Back in the day, Microsoft and Oracle were bitter rivals, competing over providing database and server products and trading barbs during the U.S. government’s antitrust suit against Microsoft in the 1990s.
Now they’re holding hands and looking at a future together.
Microsoft and Oracle announced Monday a cloud partnership in which customers will be able to run Oracle software (including Java, Oracle Database and Oracle WebLogic Server) on Microsoft’s Windows Server Hyper-V or in Windows Azure. Oracle will provide certification and full support.
Oracle Linux will also be made available to Windows Azure customers.
“Now our customers will be able to take advantage of the flexibility our unique hybrid cloud solutions offer for their Oracle applications, middleware and databases, just like they have been able to do on Windows Server for years,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in a statement.
Indeed, there are already many customers that run Oracle software on their on-premises Windows Server. Monday’s announcement “is about extending that to the cloud,” Satya Nadella, head of Microsoft’s Server and Tools division, said in a conference call after the announcement.
The partnership looks to be a good move for both companies, while being bad for mutual competitor VMware, said veteran Microsoft and Oracle analyst Rick Sherlund, of investment bank Nomura.
“I think they need each other,” Sherlund said. “They’re cooperating in areas that are mutually beneficial.”
Microsoft is getting Oracle’s support for Hyper-V, Microsoft’s hypervisor technology, which allows companies to run virtual servers. That’s important because Hyper-V competes against VMware, which is dominant in the server virtualization market. And many of the businesses that would be interested in such technology already use some Oracle software.
“It’s an advantage for Microsoft to be able to say: ‘All this Oracle stuff runs on Hyper-V,’
Now they’re holding hands and looking at a future together.
Microsoft and Oracle announced Monday a cloud partnership in which customers will be able to run Oracle software (including Java, Oracle Database and Oracle WebLogic Server) on Microsoft’s Windows Server Hyper-V or in Windows Azure. Oracle will provide certification and full support.
Oracle Linux will also be made available to Windows Azure customers.
“Now our customers will be able to take advantage of the flexibility our unique hybrid cloud solutions offer for their Oracle applications, middleware and databases, just like they have been able to do on Windows Server for years,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in a statement.
Indeed, there are already many customers that run Oracle software on their on-premises Windows Server. Monday’s announcement “is about extending that to the cloud,” Satya Nadella, head of Microsoft’s Server and Tools division, said in a conference call after the announcement.
The partnership looks to be a good move for both companies, while being bad for mutual competitor VMware, said veteran Microsoft and Oracle analyst Rick Sherlund, of investment bank Nomura.
“I think they need each other,” Sherlund said. “They’re cooperating in areas that are mutually beneficial.”
Microsoft is getting Oracle’s support for Hyper-V, Microsoft’s hypervisor technology, which allows companies to run virtual servers. That’s important because Hyper-V competes against VMware, which is dominant in the server virtualization market. And many of the businesses that would be interested in such technology already use some Oracle software.
“It’s an advantage for Microsoft to be able to say: ‘All this Oracle stuff runs on Hyper-V,’