Alain Orlanes - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager at WSI
Reseller
Top 10
Reliable solution that is transparent to the end users
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a reliable database warehouse solution that is transparent to the end user."
  • "The pricing is the one sticking point for the solution because it is very expensive."

What is our primary use case?

I am an end-user of the Oracle database. The only use of Oracle is the repository of the data. So from the end-user side, it is transparent. A database is a good database if it does not slow down production or data processing. That the database prevents data from being exposed to any malware or any malicious scripting is a good idea. Oracle has these capabilities.

What is most valuable?

Oracle is simply a reliable data warehouse for us.

What needs improvement?

Our Oracle database is very expensive, so probably the cost is an area that can be improved. The cost of the product.

The actual features that might need to be improved is a question that is better answered by any IT person or administrator because they know specifically what are the limitations and what the challenges that they face in using the product or the brand.

On the end-user side, it is all transparent and we depend completely on the administration to care for the stability of the product. So we do not know what they experience on the administrative end as we are isolated from those issues. I don't know if the services are slowing down or if there's an issue and the product is not performing as expected.

If something happens and there is a switchover to using the back-up or something like that, we do not see any of that as end-users. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the product for about 12 years with the same company.

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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I do not have any idea about the specifics of the stability because that is usually taken care of by the IT department. From an end-user standpoint, the stability is very good. At least that is the case for us as the IT department is doing their job.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

But definitely as of this moment, due to the COVID crisis, we are not going into the direction of expanding any software or hardware inventory. Everything was put on hold to maximize the usage of current assets.

But of course, Oracle is a scalable solution. We are hoping to go in that direction. If you have a solution that is not scalable, then you probably will be left behind. All software seems to be taking that direction in offering scalability and flexibility.

Oracle can be deployed into whatever architecture you have right now. Whether it be on-prem, on the cloud, or a mix or hybrid. Probably that is a good point for Oracle.

How are customer service and support?

I have not heard about any problems with technical support from Oracle and I also do not hear about any escalations regarding support from our IT department. I have not heard about any reports that the Oracle Database has been down.

So the product is good and the back-end support is good.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We have been using this Oracle solution from the time that I arrived at this company so there has not been any other product in use.

How was the initial setup?

The setup is taken care of and maintained by the IT and administration. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I am not exactly sure of the precise cost, but I do know that the cost of the product is very expensive compared to some other solutions. Even though we are in a third world country, we do not enjoy any discount for our situation and economy.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

As far as I am aware this is the only product that was considered because of its reputation and performance.

What other advice do I have?

The advice I have for other people considering this solution is that if they have money then they should go for it. We do not experience performance issues or trouble with throughput.

It is probably a good idea to do some research for use in documentation which can be searched or located on the Internet. I think every company that is looking into creating value from their software assets, they have to do research or evaluation first on the Internet.

They should be sure, before making an investment that the product fits their requirements, probably they will contact a distributor or supplier to get the product.

The next important step would be the proof of concept. They must try to do a POC or work with a demo and see if the Oracle Database can solve the pain points that they are having right now.

One factor they can not forget is the budget. If the product fits their needs but not their budget, they will have to try to fit their budget to the product and make it work perhaps by scaling usage.

On the scale from one to ten, with one being the worst and ten being the best, I would rate Oracle Database as probably around and eight-out-of-ten. That is a good rating. The price is really the only thing which is holding it back from a better score.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Head of IT Division at Industrial Property Institute
Real User
Easy to use, relatively straightforward to implement and very stable
Pros and Cons
  • "I've never faced any stability issues with the product. I don't recall any bugs, glitches, or crashes. I'd say it's fairly stable and shouldn't cause anyone issues in that regard."
  • "It could be slightly more intuitive, but other than that, we really like it as a solution."

What is most valuable?

One of the best aspects of the solution is that it is very easy to use. In my opinion, for how I use it, I find it quite straightforward.

What needs improvement?

Occasionally I do have some technical issues. However, there are very good communities that can help solve problems, so It's not too bad.

It could be slightly more intuitive, but other than that, we really like it as a solution.

For our type of usage, we don't have any particular requirements or needs that the solution doesn't provide. I can't speak to any features that may be lacking in general. Right now, I don't find that it's lacking in any regard.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using Oracle Database for about five years now.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I've never faced any stability issues with the product. I don't recall any bugs, glitches, or crashes. I'd say it's fairly stable and shouldn't cause anyone issues in that regard.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We are working with the software that moves the current update store. We don't have problems with any new features or applications or integration, so I believe it to be very scalable.

