Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is a collection of services that allows companies and other organizations to operate their IT completely via the cloud. Accordingly, the offer is a mixture of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS) and Data as a Service (DaaS). Originally, the OCI was primarily intended for the development, testing and playing out of own apps. However, since the launch of the offer in October 2016, it has continued to develop steadily.
The structure of the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
The OCI is based on three pillars: Oracle applications, customer-specific apps and independent software vendor applications (ISV – “independent software manufacturers”).
The services related to the use of Oracle Apps include the following offers:
- Computing (goal-oriented processes that are carried out via computer)
Components of the pillar for customer-specific apps are:
- Integration of the application
- Analysis and evaluation possibilities in the field of business intelligence (BI)
The offers regarding the ISV apps include:
- Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Native VMware for running virtual machines
All sub-items could be further broken down. But even these lists show how extensive the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure is – and that its structure requires some training. In order to facilitate this process and to optimize everyday processes, it contains another component. The “roof” of OCI rests on the three pillars with services in the field of security, observability and administration as well as compliance. In total, the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure includes almost 500 different services and can be used in almost 40 regions worldwide.
Migrate to OCI
If you want to migrate to the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, you will receive various assistance from the provider. For example, it includes tutorials, best practices explanations, deployment tools, and a collection of cloud resources. In late 2021, Oracle also announced new AI functions. These include, for example, text analyses and automatic speech recognition. They also help with migration.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
The advantages of OCI are obvious: all IT tasks can be safely used via the services of a well-known provider, who also consistently develops the services further. The employees of the respective company do not have to change, but can continue to work with the usual apps. For example, it is possible to set up Windows instances with Office applications. The full integration into the OCI can be a disadvantage if users want to leave it at some point. This is associated with considerable effort.
