secure networking constructs.
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