The UK public sector runs on Oracle. This statement may seem dramatic, but the fact remains that Oracle servers host workloads that manage mission-critical operations throughout many – if not most – UK public sector organisations. In previous blog posts our cloud experts have explained how you can plan an effective digital transition from legacy on-premises to ‘true’ cloud computing, and how to remove digital transition roadblocks caused by Oracle SPARC licensing. So that’s the ‘how’, but what about the ‘why’?

If your Oracle workloads are sitting on local x86 Oracle OVM or non-x86 Oracle SPARC servers, you may feel like there are some good reasons to leave them right where they are. High cloud transition costs, excessive hybrid infrastructure management costs and low risk appetites are some of the justifications we often hear during our conversations with public sector organisations.

These are all more than valid reasons for retaining Oracle workloads on local infrastructures. However, at Six Degrees we believe that – with proper planning and the support of the right technology partner – there are a number of compelling benefits that come with moving legacy Oracle workloads to the cloud. In this article, we’ll give you six.

Six Benefits of Moving Legacy Oracle Workloads to the Cloud

You’ve most likely heard many of the arguments for transitioning to cloud infrastructures. Uptime, security, scalability and business continuity are all regularly espoused as reasons for organisations to adopt cloud computing. But when it comes to Oracle workloads, what other benefits can your public sector organisation gain from transitioning to the cloud?

1. Achieve a balance between performance and cost. With the cost of Oracle application and database licenses often spiralling when you host on non-Oracle hypervisors, performance is often sacrificed in order to keep hosting affordable. However, providers like Six Degrees offer cloud hosting for both Oracle OVM (x86) and Oracle SPARC (non-x86) deployments. This offering allows your organisation to achieve a balance between performance and cost, helping you reduce licensing costs and giving you the option to invest the savings in additional server resources to improve performance.
2. Begin a process of disaggregation. Public sector organisations that host Oracle workloads on local infrastructures often have to contend with expensive support and maintenance contracts that charge a premium for change requests and lock them in for significant contract terms. Transitioning to the cloud can be the first step in a wider disaggregation process, reducing support costs and wrestling back control with flexible contract terms.
3. Find the right platform for the right workload. At Six Degrees we’re cloud agnostic, and we believe that our public sector clients should be too. Transitioning your Oracle workloads to the cloud shouldn’t mean putting all your eggs in one basket and loading risk onto a single cloud platform. Cloud hosting means finding the right platform for the right workload, and this caveat is as true for Oracle workloads as it is for Exchange, line of business applications or any other mission-critical IT services.
4. Maintain regulatory compliance. The compliance landscape is continually developing, and with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) threatening severe penalties for the loss of personal identifiable information (PII) it is essential that your Oracle workloads are hosted on servers that meet compliance requirements. When you host on a local infrastructure, you maintain responsibility and accountability for compliance. Transition to a cloud platform and your hosting provider takes on important elements of the accountability, easing the burden on you and your organisation.
5. Avoid legacy lock-in. Maintaining Oracle workloads on a local infrastructure increases the risk of legacy lock-in. Infrastructure paralysis is a threat to all organisations, and even a single piece of immobile legacy architecture can have a significant detrimental effect on digital transformation activities. Taking the first step and moving legacy Oracle workloads to an appropriate cloud platform unlocks the potential of the cloud to benefit your entire organisation.
6. Enhance your cyber security posture. There’s no getting around it – we are all operating in a hostile digital landscape. The bad news is it will only get worse. The good news, however, is that cloud-based technology has all the tools you need to protect your Oracle workloads from downtime and data breach. By outsourcing detection and response to an experienced secure cloud provider like Six Degrees, you can relieve your organisation of management burden and ensure threats to your workloads are mitigated, 24x7.

Avoid Infrastructure Paralysis: Working with Six Degrees

Six Degrees has an enviable track record of helping public sector organisations remove digital transition roadblocks and springboard to the cloud. We are actively working with Central Government and Local Authorities throughout the UK to improve the way they deliver citizen services: we recently helped Government Digital Service save up to £42,000 per year. To learn more about how we can help your organisation move its legacy Oracle workloads to the cloud, get in touch with us.

Purchasing from Six Degrees through G-Cloud

Public sector organisations can purchase all Six Degrees’ cloud services through the G-Cloud framework. Click the following link to find all of our G-Cloud listed services: www.digitalmarketplace.service.gov.uk/g-cloud/