Oracle will now automate all its cloud offerings

Tech giant Oracle Corp is expanding its autonomous database to all its cloud platform offerings, as it seeks to attract more clients for its cloud services and better compete with rivals such as IBM Corp and Microsoft Corp.

“We are weaving autonomous capabilities into the fabric of our cloud to help customers safeguard their systems, drive innovation faster, and deliver the ultimate competitive advantage with smarter real-time decisions,” Thomas Kurian, president of product development at Oracle, said in a statement. The company will offer the new autonomous capabilities in the first half of 2018. 

Oracle said it is applying artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to its cloud platform services to automate operational functions such as tuning, patching, backups and upgrades. The new measures will help customers cut costs, reduce risk and speed up performance, Oracle said.

The announcement comes barely months after Oracle chairman Larry Ellison, in October last year, showcased the company’s Autonomous Database, christened 18C. The database was introduced as a platform that updates and repairs itself and eliminates the need for human labour. Oracle is now extending this capability to include its entire cloud platform.

Oracle’s announcement assumes significance as it is looking to boost its cloud revenue in a market where it trails IBM, Amazon Web Services and Microsoft.

Oracle’s total cloud revenue jumped 44% to $1.5 billion in the three months through November 2017, its fiscal second quarter, according to the company’s earnings. IBM’s cloud revenue for the quarter ended December was $5.5 billion. AWS garnered revenue of $5.11 billion for its fiscal fourth quarter ended 31 December 2017. Microsoft reported revenue of $5.3 billion for the October-December period, its fiscal second quarter.

Another tech company that is rapidly scaling up its cloud business is Google. The search engine giant recently reported that its quarterly revenue from the cloud business topped $1 billion.