Currently, we have about 3 people using the database. There is only one developer and the rest are admins that are simply connected to the database.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have never faced many issues in terms of having trouble with the solution. For that reason, we haven't really dealt with technical support, so I can't speak to how good or bad they are.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We did previously use a different solution, however it was associated with a company that gave us the software and when they switched to Oracle, we, by default, did as well.

How was the initial setup?

At the beginning, I may have found it a bit tricky, and other new users might too. At this point, after a number of years, I don't think it's too difficult. However, it may be because I'm used to the system. Those coming at it completely new may find it a bit complex.

The initial setup is quite quick. For us, it didn't take more than an hour or so. It was probably less than that.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I don't deal with the accounting, so I can't speak to the pricing of the solution.

What other advice do I have?

We're not an Oracle partner. We're just a customer.

We're quite comfortable with this solution at the moment. It provides us with everything we need.

I'd highly recommend Oracle Database to other companies and users. We haven't had any issues at all using it aside from a few small technical issues. It's good software. It's very stable and reliable.

Personally, I would rate the solution nine out of ten. It's almost perfect.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Oracle Database
March 2024
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it_user521868 - PeerSpot reviewer
Oracle DBA at Roketsan Missiles Inc.
Real User
It has had a multiple-concurrent-user control system from the very beginning.

What is most valuable?

Oracle Database has had a multiple-concurrent-user control system from the very beginning. Most enterprise database solutions have recently become aware of this. Oracle's approach was the true approach to isolate users. Databases have some isolation levels and some anomalies. Oracle's database has solved them in a very brilliant way. From the beginning, 20 years ago, Oracle solved those problems. It is the most ACID-compliant database.

It has a multiple-concurrent-user control system, and it is the most ACID-compliant database.

How has it helped my organization?

We have the opportunity to easily open service requests and get answers from the professional Oracle teams. We have the advanced customer support team in Turkey. If there is a problem, it is easily and elegantly solved. It adds value; we trust Oracle.

What needs improvement?

We have not been using the new release yet, we are running on 11g. We haven’t had much opportunity to deeply examine 12c yet.

See my comments in the initial setup section.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Oracle database is stable. When Oracle slows down or if you can't use data, it means you are doing something wrong. The architecture is in the logs, the logging mechanism. If you know how to configure the database, it is impossible for you to lose data. It has the Data Guard disaster solution.

The Oracle database was first designed by people who left the Central Intelligence Agency. They knew how to implement security in the core of the database. I find it reliable and stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We are using a three-node RAC database; it is highly scalable. If we want to add another node, we just buy the hardware and add it to the RAC system. It is highly scalable.

How are customer service and technical support?

When you have Oracle products, you have the right to use the Oracle support. We are able to open service requests. If it is urgent, we can open level-one service request. Somebody calls you and tries to find a solution to your problem. It is very useful.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

When I was hired by my current company, they were already using the Oracle E-Business Suite, which obviously works with same database.

How was the initial setup?

I myself installed the RAC database. I migrated from the old system to the new system with RMAN. We used the Oracle recovery tool to install the RAC and migrate our data to the new RAC system.

For those parts, to be honest, Oracle Database requires more effort than the other databases. It is a little complex. You have to know what you are doing. With RMAN, recovery, backup and restore - those kinds of operations - are a little bit more difficult than with other databases. You need slightly more manpower to run an Oracle database than the other databases.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

The Microsoft SQL database now has an option to deal with data anomalies, for example, lost updates. Lost updates are a kind of anomaly with consistency. How do you support this with consistency? Those are all design issues. Microsoft has very recently implemented it in their database. There could be some anomalies in the database. You have to enable this option.

Years and years ago, Oracle already had this implementation designed into their database. I was working at a bank before my current company. The reason why they chose Oracle was the approach to data consistency.

What other advice do I have?

Oracle is the most ACID-compliant database, and it is the most professional proficient OLTP database in the world today.

Look at the prices for additional add-ons. For example, partitioning costs in Oracle are a little high and partitioning is a very powerful tool of Oracle Database. Be aware of that partitioning option.

Look at the disaster solutions, for example, because that involves a data dump. Look at whether it is SQL compliant or not.

Determine whether you really need an OLTP database. Oracle Database is an OLTP, ACID-compliant database, and maybe you do not need that; maybe you need some type of document-based database. It depends on how you conduct your business.

When I am looking at vendors to work with, tech support is very important. We are in Turkey and sometimes it is difficult to find a lot of companies. Oracle is very active in Turkey. In Turkey, the banking and telecommunications sectors are very heavily dependent on technology. Most of them are using Oracle technologies. Sometimes. we can't find support easily.

