Amazon’s migration from Oracle to AWS marked a significant shift in enterprise database strategy, completing its transition away from Oracle systems in November 2019. The organisation migrated 75 petabytes of data from nearly 7,500 Oracle databases to AWS services like DynamoDB, Aurora, RDS, and Redshift, achieving minimal downtime and full coverage of proprietary systems.
1. Resource Drain from Legacy Management
Managing 6,000+ Oracle databases consumed massive administrative effort. Database administrators spent hundreds of hours annually scaling, patching, and maintaining systems instead of innovating.
2. Escalating Costs and Licensing Complexity
Oracle’s pricing model clashed with Amazon’s growth. Licensing fees for features like RAC/Data Guard were unpredictable, while costs rose sharply as data volumes and transaction rates surged.
3. Inefficient Hardware and License Management
Complex hardware provisioning required forecasting, purchasing, and maintaining infrastructure across global data centres—tasks now better handled by managed services. License management added further overhead, with Oracle’s rigid terms failing to adapt to Cloud economics.
In short, Amazon’s ERP environment couldn’t keep up with its own requirements, and this ongoing issue was keeping Amazon from dedicating its time to more high-value work.
Despite partnering with AWS, Oracle still markets its Autonomous Database as superior to AWS’s capabilities.
The partnership lets Oracle run on AWS with joint support, but Amazon’s migration was driven by escaping Oracle’s cost volatility and support gaps, not just adopting AWS’s strengths.
Amazon’s decision to sever its reliance on Oracle databases culminated in a symbolic moment captured in a YouTube video: a countdown screen displaying “stopped Oracle,” followed by applause, champagne celebrations, and photos. AWS CTO Werner Vogels called it the “best day” at Amazon, underscoring the significance of this shift.
The event marked the culmination of years of migration efforts, with Amazon’s fulfilment division completing its move to AWS-native databases like Aurora, PostgreSQL, and DynamoDB. This transition was part of a broader strategy to eliminate Oracle’s proprietary software, driven by performance limitations and competitive tensions.
Oracle’s abrupt AWS alliance—after years of Larry Ellison (CTO of Oracle) mocking AWS as a “pretender”—reeks of desperation. The deal lets Oracle databases run on AWS, a stark reversal from its prior Cloud rivalry.
Why it’s a bad look for Oracle:
Oracle’s pivot to AWS highlights its struggle to compete in the Cloud era, cementing its role as a legacy vendor clinging to relevance.
Amazon’s dramatic exit from Oracle showcased liberation from vendor lock-in, and Oracle crawling back shows weakness. For most businesses, migrating to AWS isn’t feasible—but Support Revolution offers a smarter path:
Why wait? Ditch Oracle’s fees, retain control, and join the revolution today.
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