As expected, Oracle OpenWorld 2017 (Oct. 1 – 4 2017) featured a large number of announcements. The debut of Oracle 18c, the latest version of Oracle’s eponymous database, grabbed the most attention. Given it’s billing as an autonomous database and Oracle’s flagship product, this is not suprising.. While the idea of a database infused with machine learning that automates all types of database management functions is intriguing, it overshadowed the real impact of Oracle releases. Oracle 18c was only one of several AI-infused “autonomous” products. Instead, the sum of Oracle’s presentations amounted to adding machine learning into all levels in the Big Red Cloud Stack. AI is now integrated into Oracle’s SaaS, PaaS, IaaS cloud products. Oracle didn’t stop with machine learning either. They have imbued their applications with analytics and blockchain technology too. Oracle have made this technology available from within Oracle Cloud Applications and Oracle+NetSuite, providing advanced technology to mid-market organizations through large enterprises.
In essence, Oracle has made sure that all the new technology that everyone has been hearing about for so long is everywhere in the Oracle ecosystem. That’s very exciting. Previously esoteric technology is now available to the corporate masses in a more cost-effective manner. This strategy mirrors Microsoft’s but with greater depth in large enterprise applications. Until recently, organizations that saw value in these new software technologies would have had to hire experts and maintain expensive systems themselves. By integrating them into enterprise applications in domain specific ways, organizations can reap the benefits of advanced software without the cost of building and maintaining it. This approach makes sense; Technology such as machine learning, analytics, or blockchain doesn’t need to be custom built for most organizations. Managing a supply chain using blockchain, for example, will be similar across organizations. The same is true for sales analytics and machine learning for recruiting.
If an enterprise does need to create specialized uses of these technologies, Oracle makes that easier by providing them as cloud infrastructure services. While data scientists and developers trained in blockchain are still needed, the cost and complexity of building, managing, and maintaining the infrastructure is borne by Oracle. Having these advanced technology stacks prepacked as cloud services also means a faster start. Developers can begin writing code immediately instead of having to waste time spinning up the infrastructure. Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and IBM all offer all or some of this technology via the cloud as well. For Oracle loyalists though, the decision to implement just became easier since they no longer have to introduce a new vendor to deploy these types of systems. The tie-in to enterprise cloud applications also simplifies adding customer capabilities to common enterprise applications.
By integrating these three new technologies into everyday enterprise and mid-market applications and providing them as a service, Oracle is making them more accessible to a greater number of organizations. Oracle customers can now gain the benefits of new technology with less of the work or distraction of building it all themselves.
Machine Learning May Help Developers | Tom's Tech Take II
[…] going to be everywhere. Box is putting ML in content management, Microsoft in office and CRM, and Oracle is infusing it into, well, everything. While not a great leap forward on the order of the Internet, […]