We also look for stability, of course.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user521571 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager / Chapter Lead for DEV Content BE at a insurance company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
It works well in Solaris in a UNIX system.

Valuable Features

I like the fact it works the most. It's reliable; it works well in Solaris in a UNIX system; that’s the most valuable feature.

Room for Improvement

The price is where it can be improved. It should be cheaper. Then, it would be more accessible to everybody because right now, it's actually only accessible for big corporations. If you want to try and do it yourself, it's not very easy.

I know there is the free version, but it's very limited with the amount of memory and CPU power that you can use, which is, again, very limited if you want to do something more heavy.

Also, I'm not sure how the good the support for JSON is because I know that you can push JSON directly to PostgreSQL and some other databases. I'm not sure that Oracle supports it. I know that Oracle is really a relational database. It's always relations and SQL but now there's a move to more SQL databases and document storage, something like that would also be very useful. I'm not sure how actually feasible that is.

Use of Solution

I have been using it since 2006, with a three-year break when I was working at a company that didn’t use it.

Stability Issues

It didn’t crash; it was reliable.

Scalability Issues

I was never involved in scaling it because I've always been involved with the software part. However, I heard that scaling it is not that easy and that you really need a special guy to do it. It's not really out of the box as it should be. That's at least what I was told, but, again, I never really touched it.

The most situations where I used it, we didn't use clusters or anything. It was usually master-slave or only just master. In those cases, it worked well for us.

Customer Service and Technical Support

I only touched the online support and it's really not very useful because it's very difficult to find what you're looking for. Whenever I tried to actually find something for myself, it didn't really work well.

Initial Setup

The last time I set it up was a long time ago. As far as I remember, it was straightforward. It was just, Next, Next, Next and that was it. I don't remember whether there was filling out a lot of fields. I was only putting it on a development machine. I didn't put it in production. That was someone else. Even if something crashed, I could just do it again without any problems.

Other Advice

It all depends. If you want something out of the box that will work, then Oracle is a good solution. If you want to pack it with a bit more and actually do some customization and all these kind of things, then I think that MySQL is much better; MariaDB as well; also, PostgreSQL.

If you're actually looking for a relational database, then that would be that. If you're more interested in NoSQL databases, document storage, then I would recommend MongoDB, Cassandra, and those kinds of things. Again, it really depends from what's your use case.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user27945 - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager, Database and Security at a consumer goods company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor
It's pretty straightforward, it's easy to manage, and there's pretty good support for it.

Valuable Features:

The most valuable feature of Database is the reliability that we get from it. We really depend on it being up and available because we're a manufacturing company. It's got four 9's of uptime, and that's incredibly important.

Improvements to My Organization:

It goes back to the reliability factor with Database. We've been an Oracle Database customer for years and years, through PeopleSoft, through EBS and other products that we have that use the database. It's pretty straightforward, it's easy to manage, and there's pretty good support for it. All of these things are of vital importance to our business.

Room for Improvement:

We'd like to get some more add-ons, such as Database Vault for security. Other than that, I'd say that support has been harder and harder to get. I can remember 14 years ago, working with Oracle support, talking to the analyst on the phone, and they would sit there and work with you until the problem is resolved. Now, we spent a lot of our time and effort and wheels trying to work with support and get handed off to the next analyst and you start from scratch. We lose a lot of time. A lot of times we just have to escalate it up, without really giving it enough time. I don't know if the level-one folks are just searching through the knowledge base, like we can, online. So the biggest problem has probably been Oracle support.

Use of Solution:

I came on board at this company in 2003. We've had Oracle Database in place since at least that time. I believe they were on 7.3 when I first started. We don't really use a lot of the features that are available in there as we're just a pretty vanilla type of operation. There are a bunch of features that we would like to use, but we just don't or we're not licensed to use them. The features we'd like to use are the compression and the encryption.

Deployment Issues:

We've had no issues with deployment.

Stability Issues:

We've had nothing but good stability around Database.

Scalability Issues:

We sized our database well for what our expected transactions were going to be. We never had to scale it up. Of course, you add space to it over time. We have done that with nothing that causes any issues.

Initial Setup:

I thought that the upgrades were fairly easy. I've done a few and it's fairly spelled out as there is a lot of knowledge base around out there. If you do run into problems, which I found going from 7 to 8 to 9 to 10 to 11, the fixes have been fairly easy. I expect going from 11 to 12 that they will be easy as well.

