Migrate your Oracle DB to Windows Azure – Why and How

“Oracle Azure” is one of the best permutations an enterprise can have for resolving its corresponding IT issues. While the former aces database solutions, the latter is the cloud. Moreover, the high interoperability between Azure and OCI (Oracle Cloud Infrastructure) has made it even easier to have this combination for those who already have Oracle as a database and are looking to leverage the Azure cloud. In this article, we will precisely discuss why and how you should migrate the Oracle database to the Azure cloud. So, let’s get started!

Why You Should Migrate Oracle DB to Microsoft Azure?

Reason#1: Oracle on Azure Pricing

In Oracle on Azure deployment, you needn’t buy an additional license while moving your Oracle applications to the Azure cloud, if you already have one to use Oracle software. Apart from the bring-your-own-license model, the other two ways Oracle on Azure pricing benefits you are:

• You can save up to 72 percent compared to pay-as-you-go prices with Azure Reserved Virtual Machine Instances by reserving resources in advance for your predictable workloads.
• You can save up to 80 percent with Azure Hybrid Benefit by reusing your on-premises licenses for running Windows Server VMs on Azure and combining the Azure Reserved Virtual Machine Instances with Azure Hybrid Benefit.

Reason#2: Seamless Migration

The high interoperability between Azure and OCI brings with it simple licensing models that in turn help you deploy Oracle applications on the Azure cloud with the same processor mapping as that of your on-premises deployments.

Reason#3: Application Support

You can easily migrate some of the most important Oracle enterprise applications & databases like Oracle E-Business Suite, JD Edwards, PeopleSoft, Oracle Retail, etc., and run them on several supported operating systems like Oracle Linux, Windows Server, etc. in Azure.

Reason#4: Application Innovation

Users can build great applications and utilize their data even more by integrating additional Azure for Oracle services. They can get benefitted from its services like IoT, AI, and Blockchain, and do things like creating reports through Power BI, running some of the AI models on their data, and so on.

How You Can Migrate Oracle DB to Microsoft Azure?

The end-to-end Oracle on Azure migration involves three phases that involve several steps. The three phases are Pre-Migration, Migration, and Post-Migration that are depicted with the steps involved in the figure given below:

1: Faster Time to Market

Rapid response is crucial irrespective of whether it is a predictable or an unpredictable event. While in the case of a predictable event you are prepared, an unpredictable one can land you in trouble if you don’t use the cloud. Your on-premises applications may be too slow for structuring, expanding, and scaling up operations. This limitation can put you at a disadvantage, especially when you compare your business with other rapidly growing businesses. However, at the same time, the cloud allows faster deployments with rarer work slowdowns while implementations. Moreover, with the cloud, you need not burn cash in upgrading your infrastructure. Taken together, all this helps you achieve a better bottom line.

2: Costs Reduction

Irrespective of whether you are a large organization or an SME, on-premises IT installation can be expensive for you. The time, effort, and money that you need to put into maintaining, upgrading, and repairing the hardware can thwart you from paying attention to your core business. By leveraging the power of the cloud, however, you can get rid of all these investments & responsibilities and can focus on improving your business bottom line. Moreover, many studies in the past have revealed that the total cost of ownership is considerably low in the case of a cloud-based ERP system than the traditional software implementations.

3: Supply Chain Integration

You usually source fabricated and raw materials from several different suppliers from across the globe. The cloud provides you with an integrated view of your network suppliers, logistics, producers, and of course the distribution channels. So, viewing, managing, and controlling of sourcing of these materials becomes quite easy with the cloud. Through the fully integrated supply chain system, manufacturing businesses can track the supplies that in turn help them in meeting manufacturing & delivery deadlines.

4: Rapid Growth

Let’s suppose you want to launch a new branch at a different location. Unlike legacy IT infrastructure, you need not make huge investments in installing expensive hardware in case of cloud deployments. With the cloud, you can easily scale up to meet the growing needs of your growing business, without needing to put much effort, time, and money.

5: Enhanced Efficiency

Since several steps of the business processes could be automated for eliminating duplicate data entry and replacing manual activities, the cloud enhances the productivity of manufacturing operations. Not just that, through a cloud-based ERP system, the collaboration between departments as well as with distributors & suppliers can be improved. Besides, the cloud enables real-time access to information related to tools, equipment, materials data, and even employees, helping you improve manufacturing efficiency even more.

