Oracle launches Alloy, a cloud infrastructure platform for enterprises

Oracle has launched a new cloud infrastructure platform called Alloy, which can enable organizations such as financial institutions, telcos, and other service providers to become 'cloud providers' and roll out new cloud services to their customers. 

Oracle Alloy will offer a full set of cloud services along with additional value-added services and applications to meet the specific needs of their markets and industry verticals. Companies can use Alloy independently in their own data centers and fully control their operations to help address specific regulatory requirements. In addition to becoming cloud providers, Alloy will also enable partners that host customers in their own data centers to unlock new opportunities for growth beyond the public cloud.

Cloud computing has seen dramatic growth over the past few years - from managing application development to tech infrastructure to remote work and beyond – becoming integral to day-to-day business operations. According to Gartner, spending on public cloud services is expected to grow 20.4% in 2022 to a total of $494.7 billion, up from $410.9 billion in 2021. Total spending is about $84bn more than in 2020 and is expected to surge nearly 21.3% yearly to almost $600 billion by next year.

Despite strong revenue growth for cloud infrastructure and applications-as-a-service, Oracle is still struggling to gain a larger share of the global cloud market, where it lags behind AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. According to data from IT market research firm Synergy Research Group, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google combined for 65% of the worldwide cloud services market share in the second quarter of 2022, up from 61% year over year. Oracle’s market share in the overall cloud market stood at a meagre2%, the research firm said.

Analysts believe that as the cloud continues to grow, it will also continue to shape the world of business in new and exciting ways. “Oracle Alloy's ability to extend OCI's many infrastructure and platform services to partner-controlled environments could have ample appeal for end-customers, who increasingly want cloud environments that live closer to them,” said Chris Kanaracus, research director at IDC. 

Kanaracus added that the launch makes sense in the post-pandemic times as "cloud is seen as not something tied to a specific location but rather a consistent operating model for IT. Oracle Alloy reflects these trends.”