Cost and Licensing Advice:

It's one of the more expensive database products. From a business perspective, we try to leverage our whole entire Oracle footprint to drive down the pricing. Instead of your list price that you see on the web for Database, for example, we can work with ourselves from Oracle and we can make a bigger purchase of more products at a reduced rate. We get the Cadillac for the non-Cadillac price.

Other Advice:

You have to have a good plan of what you want to do, what your business is going to need. Are you going to need a Cadillac RDBS software system -- Oracle? Can you do it with one that isn't a standard versus Oracle Enterprise Edition? Stuff like that. Be sure that you know what your requirements are. Be able to look into the future and see what they are going to be in three, four, or five years hence.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user436200 - PeerSpot reviewer
Database Admin at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
We're happy about how if one of the Oracle nodes in the cluster goes down, the others keep running.

Valuable Features:

I really like the way Oracle Database handles crash recovery. I find that that's the most valuable feature among the other databases that I work with. I have yet to see a time when my database crashed, for whatever reason, whether it be node crash or server crash, and Oracle didn't clean it up and it come back online as before. The way Oracle processes cleanup itself and comes back online is great. If one of the Oracle nodes in the cluster goes down, the others keep running, which we're very happy about.

Improvements to My Organization:

It's a good, solid database architecture, one of the best in the industry. With it, we also have a good partnership with Oracle, who provides us with great support.

Room for Improvement:

It's so huge, so vast. If we're talking about security, there could be improvements. Also, we'd like to be able to come up with migration strategies that involve less downtime. That's one of our struggles with it, particularly when we're migrating sizes of several terabytes. We can't afford to have our agents down for twelve hours at a time to do the migrations. So I'd like to see some more innovative ideas, some more improvements in that area to help us out.

Deployment Issues:

We've had no issues with the deployment.

Stability Issues:

It's very stable. We've had no issues with instability.

Scalability Issues:

We've been using the add-node functionality. We started with a few of the clusters, the RAC cluster, with two nodes, and we have expanded them to five. We are going to what we call the super-cluster design.

Initial Setup:

The initial setup is intuitive, though I can't say it's necessarily easy. It's just that I've been doing it for several years now.

Implementation Team:

We do implementations with our in-house team.

Other Advice:

I think Oracle is the way to go. It's a solid RDBMS. There's lots to learn.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Independent Consultant at Unaikui
Real User
Top 5
A hybrid solution for ETL and real-time data analytics
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is easy to use. It also offers a Database Vault."
  • "The pricing could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution for ETL and real-time data analytics.

How has it helped my organization?

We use the solution for the ERP system, which utilizes dynamic APIs, SQL, and ETL processes.

What is most valuable?

The solution is easy to use. It also offers a Database Vault.

What needs improvement?

The pricing could be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Oracle Database for five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The product is stable.

I rate the solution’s stability a ten out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Depending on where you deploy, Oracle is also scalable. Sixteen sites with 50 users each are using this solution.

I rate the solution’s scalability a ten out of ten.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward and took a couple of weeks. You can set up a new instance, import/export databases, or a new blank database. For on-premise, we use Jenkins. We set it up for the cloud so we can receive alerts using Jenkins or any other suitable tool.

What about the implementation team?

Deployment was done in-house.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The solution is very expensive.

We had an annual subscription, but Oracle only recognizes certain VMs. Eventually, we had to migrate to Oracle Linux and allocate a specific number of CPUs to a product to reduce the price.

What other advice do I have?

Four people are required to maintain the solution.

Overall, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Storage Solutions Expert at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
It enables us to comply with our security guidelines
Pros and Cons
  • "It enables us to comply with our security guidelines, and it is automated."
  • "The product could be cheaper."

What is our primary use case?

Oracle Database is a database for electronic channel. We use the solution to collect transaction data from banks, financial institutions, and potential customers.

How has it helped my organization?

It enables us to comply with our security guidelines, and it is automated.

What needs improvement?

The product could be cheaper.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Oracle Database for 15 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is like a real application cluster.

I rate the solution’s stability a ten out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution’s scalability is good from a technical perspective. We are shifting to other products because of the basic cost.

Around 4,000 users are using this solution.

How are customer service and support?

The organization provide top-notch support.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is neither easy nor complex. With DB experience and product support, it is quite easy. It would be complex for a new guy.

What was our ROI?

Oracle Database is a very expensive solution, but it is very stable. Financial institutions are moving to online channels. It can handle traffic very well.

What other advice do I have?

I recommend leveraging Oracle's logging capabilities, as it can efficiently offload tasks such as reporting, backups, and more. This allows for utilising commodity platforms, reducing reliance on proprietary systems and enabling the adoption of internal IMD platforms.

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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