Even as the trend of migrating mission-critical workloads to the cloud continues, cloud adoption remains an important way to gain a competitive edge over organizations that are lagging behind. If your organization is using Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS), there has never been a better time to make the move to the cloud. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) was explicitly designed with ERP platforms like EBS in mind.
And for organizations running EBS, migrating to OCI has many distinct advantages. With the long-term commitment Oracle has made to support EBS, you have many opportunities to continue to maximize your investment to its fullest potential before switching to cloud-native options, like Oracle Fusion Applications.
What Is Oracle Cloud Infrastructure?
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, also referred to as OCI, is a platform of cloud applications and services. Unlike other cloud service providers, Oracle designed its cloud infrastructure from the ground up, so customers could easily migrate their applications without needing to modify or rewrite them, which is a key advantage for customers using legacy enterprise resource planning platforms, such as Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS). OCI also includes cloud-native applications, such as Oracle Fusion Applications, that are specifically designed to run on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.
Three Big Advantages of Deploying EBS on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
Migrating to the cloud involves potentially disrupting mission-critical processes and applications, but time and again, it has proven to be a worthwhile undertaking once you realize the advantages that hosting EBS on OCI can provide for your organization.
1) Future-Proofing
With its Applications Unlimited support model, Oracle’s commitment to EBS has been extended at least through the year 2033. This means that new features and functionality will be released for the ERP platform through 2033, if not beyond. By running EBS in OCI, and not having to maintain the underlying technologies, you can focus on taking advantage of these new features and leveraging them as sources of new efficiencies and innovation.
Likewise, Oracle’s continuous innovation within OCI also helps to future-proof your EBS investment by making overall support more efficient. In 2020 alone, Oracle made nearly 400 improvements to OCI. One change that many EBS users are anticipating is support for Oracle Autonomous Database. The Autonomous Database, only available in OCI, will provide overall enhancements to performance, security, and cost. EBS clients hosting their systems on-premises or in third-party cloud environments won’t be able to use the Autonomous Database.
2) Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
IT costs are rising. Hardware is more expensive than ever, and talent is too scarce to meet demand across functions in all industries. Yet despite these hindrances, IT teams are being asked to do more with less. One way to do that is by reducing CapEx wherever possible.
By migrating their EBS deployment to OCI, customers can reduce their TCO by 38% compared to running it on-premises. The savings are even better for companies running EBS on third-party clouds, such as AWS. On average, migrating EBS to OCI ends up costing as much as 44% less than migrating to AWS.
Why the Huge Savings?
The main reasons are that Oracle Cloud Infrastructure was explicitly designed to handle workloads like EBS, and they have a much simpler pricing structure. In addition, you pay only for what you use. The result is that you don’t have to worry about finding hidden fees in your monthly statements.
Likewise, Oracle offers additional licensing options to reduce costs as well as allowing for pay-as-you-go (CapEx) options that are not available when running EBS on-premises. When running EBS in OCI, you will need to decide which licensing options are best for your company.
3) Security
Oracle built OCI with ERP deployments in mind, unlike other cloud service providers. As a result, OCI has integrated security features so EBS customers can be confident in their decision to migrate to the cloud. One of these features is data encryption. All the data stored on OCI is encrypted using AES 256-bit encryption.
OCI also provides the Vulnerability Scanning service for free with all paid accounts. The Vulnerability Scanning Service looks for potential exposures in web servers, ports, and other points of entry. If the scan detects any exposures, they will be reported through Cloud Guard and triaged based on their level of importance. From there, OCI will take measures to mitigate the threat – such as quarantining – and alert the security team of any actions that need to be taken.
OCI also has security features, such as secure network and server isolation, identity and access management, and compliance assessments. For more information on the security features available in OCI, check out our Migrating E-Business Suite to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure eBook.
Supercharging Your Operation with OCI
Organizations that have a paid OCI account are given access to several great services at no additional cost.