6: Faster Cycle Times

Though sounds trivial, incorrectly entered data if not caught in time can not only cost you money but can also damage your reputation. It could be anything product configuration, payment information, price to quotes, delivery addresses, etc., a delay in detecting the incorrectly entered data can land you in trouble. However, through cloud-based automated customer approval workflows, quoting, and pricing, you can ensure the orders are accurate. This accuracy accelerates the cycle times.

7: Improved Customer Experience

An enriched customer experience has become quite crucial in the digital ecosystem of today. However, with customer relationship management (CRM) solutions based on the cloud, the entire customer journey can be easily and efficiently managed on a single platform. So, manufacturing companies can quickly address and resolve customer queries and issues.

The Final Words

The seven most apparent factors driving cloud adoption in the manufacturing industry are digitalization, budget constraints, skill gap, enhanced customer experience, acquisitions & divestitures, and supply chain visibility. Based on these factors, mentioned above were the top seven ways cloud computing is specifically benefitting manufacturing businesses. There are several other benefits of the cloud in general such as improved operational resilience, security, agility, flexibility, sustainability, backup & disaster recovery, etc.

However, to reap the maximum benefit from your cloud, you must carry out thorough research and create an effective cloud migration strategy before you move to the cloud. If you think you need supplemental support you can contact an MSP as most of them provide cloud migrations for the manufacturing industry as well.

Migrate to Cloud with LogicEra!

If you are a manufacturing company looking for cloud migration services in UAE, the good news is the world leader in providing cloud services, Microsoft Azure is among many UAE Cloud Service Providers. Moreover, as discussed above, if you are finding cloud migration difficult to handle yourself, you can take help from an MSP. One of the most trusted partners of Azure and a reputed MSP in the UAE & UK is LogicEra. The MSP is renowned for accomplishing seamless migration processes within the shortest possible time. Click here to get a free POC (Proof of Concept).

Pre-Migration

In this phase, you verify whether the source environment is supported or not, and address other prerequisites before triggering the migration. Following the three steps primarily involves:

Analysis:

In this step, the compatibility between the source and target environment is verified. Moreover, through the Azure Total Cost of Ownership calculator, you can also estimate how much savings you can make by migrating the database to Azure.

Discover:

The step involves identifying the existing data source and details of the features used for preparing a plan for the migration. You can leverage the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit for a thorough inventory scan.

Assess and Convert:

In this step, you assess the source Oracle database and target Azure SQL Database to figure out the gap that may be existing between the two. You can accomplish it through the Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) tool. The tool helps you in reviewing database objects & data, assessing Oracle database objects, migrating Oracle database objects to Azure SQL Database, and lastly, migrate the data to Azure SQL Database.

During the conversion step, schema conversion is performed. Following this, the structure of the schema is compared and reviewed for identifying the gaps if any. While you work on migration planning during the analysis, discover & assess steps, conversion is required only when it is a heterogeneous migration scenario wherein you need to convert the source schema to support the target schema.

Migration

In this phase, you trigger the migration, after completion of which, your schema is migrated to SQL Server, converting all the Oracle features to SQL Server. Following the three steps primarily involves:

Publish Schema:

In this step of the migration, you make use of the SSMA tool to publish the schema to the target Azure SQL Database. Through SSMA, the assessment of the source & target schemas can be done offline and appropriate changes could be done before the schema is published to Azure.

Data Migration:

The step involves migration of source data i.e. Oracle to the target Azure SQL Database.

Data Sync:

Through this step, you confirm whether or not you have captured and transferred all changes in the source to the target immediately.

Post-Migration

The phase is mainly to ensure everything is working efficiently as per the plan. Following the three steps primarily involves:

Validation:

In this step, your cloud team validates whether or not the database migration is accomplished and your data has been migrated to Azure.

Application Remediation:

This is again a very important step as you alter your applications as required after the data is migrated to Azure. Remember, the data should be consumed by the application from the target environment once the migration is complete.

Performance Validation & Optimization:

In this step, data accuracy issues are reconciled and performance issues related to workloads on Azure SQL Database are taken care of if any.

Wrap Up

Irrespective of what type of technology migration is that you require a defined approach and a robust plan. Through them, you can deal with and recover from many unknown situations. Hopefully, the article helps you in carving out a better strategy for Oracle on Azure migration. Just in case, you are still finding it difficult and need supplemental help, you can outsource it to Managed Services Providers (MSPs).

There are several MSPs globally, however, if you are looking for Oracle services in Dubai, there are several in Dubai as well. The MSPs first of all carry out an Oracle database audit, evaluate its readiness for the cloud, and discern migration opportunities for you. Most of them provide 24-7 support services as well. All the best for your Oracle on Azure migration. If you have a query or a question? Please share in the comments!