Google Cloud Platform Courts Oracle Database Users with HPC Computing

Oracle database users will have new high-performance systems in Google Cloud Platform on which to run their mission-critical workloads.

The top-tier cloud services provider and server OEM Atos just unveiled that two high-performance computing (HPC) regional extensions are being created in Google Cloud data centers in Ashburn, Virginia, and Frankfurt, Germany, that will feature Atos’ BullSequana S servers.

Through the additions, Oracle database customers will be able to leverage the modular, scalable and configurable servers in a fully managed cloud environment. Oracle database customers now will have access to Atos’ HPC systems and the artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning capabilities inherent in Google Cloud, according to Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian.

The new offering will be available in the second of the year from the Google Cloud console through the Google Marketplace. The BullSequana S systems come in five models and are powered by two to 32 Intel Xeon Scalable Processors and up to 32 GPUs. They’re optimized for enterprise AI, data-intensive and large in-memory database workloads.

Adding such high-end compute capabilities also is the latest move in Kurian’s high-profile push to bring more enterprise business to Google Cloud, which sits in third place among global public cloud service providers behind Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure. Kurian is a former long-ime Oracle executive who took over Google Cloud late last year and has been vocal about the need to get more enterprise customers into the fold.

Tony Safoian, CEO of Google partner SADA Systems, told Channel Futures that Google Cloud’s aggressive play for the enterprise will help everyone in the Google Cloud orbit.

SADA Systems’ Tony Safoian

“Google Cloud’s ability to address enterprise challenges, like Oracle modernization, is a benefit to the entire channel ecosystem,” said Safoian, whose company last month saw its relationship with the cloud service provider expand when it reached Google Cloud MSP Partner status. “With more enterprise workloads enabled on the Google Cloud, premier partners like SADA have a great opportunity to offer more services and solutions leveraging the broader Google Cloud portfolio. … As more enterprises entrust workloads to Google Cloud, partners like SADA are in a strong position to succeed.” 

SADA shifted its business completely to Google in March after selling off its Microsoft business to services provider Core BTS, and the CEO said he expects Google Cloud will become the partner’s largest business this year.

Microsoft and Oracle early in June announced a partnership that will enable cloud customers of both to migrate and run mission-critical workloads on either cloud environment. Through the partnership, Microsoft gets another tool for Azure in its ongoing effort to chip away at AWS’ dominant position in the booming public cloud market, which Synergy Research Group analysts said grew year-to-year by 42%, to more than $21 billion, in the first quarter. For Oracle, the deal is a way to raise its profile in the space.

Miguel Ribeiro, president and senior IT consultant for VBS IT Services, which partners with Microsoft and Google, noted that Oracle customers, because they already have a relationship with Microsoft, might favor Azure for cloud hosting.

VBS IT Services’ Miguel Ribeiro

“Having said that, if Google Cloud is offering a unique proposition and perhaps better pricing, there’s a chance that relationships such as [with Atos to run Oracle databases] will have a positive impact on their image and growth in the market space,” Ribeiro told Channel Futures.

According to Google Cloud and Atos – which Google Cloud named its Global Breakthrough Partner of the Year at the cloud provider’s recent Google Cloud Next 19 show – the expanded partnership not only will give Oracle customers HPC capabilities for their database workloads, but also will provide them a unified process for identity management, access management, governance and administration for database instances as well as Google Cloud-based applications.

Rob Enderle, principal analyst with The Enderle Group, told Channel Futures he’s unsure how much the expanded partnership with Atos will help Google Cloud grow its enterprise business, though “it does provide another option for those wanting to run their Oracle database.” It also could have some benefit for Oracle in that having another cloud option could enable the enterprise software giant to retain database customers, though it won’t do much to help Oracle expand its own cloud ambitions.