Oracle Analytics Platform
The Oracle Analytics Platform, offered through the Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE), is easily one of the most essential toolsets that Oracle OCI customers have access to. For those moving to the cloud, OCI is the logical choice to fulfill your data analytics needs. Even if your company isn’t quite ready to make the leap to the cloud, existing OBIEE customers can upgrade to an Oracle Analytics Server for free!
Being able to leverage your data to make critical business decisions is crucial to your organization’s long-term success. Whether or not you have applied data analytics and machine learning tools up to this point, taking advantage of the Oracle Analytics Platform is another substantial reason to migrate to OCI.
Is OCI the Right Choice for Your EBS Deployment?
While the benefits of OCI do add up, the real question to answer is whether or not the move is the right strategic decision for your organization.
There are several situations where migration to the cloud is a logical next step.
Taking Your First Steps into the Cloud
The operational advantages and cost savings that cloud computing delivers are well documented. Nevertheless, diving headfirst into cloud solutions such as Oracle Fusion Applications isn’t always the appropriate approach. Hosting your EBS solution on OCI, however, is an excellent option for organizations finding themselves in this position.
You’ll gain all the benefits associated with migrating to OCI cloud without having to switch to an entirely new application suite.
If you’re an IT leader having difficulty convincing key decision-makers to go all-in on the cloud, emphasizing the advantages of migrating to OCI in terms of how it improves the operations that fall under your peers’ purview is often a good path to take.<
If Your Hardware Needs to Be Refreshed
There are many reasons why your hardware might need to be swapped out. Maybe it’s no longer performing at peak efficiency and an upgrade simply isn’t enough. Or perhaps your hardware is near the end of its lifecycle, and you aren’t willing to put your system’s security or performance at risk. Maybe your organization no longer has the resources to justify the cost of running a data center.
Whatever the reasoning behind your decision, a hardware refresh is a perfect time to make the transition to OCI cloud. Once your infrastructure has been moved to the cloud, you won’t have to worry about purchasing new hardware or purchasing additional upgrades to keep your EBS systems running.
You Need to Maximize Performance and Efficiency
EBS was not originally designed with the cloud in mind, but it has been adapted for compatibility with various cloud infrastructures over the years. Of course, this includes platforms such as Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.
While EBS is compatible with these third-party infrastructures, it is not fully certified on them. By contrast, Oracle has gone to great lengths to ensure that its own EBS platform has been optimized for OCI, which makes a difference in terms of your applications’ efficiency. With Oracle OCI, companies are getting the best possible performance at a lower cost than running their systems on-premises or on other cloud solutions.
The Best Way to Begin Your Move to the Cloud
If moving your EBS applications to OCI sounds like the right decision for your organization, then your next steps are critical to your migration’s success.
Considering the planning required to migrate your data from on-premises or 3rd party infrastructure to OCI, one of your first decisions is whether it makes sense for your organization to attempt to migrate on its own.
If your team doesn’t have previous experience with cloud migrations, then tackling the project alone may come with unforeseen risks that have potentially big consequences.
Thankfully, there are experienced cloud migration service providers who can guide you along the way and help make your transition to OCI as smooth as possible. One source of information you might find valuable is the article, <The Top 5 Benefits of Partnering with a Cloud Migration Service Provider.
Syntax: The Best Way Forward
Syntax has extensive experience helping customers migrate ERP systems, such as EBS, JD Edwards, and SAP, to the cloud. We’ve assisted hundreds of businesses with our proven cloud migration model, and our qualified team is prepared to help your team through every stage of the migration process.
And our expertise extends well beyond cloud migrations. If you’re ready to supercharge the way your organization operates with the full power of the cloud, Syntax can help get you there.
Once your ERP is set up in OCI, our experienced professionals can help your team monitor your applications as part of our Application Management Services, or find ways to unlock the value of your EBS data with applied analytics and machine learning.
Regardless of where you are in your journey to the cloud, Syntax is ready to help make your strategic goals into reality. If you are ready to explore your options, contact us today and we will help you get from where you are to where you want to be.