Oracle OpenWorld is making its usual September splash in San Francisco and there’s more to it than appearances by Sting and Gwen Stefani. Actifio will also be appearing. As with VMworld a few weeks ago, the Oracle event prompts a pause to reflect on our mutual progress. We’ve been at it since the beginning, and it is progress that’s been warmly embraced by our customers. Let’s start with now and work backwards.
On September 15th we announced the first ever capability for database virtualization in a hybrid cloud. Being first is always good if it’s a useful advance. I’d say this fits because we know that it’s been a struggle for CIOs who want to transform to hybrid cloud environments. A problem (one of them) has been that their Oracle data is tied to physical infrastructure. Now, it doesn’t’ need to be.
From the outset our objectives have been to help enterprise customers build higher quality applications and build them faster. If they choose to do that in the cloud, we want to make that easy. We also want to be sure that they have no issues with business resiliency, security and on-demand data access for any purpose. Here’s flexibility to do any and all of that. Here’s a new infographic with some simple diagrams illustrating how we simplify some pretty complicated operations.
We’re constantly adding to and improving capabilities and integration for our Oracle customers. Last year we made our virtualization platform available through the Oracle Cloud Marketplace, making it easier for customers and service providers to access our help with their Oracle Cloud business solutions. In 2014 we became a Platinum Partner in the Oracle Partner Network as Oracle recognized our “in-depth expertise and excellence in delivering data virtualization solutions that can improve business agility and resiliency and for uniquely addressing the challenges of joint customers.” That was also the time we introduced new management extensions for agile database development, scalable oracle management, automated workflows (aka “RMAN on steroids”), native support for multi-tenancy and intelligent log management. (Search for “Oracle” on our website and you’ll find plenty of additional resources that take you deeper.)
What Oracle recognized, many Actifio customers had already experienced – robust capabilities to deliver data virtualization solutions that dramatically advance business agility and resiliency. At that point, customer conversations were also highlighting another top-of-mind topic of customer interest – application development. Customers recognized how data virtualization could simplify and accelerate their application development initiatives. It wasn’t a new idea to us, but the rise in client awareness and interest was remarkable. Across nearly every customer conversation, regardless of size, industry or application focus, application development had become an important topic. And it’s a key part of the Actifio value proposition.
Think of it as a Time Machine. If developers can achieve a more agile application lifecycle, if they can automate, simplify and speed up the process, the payback is Time. And in this case Time is money. What’s been fun for us is seeing the light bulbs light up as the idea sinks in. And what’s also clear is that the impacts aren’t all about technology but about the business cases. We really can provide copies of a 10TB Oracle database to dozens of developers in minutes. Every year we show skeptics at OpenWorld. Come by our booth and we’ll prove it to you too.
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