Oracle Strengthens Its Competitive Position in the Cloud Market with an AI Update to Its Leading Database Software. The company, which still has a young presence in the cloud compared to industry leaders Amazon and Microsoft, expects the new AI services to boost the usage of its cloud platform.
The launch of "Database 23ai" allows companies to search their private data through simple English language queries instead of having to write specialized codes. Developers can also use this generative AI search and response feature with other applications stored in Oracle's cloud database, the company explained on Thursday.
With a market presence that, according to the market research and consulting firm Gartner, accounts for only 2% of the global public cloud market of 120.3 billion dollars in 2022, Oracle aims to position its databases, which are increasingly running on its cloud rather than in customer data centers, as a key element in the competition against other cloud platforms.
Oracle has positioned its cloud as user-friendly in combination with other cloud platforms, especially with Microsoft, and promotes it as a more affordable alternative. For the first time, cloud revenue exceeded the company's traditional software license revenues in the last quarter, which ended on February 28th.
In collaboration with Microsoft, Oracle offers the Oracle Database@Azure service which enables Azure customers to use Oracle databases in Microsoft's cloud. Since last year, Oracle has been installing its own hardware in Microsoft data centers to provide Azure customers with faster access to data in Oracle without having to leave Microsoft's platform.
This integration was already introduced in 2019 as Oracle Interconnect for Microsoft Azure but required technical expertise from customers. The new setup enhances this integration and accelerates processes for services such as Conduent's tolling service, which runs on Oracle databases and Microsoft's cloud.
Oracle emphasizes that any use of its products increases the use and awareness of its cloud platform, regardless of whether customers choose Oracle's new AI database services or Microsoft's own AI services.
Oracle Database@Azure users automatically open an Oracle Cloud account and can, if necessary, use Oracle's Cloud for AI computing power and graphics processors (GPUs) that Azure might not provide, without the need to sign a new contract.
Oracle reported that revenue for the February quarter increased by 7% to $13.28 billion, meeting analyst expectations. Revenue from cloud services and license support rose by 12% to $9.96 billion, and the company rapidly expanded its data center capacities to meet demand.
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